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DETROIT — Tobias Harris smirked as he gave his answer.
He played against the Knicks in the playoffs last year while with the 76ers, and is doing so once again this year as a key starter on the Pistons.
What has he noticed about the personality of this year’s Knicks team compared to last year?
“It’s a different dynamic, for sure,” Harris said Thursday morning at shootaround ahead of Game 3. “That’s all I’m gonna say. … It’s part of our gameplan.”
The Knicks made two blockbuster trades and spent significant capital over the offseason to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges in order to elevate into a contender that could compete with the Celtics and other elite teams in the East. But they lost Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in the trade for Towns and Isaiah Hartenstein exited in free agency.
Randle, DiVincenzo and Hartenstein provided much of the Knicks’ grit last year as three of their toughest and most physical players. That identity has been glaringly missing this year without them.
And through the first two games of the series, the Pistons — who have built their reputation during this breakout season on outmuscling opponents — bullied the Knicks in terms of their physicality and aggressiveness.
Last year, the Knicks were usually the bullies. That was certainly true when they beat Harris’ 76ers in six games in the first round.
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In the first two games of this series, the Pistons threw the first punches and the Knicks played off their back foot.
“We’re just playing super hard. Coming in, trying to set the tone, be aggressive,” Ausar Thompson said Thursday morning. “Make the refs and the other team adjust to us.”
Harris himself has largely matched up with Towns, who has four inches and 22 pounds on him. On paper, that should allow Towns to impose his size on Harris and other Pistons defenders.
But he had not really been able to through the first two games.
“I definitely embrace it,” Harris said. “For me, it’s just being physical. Making sure he’s taking tough looks. Make sure every look that he’s getting, he’s gotta work for it.”
