SPECIAL: Houston, We’ve Had a Problem

Last night at Madison Square Garden, with 1.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Knicks clung to a one-point lead as Reed Sheppard fouled Landry Shamet, sending Shamet to the free-throw line. The Garden crowd was tense. The fans were ready to erupt, but as Shamet missed his first free throw, they realized the Houston Rockets still had time to win the game.

11 minutes earlier, it seemed all but impossible for the Knicks to even be in this position. They were trailing by 18 points with 11 minutes left in regulation. When the Knicks entered the fourth quarter, they were trailing by 16.

How did they even get here?

When the fourth quarter started, Jalen Brunson had only scored 12 points, including just two in the first half. He left the Garden with 20.

“Didn’t like how I was playing,” Brunson said. “Decided that I had to switch it.”

In the fourth quarter, something clicked for the Knicks’ captain, and he delivered a team-leading eight points. The reigning Clutch Player of the Year was exactly that.

“It’s the mentality of trying to get downhill, make plays, not be hesitant, not be passive,” Brunson said. “If there are mistakes, they’re aggressive mistakes. Don’t want to be on your heels.”

Brunson parlayed his scoring skills with Jose Alvarado’s defense. After Thursday’s loss to Detroit, I criticized Alvarado for too easily buying into the reeking entitlement that plagued the Knicks. Last night, he proved me wrong. In the fourth quarter, with three steals, Alvarado recorded a team-high +20 rating, helping the Knicks force nine turnovers without committing any.

Alvarado also assisted on each of the Knicks’ first three shots of the final frame, including two three-pointers by Shamet. With 8:03 remaining, Alvarado drained a triple of his own, from the left corner, putting the Knicks within nine. In addition to his three steals, his trio of fourth-quarter assists led the Knicks.

“Sometimes, it’s not gonna be shots falling, and you gotta do the little things, get steals, and do that,” Alvarado said. “But, it’s always gonna be a different type of motor when I put this jersey on. I’m from here, and I gotta represent in the best way I can.”

Karl-Anthony Towns can only thank Alvarado for his emergence in the final frame. He scored seven points, including a key triple, as part of a team-leading 25-point night. For three quarters, especially coming off Thursday’s disappointing performance, it didn’t look like Towns had it in him to lead the Knicks in scoring.

That said, it’s easier to believe things like, “I look at KAT, and he’s probably right where he should be,” when Towns plays to his potential.

“Maybe he should be the leading scorer, I don’t know, but for sure the second-leading scorer,” head coach Mike Brown added. “He’s that. He gets the second-most field goal attempts behind [Brunson].”

After the game, Shaquille O’Neal interviewed Towns on ESPN. He told Towns he needs to be more of a physical threat on the court. Towns made it clear that he doesn’t care who on his team makes the most contributions as long as they help the Knicks win.

Shaq remained steadfast. “No, you’re wrong,” he replied. “You’re part of that one-two punch.”

I’ve been saying this throughout Towns’s tenure in New York, and I’ll repeat it now: For the Knicks to win a championship, they need all of Karl-Anthony Towns. They cannot afford for him to shrink in the biggest moments.

Remember, part of the reasoning behind Tom Thibodeau’s firing was how, under his leadership, Towns played small in the playoffs. Brown was brought to New York, in part, to keep his big man out of foul trouble and integrate him seamlessly into the Knicks’ offense. So far, neither has happened, not consistently at least.

But there is still time.

“We’ve simplified [our gameplan] a lot to try to fit [Towns] in and everyone else at the same time,” Brown said.

Towns’s fourth-quarter emergence, along with Alvarado’s illustrious defense, helped the Knicks establish a pace of play that made it all too easy to crack the joke, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Houston’s biggest problem might have been Jalen Brunson, especially with 4:40 remaining, when he cut the Knicks’ deficit to four points.

Two plays later, Brunson drew a foul on Amen Thompson, forcing a turnover. With 3:32 left, Towns cut the deficit to two. After Tari Eason scored, Brunson brought the Knicks back within two, nailing a jumper. Kevin Durant responded with a basket, after which Landry Shamet missed a triple. But then, Alvarado robbed KD and ran the ball all the way to the cup.

Alvarado’s layup made it a two-point game again, and he continued to light up the box score, intercepting a pass that led to a game-tying bucket by Brunson with 1:26 left. The Knicks then forced two more turnovers, but they couldn’t convert on either. They defended just well enough, though, to get the ball to Brunson with 21.2 seconds left, and he drained a jumper from the left elbow to give the Knicks a two-point lead.  

On the other end, Towns collected the rebound off a missed three-pointer by Jabari Smith Jr. After a couple of timeouts, OG Anunoby drew a foul on an inbound pass reception. He knocked down both free throws, putting the Knicks ahead by four with 5.4 seconds left.

That was when the 16-time All-Star, Kevin Durant, hit a straight-away three to put the Rockets back within one. The Garden crowd, as rambunctious as ever, suddenly went quiet. It didn’t help when, with 1.4 seconds left, Shamet missed his first free throw. He made his second, but the Rockets still had time to get the ball to Durant for a game-winning three.

The Knicks – they got lucky. Durant missed his shot, and New York won, 108-106. But, of course, this wasn’t sheer luck. The Knicks deserved to win this game. After all, they completed an 18-point comeback, their biggest of the season, in under 11 minutes.

After the game, Brown credited Towns, of all players, for motivating his teammates. After the third quarter, Towns delivered a speech about the importance of defense. “I said, ‘We can win this game. I’ve seen us do it. It starts with the first possession of the fourth quarter, playing defense,’” Towns said.

“I wanted to set the tone for our team and set the intensity level we needed to play with for 12 minutes if we expected to come out with a win.”

Given how much criticism Towns has faced this season, especially after Thursday’s debacle against Detroit, it shows a lot of character that (a) he was confident enough to inspire his teammates, and (b) his teammates were willing to listen. Towns could have continued to play soft. He could have continued to focus more on the officials than on the game.

But he chose a different path. A much more respectable path. The kind of path that helped his team win. And, with tenacity and grit, the Knicks earned the kind of win to which they can turn during the playoffs.

Cover Image Courtesy: New York Knicks