Tyson Chandler takes shot at Knicks' offense: Play as a team, not as individuals

Tyson Chandler isn't only having trouble defending Indiana center Roy Hibbert. He's having an issue with the way the Knicks are playing offensively.

Chandler said the Knicks are being too selfish and individuals are trying to win games alone, and this team doesn't have players who can do that. Chandler didn't mention anyone by name, but Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith are the Knicks' volume shooters.

"I watched the tape myself and there's open looks," Chandler said after practice Sunday. "We have to be willing passers. You have to sacrifice yourself sometimes for the betterment of the team, for the betterment of your teammates. So when you drive in the paint, you draw, you kick it. We need to do a better job of allowing the game to dictate who takes the shots and not the individuals.

"I'm not saying that anybody is doing it maliciously. I think it's moreso a situation, you want to take over the game or you want to make a big shot, where you have to just stick to the game plan. Good teams win basketball games. Unless you're a great, great, great individual, and we've only had a few of those come through."

The Knicks' offense is one of several reasons they're down 2-1 to Indiana in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals. Their defense and rebounding are also a big part of why the Knicks face another must-win in Game 4 Tuesday night.

Despite what Chandler said, the Knicks probably needed Anthony to shoot more in Game 3 Saturday night. He scored 21 points and shot 6-for-16. Smith was slowed by a virus and took only 12 shots.

No one else stepped up for the Knicks in their 82-71 loss. Iman Shumpert (3-for-10) was the only Knick besides Anthony and Smith to take at least 10 shots. Only Anthony scored in double-figures. He was quiet in the fourth quarter, going 0-for-3 with two points. Mike Woodson wants Anthony to shoot more.

"I'm not OK with him taking three shots," the coach said. "He's got to take more shots. Not just him . . . I don't want it to be a one-man show. We have enough guys on this team that can score the ball. We've proven that this year, so that's what we got to get back to."

The Knicks continue to say their defense was good enough to beat the Pacers in Game 3 because they gave up only 82 points. But Indiana missed so many wide-open looks. Indiana shot 10-for-33 from three-point range and Pacers coach Frank Vogel estimated that 25 of their long-distance attempts were wide open.

Woodson said it had to do with the Knicks' defensive rotations being off and that also contributed to Indiana grabbing 18 offensive rebounds. He worked on those aspects at practice as well as getting the ball to move so the Knicks get better shots.

They set an NBA record by draining 891 three-pointers in the regular season. Overall, the Knicks averaged 10.9 threes per game and took 28.9. In Game 3, they were 3-for-11 from deep.

"At least get them up," Woodson said. "We haven't even been shooting. I think a lot of it is the pace we're playing. We're playing too slow. We've got to pick our pace up a little bit and not walk as much.

"In a playoff series when teams start locking in, you cannot play on one side of the floor. [Saturday] night, we went back to that again. I got to keep screaming and pushing and guys got to recognize that we got to get the ball moving from side to side. That's the only we can play and perhaps get out of this series."