Can the Knicks’ relentless defense and gritty stars silence the Hawks and shift the playoff tide?
“Josh was really good on the ball,” Brown said. “He’s got quick feet, he’s strong and when he gets locked in, he’s locked in. His defensive activity, especially when it comes to ball pressure, was fabulous tonight. We needed every ounce of it … CJ’s a handful so we just gotta keep trying to find ways to show him different looks which means different guys at different times.”
New York’s pressure on McCollum reached catastrophic levels Saturday night, ultimately forcing the ball into Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s hands, tasking him with secondary (and sometimes primary) creation. Walker, who was recently named the NBA’s Most Improved Player, is typically careful with the ball but is miles off of a consistent playmaker — 30th and 20th percentiles in assist rate and assist-to-usage ratio, Alvarado, McBride and anyone else with a pulse crowded Walker’s airspace, causing him to rush and overthink actions and resulting in him turning the ball over a game-high six times.


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