Closing seconds of Game 2. New York is down four, with the ball. A marvelous inbound play seems to create an ocean of space for Jalen Brunson to nail a clutch triple, nearly granting the Knicks an impossible victory out of the jaws of defeat. How did they do it?
The exact same way they drew up a play to close Game 3—an illegal Karl-Anthony Towns screen that shockingly went without a whistle.
The unfortunate answer to illegal screens: selling the call. Yes, flopping
You read that correctly—I'm recommending Atlanta takes a page out of New York's playbook in this series. Brunson's flopping antics are well-documented and have no doubt granted the crafty lead guard more than a handful of extra looks at the free throw line this series. Defensive woes aside, Brunson's offense has certainly been a focal point of Quin Snyder's scheming.
Atlanta should utilize similar antics, but on the defensive end. When Towns, Hart, Anunoby, or whoever else throws a moving/illegal screen at Brunson's defender, sell it! Fall to the ground with purpose and force the referee to blow the whistle, one way or another.
While it won't work every time, it might just draw enough attention to the issue to at least scare the Knicks into setting such screens, especially in crunch time. Take away one of Brunson's greatest advantages, and he's in even more trouble.
Unfortunately for Atlanta, the issue in the series isn't Brunson—it's Towns, and I don't know how much longer New York's coaching staff will be able to ignore it.
Atlanta needs to find an answer before Coach Brown wakes up
Outside of his two obvious illegal screens that very nearly granted New York a facetious 3-0 series lead, Towns has been simply sensational for the Knicks through three brutal first round battles.
In fact, in the 43 minutes Towns has been off the court this series, the Hawks boast a whopping +26.5 net rating. When Towns is on, however, the story couldn't be any more different - Atlanta sits at a dismal -16.8 net rating across 96 KAT minutes.
Without Towns, the offense flows almost entirely through Jalen Brunson. Accentuated by Dyson Daniels' ability to stay on the court via his crafty off-ball offense, Brunson has been blanketed by Atlanta's elite perimeter defense all series long.
While Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have headlined one of the most iron curtain-esque defenses against the smaller Jalen Brunson, the Hawks don't exactly have a great matchup to put on Towns.
Defenders like Mo Gueye, Jalen Johnson, and even Jonathan Kuminga have fared decently against Brunson due to their length. Unfortunately, all three—and others, even more so—are severely undersized when guarding the much larger Towns.
If New York pivots to a more Towns-centered approach, which the data suggests is infinitely more successful against Atlanta than a heliocentric Brunson offense, Atlanta will need to send doubles and veiled defensive tactics to throw off Towns. Not known for his playmaking out of a trap, time will tell if he's able to make the necessary adjustment that Coach Brown will likely ask of him.
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