The Knicks have invested a lot to provide Jalen Branson with the scoring help they need.
But that support cast cannot support if they never get the ball.
The numbers are astounding throughout the two games of the Pistons in this first-round series, even 1-1 heading to Detroit in Game 3 on Thursday.
This certainly isn’t what President Leon Rose and coach Tom Thibodeau imagined when they made two blockbusters to buy the town of Carl Anthony and Mikal Bridge.
The Knicks scored just 15 assists in a 100-94 Game 2 loss on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, the lowest of the entire season.
In Game 1, where the Knicks scored 123-112, they only had 15 assists in the first three quarters before they scored 11 in the fourth quarter.
There’s no movement or fun to play with the ball. More ball movement, more fun.
“We definitely take each of our possessions at once and try to figure out what we do best,” Branson said after Game 2. “When you have a lot of great players on this team, it’s very difficult. It’s definitely on the shoulders.
“So I’ll go back and figure out what I need to do. We’ll have a conversation and figure out what we need to do for Game 3.”
Digging further into the numbers makes it even more worrying and confusing.
Throughout the two games, Knicks averaged 254.5 passes per game, per NBA.com tracking stats. It’s been down all the way from the regular season, when they averaged 281.2 passes per game. And it’s the lowest in the NBA in the regular season. Rocket was last ranked with 262.2 passes per game.
Branson averaged a career-high 7.3 assists in the regular season, but the way he used his teammates in two postseason games is not working.
The result was that the ball stuck to his hands for a long time, and the team’s secondary scorer was iced out.
His use rate (measuring how active a player is in his team’s offensive play) skyrocketed with up to 36.3 playoff games compared to 28.9 in the regular season.
That 36.3 mark would have been the best in the NBA in the regular season. It was 39.2 in Game 2.
He passed town only 12 times in Game 2, resulting in the town being extremely quiet, with just 10 points in a 5-for-5 shooting from the field.
He also did not take a single shot in the fourth quarter. Branson crossed the bridge 38 times, Josh Hart crossed 32 times and Anunoby crossed the bridge 19 times.
Towns and Anunoby, scorers in the Knicks’ second and third readings in the regular season, are simply less balls.
The Towns averaged 46 touches in the first two games of the series, down from 59.6 in the regular season.
In Game 2, it was all the way up to 36.
Anunoby averaged 42.5 touches in two games, down from 44.9 in the regular season, only 38 in Game 2.
Hart’s touch has also decreased, averaging 63 in two games compared to his regular season 70.
The only starter with increased touches is Bridge, who averaged 60.5 touches in two games, rising from 54.3 in the regular season.
Branson averages 10.1 seconds of ball per ownership throughout two games starting from 8.6 seconds in the regular season.
“I think it just comes from us playing slower,” Hart said. “I think it’s hard for teams to catch up when we play fast. We have a lot of weapons out there. When you play fast, you can make a mistake. When you’re stagnant, it’s hard for them to make a mistake. Then.”
Thibodeau saved the Knicks in Game 1, joking that Branson “wears his cape.”
But it’s time to move his buddy.
Because it’s those buddies that the Knicks planned to make this postseason difference.
