The New York Knicks were able to close out the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, despite letting them win games four and five and almost letting them steal game six as well. However, it was obvious after their series with Boston that the Knicks had some serious flaws that they needed to fix before they started the second round.
However, the Knicks weren’t able to fix all of their issues in Sunday’s game one with the Indiana Pacers. In particular, they weren’t able to fix one of the biggest issues that they’ve been having, which is the poor and inefficient shooting of their star and best offensive player, Carmelo Anthony.
Over the last three games of the Celtics series and game one against Indiana, Anthony has averaged a solid 26.5 points and eight rebounds per game. Given those numbers alone, it looks like he’s been playing well late. However, Melo has shot just 31.8 percent from the field and has hit just two of his 22 three-point attempts over those last four games. He’s been terribly inefficient, despite being the focus of the Knicks offense.
Against the Celtics, Boston played solid team defense against Anthony, but he also was just going kind of cold shooting-wise. However, against the Pacers he is largely being guarded by Paul George, one of the better defenders in the entire league. On Sunday, George held Melo and J.R. Smith to just a combined 5-24 shooting performance from the field when he was guarding them. That’s not going to help Anthony get out of his slump.
One of the biggest issues with Anthony’s offense as of late is that New York has him working largely out of isolation plays. Granted, Melo is a solid isolation player, but that’s not when he’s at his best. According to points per possession number, Anthony is best when he’s working in the pick-and-roll. The Knicks have to do something the get Anthony going again offensively and that might be their best bet.
If New York doesn’t get Anthony playing better offensively over the next few games, they will undoubtedly lose to the Pacers and it will probably be a short series. Putting him in the pick-and-roll more may be the answer, but the fact of the matter is that they have to try something different. What they did with Melo on Sunday just wasn’t working.
Cody Williams is a Senior NBA Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.
