To: New York Knicks/Subject: How to Beat the Boston Celtics
With Game 2 in the books, Knicks fans once again faced the dismay of a game well fought. With Chauncey Billups out with a strained left knee (questionable for Game 3) and Amar'e Stoudemire out with back spasms into the second half, Carmelo Anthony carried the load and put on quite a show, finishing with 42 points. Obviously, New York fell short but there are some jarring holes starting to expose themselves in Celtics basketball that New York will need to attend to and exploit.
Force Rondo to Shoot
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This has been pretty much the league-wide universal plan for guarding Rondo. His inability to shoot allows defenders to sag more than a pair of 90s hip-hop jeans.
Game 1 looked decent as he sank 3 of 7 shots from outside the paint but percentages always make more sense in the long run as he shot just 1 of 7 during Game 2.
And if you're wondering where the Boston-high 30 points came from, you guessed it right. Rondo made a total of 12 field goals in the paint. As much of a surprise as this sounds, Rondo's athleticism has never been questioned as it has allowed him to slip through numerous defenses and score difficult layups on the basis of his length and talented feel for the ball.
So...
Hack the Other Shaq
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In the past two games, Rondo has shot 0 for 2 and 4 of 7 from the line respectively. He is a 62 percent career free-throw shooter and this season, he's an atrocious 57 percent.
Which excuses nothing of Rondo's freewheeling in the paint in Game 2. The Knicks need to institute a Rondo-specific "no layup" mentality, courtesy of Pat Riley during the Ewing era.
Borrowing from great coaching minds yet again, the Hack-A-Shaq strategy could bode well for New York down the stretch in late game situations, especially when it's a 3 point difference, to gamble for a free throw miss from Rondo rather than have the ball in the hands of Allen or Boston's other weapons.
And just to do Rondo some justice, Shaq averages a career 52.7 percent on free throws.
Give Amare the Ball
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With the absence of Amare, Game 2 didn't allow for the execution of late-game isolation plays to exploit the mismatch. It will be critical in Game 3 for New York to do just that as Boston simply didn't have an answer for him, yet somehow, the ball fell into 'Melo late in the game.
Amare's athleticism should also play a role in both getting to the line and forcing the Celtics to expose the gaping crack left by the Kendrick Perkins trade.
Garnett has been consciously avoiding fouls as he has just 3 in the last 2 games, allowing for "Big Baby" Glen Davis and Jermaine O'Neal to take care of the gritty chores totaling 15 fouls between the two. Amare will need to take it to Garnett and force the whistle because with Garnett on the bench, Boston's defense will suffer.
Involve Toney Douglas
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Even with the desperation shots Douglas has been forced to take, he's allowed himself to be a factor scoring huge momentum-shifting baskets in both games. The Knicks need to realize that though he isn't "Mr. Big Shot" Billups, he can score when need be.
With so much focus and double teams being thrown onto 'Melo and STAT, the Knicks need to exploit this 2-man team mentality and allow Douglas to make game-deciding surprises near the end.
