Analysis: How should the Knicks deal with the defeat of the Pacers in the first game?

The New York Knicks did a lot of the right things in their first game against the Indiana Pacers, but they need to correct a key mistake.

New York Knicks will face the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years. They won the promotion by defeating the Detroit Pistons in the first round and upset the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But the Eastern Conference Finals are a whole other thing – it proved that the Indiana Pacers won their first game with a strong 138-135 score in overtime on Wednesday night.

The Knicks have wasted many of the wonderful performances of the players. Jaylen Brunson scored 43 points. Carl Anthony Towns scored 35 points and 12 rebounds. Mitchell Robinson grabbed eight rebounds, including four offensive rebounds, creating a chance for the team to score a second offensive. Miles McBride and Mikal Bridges also performed well.

But in the end, the Knicks missed a great opportunity to lead 1-0. New York led by up to 17 points at one point and took a double-digit lead with less than three minutes left. The Knicks made many mistakes and unforced mistakes in the final stages of the game—such as letting Aaron Nesmith make 5 of 5 three-pointers with less than 3 minutes left. The referee also played an important role in the Knicks' defeat. After the Pacers filed objection, they overturned a seemingly shocking penalty and ignored some obvious ones—including a jamming ball turnover and a foul on Brunson in the same round in overtime, which greatly reversed the game.

Free shots are the Knicks' biggest problem

But the real problem with the Knicks in the first game is the free throws. New York team shot up to 70% of free throws throughout the game. If calculated based on the free throw percentage of the entire season, this number will be at the bottom of the entire league. Wait, and there are more.

New York actually shot very high in overtime, mainly because Brunson hit all four free throws. But the Knicks made 24 free throws in 36 regular season free throws, with a shooting percentage of 67%. Their performance at critical moments is not much better. The Knicks made 8 of 12 shots in the fourth quarter, and their shooting percentage was also as high as 67%.

Further study, the Knicks - this time Anthony Towns and OG Anunobi - made 4 free throws in the last 14 seconds, with 1 of them two free throws. With a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter but was reversed, it was too unfair to blame the team's defeat just for two free throws. But when the opponent successfully drags the game into overtime, it is hard not to pay attention to these mistakes.

Of course, the Knicks must work hard to stop the Pacers early in the game. The Pacers shot up to 100% from the field over 6 minutes (9 shots). They must handle the ball properly. The Knicks made 15 mistakes last night, while the Pacers had only 7 mistakes. The Knicks also have to figure out why they played so well when Brunson was not on the court in Game 1; New York scored a +11 when Brunson was not on the court, which included a 14-0 second half.

In addition, they have something to copy. The Knicks won the rebounding battle 46-39. Although they missed too many free throws, they won in terms of free throws. New York had 12 more free throws than Indiana's 40-28. The first game was heartbreaking as the Knicks performed well with over 90% of the shooting percentage. The Knicks should not enter the second game with a 1-0 lead, but must strive to catch up and tie the score.

Luckily, the Knicks did a lot of the right things in the first game. They have to focus on these things and correct mistakes, starting with free throws. If they did, New York should return to Indiana 1-1.