The Knicks lost on Saturday, again. This time to a bad team, again, in the Phoenix Suns, in heartbreaking fashion, again, when Devin Booker hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 31 seconds left. The Suns would go on to win 107-105, dropping New York to 19-26 on the season.
What's remarkable is how two plays sum up the Knicks this season in excruciating detail.
New York is 15th offensively, and has been higher at times in the season. They are definitely good enough on offense to make the playoffs. But they are 25th defensively, and that's where they lose games. There's a lot of blame to go around for this. Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings are all poor defensive players for a variety of reasons. They push the pace but aren't in great shape to keep that up in finding guys in transition. But a big reason for it is schematic.
The Knicks are 26th in defending spot-up plays this season, via Synergy Sports. Now, New York is actually middle of the pack in guarding 3-pointers per 100 possessions. How is that possible? Well, Synergy tracks plays where a player spots up, catches the ball and then drives either to the rim or a pull-up jumper. And the Knicks, especially their guards, are routinely out of position. Much of this is because of a scheme the Knicks employ under Kurt Rambis where the weakside wing defender overloads the side the ball is on, hoping to contain pick and roll, which forces them to recover rapidly when the ball reverses to the other side of the floor.
What does that look like you ask? Great question! Here's Booker's game-winner:
Here's how far Derrick Rose helps down:
Kristaps Porzingis is trying to contain Eric Bledsoe. But this is a common issue with dropping against great passers. If you give them room to operate, they will work themselves into angles. This is a quick, easy read for Bledsoe.
Rose isn't actually doing anything here, either. And that's a problem.
The answer is that by coming over, Rose can "tag" the rolling screener. So if Tyson Chandler dives to the rim, since Bledsoe's man is going over the screen to try and get back, there's no one to contain Chandler if Rose doesn't help down. If Courtney Lee in that bottom right corner helps down, there's an open corner three.
If Tyson Chandler goes for the lob vs. Rose, is there much he's going to be able to do? And the other problem here is that of choices. What's a worse option, a contested lob to Chandler for the dunk, T.J. Warren in the corner with Courtney Lee trying to close on him, or a wide open spot-up three for Devin Booker? Hint: It's the one that won the game for the Suns.
Finally, it's a personnel issue:
Rose isn't long enough, or at this point after his injuries, quick enough to recover for this shot.
So just stop that scheme? Well, it's not that simple. A lot of teams use this strategy effectively; the Celtics for example do a great job with it. The alternative is to switch, putting Porzingis in single coverage on Bledsoe, which is going to require help from the corner on Bledsoe. It puts Ron Baker on Chandler, which is honestly OK at this point. But if Rose just stays home, and Lee stays home, at least you're not giving up the 3-pointer.
So that's one play. Then there's the final play of the game:
Things about this, ranked:
1. Melo passed to Courtney Lee in the Knicks' loss to the Wizards Friday, and Lee, rattled by assistant Sydney Lowe, wound up helping create a turnover. Melo was not going to make that mistake twice. He was shooting that no matter what.
2. Kristaps Porzingis is down there in the corner, helpfully tucked away, playing no part of the play. Using Porzingis as the screener likely results in Chandler helping on Anthony, which would leave Porzingis either open or with a mismatch for a game-winner. But instead the Knicks forced a switch onto the smaller defender vs. Melo so he could shoot over him.
3. Anthony's reaction walking away with shoulder slumped is remarkably Knicks. It reminds me of in Arrested Development when the Charlie Brown music plays:
4. It's the most Melo shot possible. It's not even a bad look, he can make that shot. But a contested pull-up jumper off the dribble is so predictable. Hey, at least he ran pick and roll instead of isolating. That's a bonus, right?
These two plays went haywire in a game the Knicks could have won. But they do show areas that are holding the Knicks back from being something more.
