The New York Knicks failed to move the ball around the court during game three of the NBA conference finals and that lack of teamwork led to an 82-71 loss against the Indiana Pacers.
The Knicks shot 35.7 percent from the field and turned the ball over 14 times as they struggled to work together.
Before the game Jason Kidd told reporters:
“When we try to go one-on-one, we become one of the bottom teams in the league. So we understand what we have to do.”
In the fourth quarter the Knicks offense hit just 4 of 16 shots while Carmelo Anthony went 6-for-16 shooting for 21 points.
The Knicks ended the game 19-for-55 from the field as J.R. Smith also failed to impress. While battling a fever Smith shot just 4-for-12 and now sits at 11-for-42 in the series.
Smith after the game admitted: “Sometimes we held the ball too much. We couldn’t recover, took bad shots and threw the ball away.”
Talking about his teams bad performances in 2 out of 3 games so far in the series Tyson Chandler added:
“I think our problem is we’re playing as individuals. We’re getting in there, we’re taking our shot, we’re forcing our shot. … We’re playing a lot of one-on-one basketball.”
With just three 3-pointers landed during the game and an average of just eight 3-pointers per game on 24 attempts the Knicks appear to be lacking not only the teamwork side but also on the basic fundamentals.
Talking about his teams offense head coach Mike Woodson admitted that the Knicks have just been “slow” against the Indiana Pacers.
The New York Knicks have not been helped along by its guards either with Raymond Felton scoring six points while going 1-for-8 shooting. Combined Felton, Smith, Kidd and Prigioni managed to rack up just 5-for-24 from the field.
The Knicks pummeled the Pacers in game 2 but the teams lack of consistency from the field could ultimately spell trouble.
