The New York Knicks had a chance to take a commanding 3-0 series advantage against the Boston Celtics on Saturday. Unfortunately, they came out looking lifeless as Boston dominated them wire-to-wire to steal a game at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks need to play with much more urgency
Luckily for New York, they are still up in the series 2-1, but they must make some improvements ahead of Game 4 if they want to regain full control of the series. It feels as though the Knicks have played below their standards in all three games of the series despite winning two of them, especially in the early parts of games.
Jalen Brunson wants that to change, and he said following Game 3’s loss that they need to have a better sense of urgency on the court moving forward.
“There’s not a lot I can say. It’s a lot that we need to discuss tomorrow and figure out. Need to play with more of a sense of urgency,” Brunson said via SNY.
The Knicks have to regain control of the series
The Celtics basically shot the Knicks out of the building in Game 3, as they nailed 20 of their 40 attempts from beyond the arc. New York, meanwhile, only made five of their 25 attempts from long-range, and it was clear that the shooting disparity was the difference-maker.
The Knicks were fortunate enough to slow down the Celtics’ shooting prowess in Games 1 and 2, but now Boston has found it from beyond the arc and looks like the unstoppable force many expected them to be coming into the series. New York can still bounce back from this loss, but they have come out of the gate much stronger moving forward if they wish to have a chance.
They will look to do that in Game 4 on Monday, where they can grab a 3-1 series lead before the series heads back to Boston for Game 5.