ATLANTA — On his long list of things he believed went wrong, Mike Brown included the officiating.
When asked about the Hawks’ ability to close out on 3-point shooters after the Knicks’ 109-108 Game 3 loss at State Farm Arena, Brown explained how he wanted his players to drive past them and get into the paint.
But, when they got to the paint, Brown believes they weren’t getting deserved fouls.
“They’re closing out hard,” Brown said. “And when they close out hard, we gotta drive the basketball. I do think it’s a tough game for the officials to officiate. But I know we got fouled on a few of the drives that didn’t get called. It’s tough to see 20-26 [free-throw discrepancy] in a one-possession game when you know for sure there were a couple of fouls that should’ve been called.”
The lineup Brown used for most of the fourth quarter as the Knicks mounted their comeback — Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, with Mikal Bridges benched — was plus-24 in 14 minutes across the whole game.
“They did a good job of taking care of the basketball,” Brown said. “They were pretty aggressive. Atlanta, they’re trying to get up in us, they’re trying to speed us up, they’re playing physical, and when you face that type of defense, you can’t play on your heels. You can’t be passive at all. You got to be able to rip that ball through and get to the rim. Or if they close out hard, you gotta be able to snap drive and get to the rim.
“That group did a pretty good job of it. They did a pretty good job of trying to get out in transition, too. And then they did a pretty good job of trying to get stops defensively. That’s something that we all have to recognize and embrace.”
Would Brown consider inserting McBride into the starting lineup?
“I’m not thinking about that right now,” Brown said. “In the same breadth, I’ve said it before, we have to look at everything.
