Saturday, November 20, 2010

Knicks defeat Warriors 125-119. What was different?

The Knicks defeated the Warriors 125-119 in Golden State last night. It was a quality win. The reason being not because they played locked-down defense. The win was as a result of stellar ball movement. In the 2nd half, the Knicks began to channel the 69 Knicks. Passing became contagious. And it wasn't just escape passing, or forced looks. It was swing and skip passing around the perimeter that opened up the offense for the entire team. Quick, crisp passes along the perimeter forced Golden State to stretch their perimeter defense. The quick passes created open looks and lanes and when this happened, GS was forced to rotate their defense. The Knicks, in turn, attacked the basket and had many dump off passes for easy hoops.

The handful of possessions where the Knicks has 7+ passes usually led to baskets. It was beautiful. It was basketball. And it's the way the Knicks should be playing every night. It actually takes less energy to pass the ball then to dribble. It's the way the offense should be scheming every night. The team passing opened up an 18 point lead for the Knicks and it was only when they started dribbling and going one-on-one again did Golden State get back in the game.

It was great to see New York move the ball in a way that is truly basketball. Hopefully they can keep it up tonight against the Clippers.