Despite the New York Knicks being up 1-0 in their series with the Indiana Pacers, ESPN recently spoke about what could be their fatal flaw in the NBA Playoffs.
The New York Knicks got off to a good start in their series against the Indiana Pacers, as they were able to win Game 1 by a score of 121-117. In the win, Jalen Brunson was once again fantastic, as he kept up his consecutive game streak of scoring 40 or more points.
Brunson is currently doing things on the offensive end of the court that we haven’t seen since Michael Jordan in the 90s. Despite the Knicks winning ways, they are far from a perfect team. Recently, ESPN spoke about what could be their fatal flaw in the playoffs. Here’s what they had to say.
Weakness: Short rotation
It is well chronicled at this point that Tom Thibodeau doesn’t mind pushing his top players’ minute totals. Brunson, Hart, and Anunoby each logged a 50-minute showing during the first-round series with Philadelphia, while guards Donte DiVincenzo and Miles McBride each had an outing of 48 minutes or more during the regular season. Even if the Knicks’ players have a willingness to play for that long, it is taxing — and perhaps even unsustainable — to do so repeatedly, particularly when the team finds itself so short-handed.
Injuries have been a major storyline for the Knicks all season, as they lost Julius Randle for the season to a shoulder injury on January 27th. In Round 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers, they lost Bojan Bogdanovic for the remainder of the postseason because of an ankle injury. Center Mitchell Robinson has also been announced out for 6-8 weeks with an ankle injury, ending his postseason.
Despite the injuries, the New York Knicks have had players step up and have continued to play their brand of basketball. However, the main players for the team are logging big minutes and eventually one has to think that they are going to wear down.
As of now, the New York Knicks are playing a 7-man rotation, and that doesn’t appear like it will change. The short rotation and big minutes haven’t hurt New York yet, but as the playoffs go on, it seems like it could be a potential flaw.
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