Apr 21, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket against Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) during the third quarter of game two of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Rebounding is the key to rebounding for the New York Knicks.
The pressure’s on New York as Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Detroit Pistons looms large with the series knotted at one apiece. A big game will require big men to rise to the occasion, as Knicks reps emphasized the board battle as the key to regaining the momentum and narrative of the best-of-seven set.
“We watched tape, I watched the tape myself, and we’ve had two days to fix it and get ourselves right mentally and physically [for Game 3],” Karl-Anthony Towns said in video from SNY. “We need to [win the rebounding].”
Apr 21, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) controls the ball against Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) during the second quarter of game two of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
“We’ve got to make a commitment to getting it done,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said in another video from SNY. “Each game teaches you something. We’ve got to learn from it and make corrections … It’s a combination of a lot of things: it’s the commitment, reading the ball, second, third effort, holding your block out. We’re capable of doing better.”
Game 2, a 100-94 Detroit win, was defined by physicality, perhaps in a both excessive and unrealized nature. But nothing showcased Detroit’s grit, which has allowed them to more than triple last season’s tally of 14 wins, better than what they did on the glass.
Despite Ausar Thompson dealing with foul trouble and the medically-induced loss of backup bruiser Isaiah Stewart, the Pistons out rebounded the Knicks by 14 in the Game 2 triumph at Madison Square Garden. Three different Detroiters (Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Tobias Harris) pulled in at least a dozen while Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson led the Knicks with seven each on a night where Towns was contained to six.
The minus-14 margin was the Knicks’ worst on the glass since Game 4 of the 2013 Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Indiana Pacers.
Perhaps nothing defined the Knicks’ reversal in rebounding fortune better than the end of the game, when Mikal Bridges’ would-be equalizer fell short and was immediately eaten up by Harris. In an almost-identical situation from last season’s second game of the opening round, the since-departed Isaiah Hartenstein stole a board from Harris, then of the Philadelphia 76ers, and gave fellow departure Donte DiVincenzo’s misfire back to him. DiVincenzo sank the second try, giving the Knicks a thrilling and victory.
One of the popular proposed solutions to the Knicks’ ongoing woes has been extended stretches with the big bodies of Robinson and Towns on the floor at the same time. Thibodeau has offered tantalizing glimpses of the two working together, pairing them for 31 minutes in the last two games. The Knicks boss, however, hinted at hesitance of overdoing, claiming to worry about a sense of lost balance for the New Yorkers.
Apr 21, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) warms up before game two of first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs against the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
“There’s been some good, obviously there’s some that we could do better. The rebounding part of it has been good,” Thibodeau said in video from SNY. “But then also you’ve got look at the matchups, who do they have on the floor and then what are you vulnerable to? There’s times it’s been really good.”
In the very early playoff going, Robinson and Towns have the fifth-best rebounding percentage among tandems that have played at least 15 minutes (55.2). That number moves to fourth on the offensive glass (47.1) and is tied for fifth with four other pairs on defense (66.7).
