Knicks eye a fix for their recurring NBA Finals slow starts

The Knicks’ recurring issue of starting games too slowly has followed them into the NBA Finals. After each of the first three games, New York has already spent an uncomfortable amount of time chasing momentum, falling into early deficits that have dictated the flow of the series.

According to reports, the pattern is not subtle. In Game 3, New York trailed by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, and in Games 1 and 2 it trailed by as many as 10. The Knicks have at times rallied, but the concern, as voiced by Karl-Anthony Towns, is the cost of relying on second-half recoveries instead of setting the tone immediately.

Towns said the team has put itself in position where it has to “start fighting immediately” in every Finals game played so far, and he framed the issue as a trust problem. The Knicks have found ways back into games, but Towns argued they cannot assume that a comeback will always be available. He also pointed to the Spurs’ execution early, describing them as a team that has been able to dictate pace and force New York to respond rather than initiate.

New York coach Mike Brown echoed that frustration in a separate comment reported from Finals coverage, indicating the Knicks did not do enough coming out in Game 3, not only in the first half but also later in the game. The takeaway from the coaching perspective is straightforward: if New York wants to reduce the need for large surges, it has to change how the first quarter begins.

One reason this issue is hard to correct is the strength attributed to the Spurs’ starting lineup. In reporting on the series, San Antonio’s first five is described as having a postseason net rating of 25.0, the best mark among any five-player lineup that has logged at least 100 minutes together. By comparison, the Knicks’ starting five, listed as Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Towns, is reported to have a net rating of 11.2 in the same postseason span.

The same coverage also ties the early gap to scoring pressure. San Antonio is reported to have outscored opponents by an average of 4.5 points in first quarters this postseason, the highest figure among playoff teams. That statistic helps explain why New York’s early stretches carry extra weight: when the opponent’s opening five is functioning at a high level, it becomes more difficult to avoid a positional deficit on both ends of the floor.

This is now a practical question rather than a philosophical one. With the Finals series moving into the next chapter, the Knicks will need to show they can start fast without sacrificing the lineup identity that got them here, whether that means tightening their offensive spacing, improving their early defensive habits, or simply arriving with a sharper first possession plan. If they can cut down the size and frequency of those first-quarter holes, they should spend less time playing uphill and more time controlling the tempo.

For the Spurs, a continuation of the early-start blueprint would reinforce the series’ early-game logic. For the Knicks, the watch point is whether Towns’ demand for “the first ones to throw the first punch” becomes visible in the opening minutes, not just in how they respond later. The Finals are often decided by late-game details, but New York’s current challenge is earlier than that, in how it shows up at the start.