1-3 in desperate situation, where is the Knicks losing in this game? Three major defeats were exposed, and the biggest "sinner" was discovered

On May 28, 2025, in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals G4, the Knicks lost to the Pacers 121-130, and the series score reached 1-3, falling into an almost desperate situation. Behind this failure is a series of issues worthy of in-depth analysis.

First of all, from the perspective of the game process, the Knicks' defensive problems can be said to have collapsed in all aspects. The final quarter became a nightmare for the Knicks, with the Pacers grabbing their defensive turnovers and scoring continuously, Siakam's key three-pointer widening the gap. The loose outside defense also made the Pacers' three-pointers go well, with their three-point shooting percentage as high as 40.6% (13 of 32 shots). Halliburton and Siakam used misaligned breakthroughs to score many times, and the Knicks' defense was riddled with holes.

Secondly, tactical mistakes also seriously affected the Knicks' performance. Head coach Thibodeau took the initiative to choose to compete with the Pacers in a fast attack, and this decision was undoubtedly to attack the enemy's strengths with his own shortcomings. The Knicks were slow in defensive rotation and made frequent mistakes. They made 17 mistakes in the game and were snatched by the Pacers 11 times. The Pacers used this to make an efficient counterattack. In the whole game, the Pacers scored 20 points using the mistakes.

In addition, the performance fluctuations of core players are also an important factor in losing. Brunson scored 31 points in the whole game, which seemed to be good, but he only made 1 of 3 shots in the final quarter and scored 2 points, with the plus and negative value as low as -16. He relies too much on singles, which has led to the team's offensive system being not smooth enough, his teammates' offensive opportunities have decreased, and the team has only 17 assists. Towns contributed 24 points and 12 rebounds, but only made 3 shots in the final quarter. Thibodeau failed to reasonably allocate his offensive opportunities, making him unable to play the inside threat in the key round.

In this defeat, head coach Thibodeau is to blame. His tactical choice made mistakes and actively accelerated the Pacers' fast attack system, resulting in frequent defensive collapses and turnovers. The rotation is too conservative and overly reliant on the main players, which has caused the substitute lineup to perform poorly and has not adjusted the lineup in time to deal with the Pacers' multi-point blossoming. At the critical moment, he made a mistake in decision making, and did not call timely adjustments in the last quarter. The combination of the two towers was insufficient, resulting in the loss of the rebound and inside advantage. In addition, his use of players is also controversial, which makes Robinson's starting lineup disrupt the rhythm and the distribution of ball rights is unreasonable. This loss of

Knicks is a comprehensive result of tactical mistakes, rotation rigidity and insufficient efficiency of core players. Thibodeau's conservative strategy and on-site command issues have become the biggest shortcomings, and the contradiction between Brunson's "arbitrary" and Towns' ball rights distribution further exacerbates the dilemma of teamwork. If the Knicks cannot adjust their tactics in time, improve their defensive strength and optimize their player rotation in G5, they will have a very slim hope to achieve a reversal and advance to the finals. They must make changes or they can only accept the fate of being eliminated.