Can Knicks Come Back And Win East Finals?

Oh, and Game 6 is in Indianapolis (Saturday, 8 p.m. EST).

But with a bucket-getter like Jalen Brunson, an All-Star big man in Karl-Anthony Towns and some serious defense … hey, you never know. Right? Right. We think.

“Watching them defend in (Game 5), holding the Pacers to 41% from the floor, 33% from three, forcing 20 turnovers — the Knicks have the bodies to do something close to this on a regular basis,” Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix said on The Rich Eisen Show. “Think about it. Mikal Bridges, elite defender. OG Anunoby, elite defender. Mitchell Robinson, elite rim-protector. 

“They should be able to be better defensively than they’ve been throughout the course of this year.”

Instead, the Knicks have been a middle-of-the-pack team defensively in both the regular season and the playoffs. But if they are to force a Game 7 back in New York, they will need to be a whole lot better than middle-of-the-pack on that end.

“(In Game 5) they put it together on both ends of the floor,” Mannix said. “I don’t know if they can do it for two more games. But I watched that game, and I was like, this is the best version of the Knicks. I don’t know why we don’t get this more often.”

Whoever wins this series will advance to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals. Game 1 is Thursday in OKC.

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