Knicks’ communication issues cropped up again in ugly Game 1 loss

The issue has certainly not gone away. It keeps coming back to bite the Knicks.

And they’ve begun to sound like a broken record.

“I think we let off a little bit, and then we stopped talking to each other. Just a little miscommunication,” Mikal Bridges said Thursday. “They got some 3s and obviously [Aaron] Nesmith made a lot of shots. But we made it easy — didn’t make it harder. He stayed hot and we miscommunicated and he made a couple more, some rhythm ones.”

That communication issue has cropped up repeatedly throughout the playoffs, and they’ve vowed to correct it countless times. It was glaring during the Knicks’ fourth-quarter collapse in their 138-135 Game 1 overtime loss to the Pacers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Nesmith drilled six 3-pointers in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. On four of those six, he walked right into open shots due to the Knicks botching their pick-and-roll coverage.

“Some of it was secondary action,” coach Tom Thibodeau said Thursday. “The initial part of it was good, then the re-screen, just having the awareness to make sure that we’re up. I think that was a big part of that. And then also to realize what is going on in transition. Because sometimes, if someone is picking him up that is not assigned to him, have that awareness that, ‘OK, we have to be up and take things away from him.’ ”

OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, in particular, appeared to be on different pages multiple times late in the game.

Karl-Anthony Towns (left) and OG Anunoby had some defensive communication issues in the Knicks’ Game 1 loss to the Pacers. Getty Images

During one break in action, the two got into an animated argument on the bench. Jalen Brunson had to step in and talk to both and calm them down.

“Just guys talking,” Brunson said Thursday of the incident.

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The Knicks have altered between switching on all screens and drop coverage throughout the playoffs.

The Pacers’ relentless pace makes it even more paramount to communicate through those approaches.

“We know we’re doing different types of coverages,” Bridges said. “So if both guys are in the same action, knowing what we’re doing and communicating, stuff like that. I think we had a lot of miscommunication where one guy did the other and one guy thought something, where we have to all be on a string knowing that if we’re doing this, that all five of us know, especially the two guys in it, but all five guys should know it as well. That’s really it. It comes from relaxing a little bit. Just relax for a second, then you’re a step late, and forget, ‘I got to switch here’ or ‘rotate there.’ It’s just maintaining that throughout the entire game.”

Mikal Bridges said during a media session on May 22, 2025 that the Knicks have to communicate better on defense in Game 2 vs. the Pacers. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

Similar words have been spoken plenty in recent weeks. Results have not consistently followed.