DETROIT — Playoff series are often like chess matches, with both coaches trying to combat or adjust to what the other is doing.
One decision by Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff has quickly exposed a Knicks weakness so far.
Bickerstaff has opted to have center Jalen Duren guard Josh Hart on defense rather than Karl-Anthony Towns.
In turn, he’s had Tobias Harris, a wing listed at 6-foot-8, guard Towns.
That has allowed Duren to camp in the paint and protect the rim or act as a floating help defender, often doubling Jalen Brunson and Towns when they have the ball.
“When they do that, it’s different,” Brunson said. “It doesn’t matter who’s on who. We’ve just got to attack what we see is an advantage for us.
“We have the utmost trust in everyone on this team. It doesn’t matter the situations people are put in. We’re gonna sit there, we’re gonna have each other’s back and we’re gonna go forward. We’re gonna win together, we’re gonna lose together, and we’re gonna learn together.”
Duren is routinely leaving Hart, the Knicks’ worst 3-point shooter among starters (he shot 33 percent from deep in the regular season), wide open on the perimeter, and he’s yet to make him pay for it or even respect his outside shooting.
He’s actually 2-for-3 from deep in the series, which is tied 1-1 heading to Detroit, but it has not been enough to make the Pistons change their strategy.
In the four regular-season matchups between the two teams, the Pistons largely had Duren guard Towns, and Towns’ 3-point prowess meant Duren had to come out and defend him on the perimeter, which as a result opened up more space in the lane and is not his strength.
Towns went 7-for-16 from 3-point range in those four matchups — an average of four attempts per game. But the quicker Harris has been better at limiting Towns’ 3-point shooting, and Towns has taken just five total across the two games — only making one.
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Towns, who has 4 inches and 22 pounds on Harris, should conversely be able to bully Harris in the paint.
He’s had success when he gets inside — he’s made 10-of-12 shots when he’s less than eight feet from the basket, per NBA.com’s tracking stats, which suggests he needs more touches in the post.
But his shooting ability is what really makes him most valuable and a matchup nightmare, and he’s so far not been utilized as such.
“I let the defense tell me [what to do],” Towns said. “Obviously, I’m always trying to get involved as much as possible. Whether it’s post up, I feel like I’ve worked tremendously hard on my game to have an outside-inside game, I think I’ve proven that to the world year in and year out. Just being aggressive, getting to spots I can do what I do best.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau could counter by giving McBride, who shot 36.9 percent from 3-point range in the regular season, more minutes with the starters in place of Hart.
The Pistons likely wouldn’t be able to get away with Duren on McBride due to his shooting ability.
And the Knicks’ four non-Hart starters had just 160 possessions with McBride in the regular season, per Cleaning the Glass, but outscored opponents by 43.7 points per 100 possessions.
to the Pistons. Getty Images
But that would also hurt the Knicks in the rebounding department, where they’ve struggled.
The Pistons have grabbed 15 more rebounds than the Knicks across the two games.
So, it’s a tricky decision.
The Pistons strategy is also not unique. Multiple teams had wings guard Towns during the regular season with their centers on Hart — in order to stop Towns’ shooting while exposing Hart’s — with mixed results.
“We’ve seen that all year, so it’s not anything new,” Thibodeau said. “Game 1 [we scored] 123 points. So we have to take each game, each game is different. What do you learn from the game? And then move it forward.”
