Game Recap: 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Game 2 – NYK vs. IND; IND: 114, NYK: 109

Where was OG Anunoby? Where was Josh Hart? Where was Karl-Anthony Towns?

Last night, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks fell to the Indiana Pacers 114-109. They now trail Indiana 0-2 in the series.

The matchup of the night featured Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. Or, more accurately, Pascal Siakam and “blank.” While Siakam scored 39 points and held Anunoby to 16, his performance in transition cemented 14 fastbreak points for the Pacers, while the Knicks only mustered seven.

“The regroup starts tomorrow,” said Jalen Brunson. “That’s it.”

Before Game 2, I discussed the defensive struggles the Knicks’ starting five has faced this postseason. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana outscored the Knicks by 16 points, who posted an awful 167.4 defensive rating. Entering Game 1, the Knicks held a 116.5 defensive rating through 13 playoff games. The trend leaked into Game 2 as the Knicks struggled so much in transition that Josh Hart scored six points in 29 minutes while Karl-Anthony Towns posted a -20 rating in 28 minutes. In the final minutes of the game, head coach Tom Thibodeau kept Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride in the game while Hart and Towns sat on the bench.

Despite playing well defensively, Robinson and McBride couldn’t carry their team through the fourth quarter in Game 2. Robinson is an offensive rebounder, not a scorer. Deuce McBride is a scorer, but he cannot set screens, which adds little value for his teammates. So, it didn’t matter that the Knicks reduced a 110-100 score to a three-point deficit, because on his last opportunity to tie the game, Jalen Brunson missed his three-point shot. The Knicks didn’t do enough in the second half of Game 2 to come back against the Pacers, who have won six of their last seven playoff games against New York.

“Maybe we’re playing a little too soft in the beginning of halves,” said Mikal Bridges. Simply put, the Knicks lose games when Karl-Anthony Towns (and others) play “soft.” What does “soft” look like? It’s a minus-20 rating despite scoring 20 points in 28 minutes. It’s the 20 points more than the Knicks that Indiana scored while Towns was on the court. Like Towns, Josh Hart posted a -10 rating through 29 minutes, but he only scored six points. That’s why he and Towns weren’t on the court much during the fourth quarter of Game 2. “We need [Towns] to be aggressive offensively,” said Josh Hart. “We need him to communicate at a high level. Offensively, be aggressive, get to his spots, get deep post position, and use his talent offensively. Defensively, be locked in, communicate at a high level, and be an anchor for us.”

The Knicks acquired Towns because he was acclaimed to be the best three-point shooting big man in the NBA. The concern around Towns was that, despite his size and strength, he lacked defensive skills, especially compared to Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, whom the Knicks traded to Minnesota in exchange for Towns.

Towns became an All-Star with the Knicks. He earned Third Team All-NBA honors in New York. The Knicks even acquired Mikal Bridges to bolster the defense they lost in the Towns trade. Yet, somehow, Towns has been one of the weakest Knicks players this postseason, and it’s costing his team big time down the stretch.

“It’s tough to lose any way,” said Towns. “So, we’ve just got to regroup together for the next one. We’re just playing ourselves into a deficit, and I told you how we can’t keep doing that.”

Without Hart, the Knicks have no heart. Without Towns, they have no backbone. If incomplete, they are dysfunctional, and they will not make it out of the East if they cannot get production out of each and every member of their starting lineup.

“Obviously, we can finger-point and say this is wrong, that’s wrong, and say it’s this person’s fault, it’s that person’s fault,” said Jalen Brunson. “But collectively, we’ve got to get it together.”

Game 3 is scheduled for tomorrow at 8 PM in Indiana.