Knicks’ Isaiah Hartenstein joins elite company with ‘huge’ rebounding performance in Game 5

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau consistently preaches the importance of defense, rebounding and limiting turnovers as the keys to winning any game.

On Tuesday, the Knicks checked off the rebounding box big time in their 121-91 over the Pacers in Game 5 thanks to the team’s ability to rebound, led by Isaiah Hartenstenstein. The 26-year-old center pulled down 17 boards, 12 of the offensive variety.

“You gotta give Zay a tremendous amount of credit….that’s something we need him to do,” Josh Hart said after the game. “When they blitz Jalen [Brunson], they’re in scramble mode and that’s when they have a small on him or Donte has no one guarding him…. Great effort and we need to keep that up.”

In the Knicks’ Game 4 loss, the team grabbed just 43 rebounds — 16 offensive — and Hartenstein could only get five total boards with zero offensive rebounds. That’s very unlike the five-year veteran who averaged eight rebounds per game in the regular season.

“I just wanted to be more physical,” Hartenstein said of his play. “The games in Indiana I wasn’t playing like myself I was letting them play like how I play. That was the biggest thing I wanted to do, be physical and play my game.”

On Tuesday, the rebound battle was a totally different story. The Knicks outrebounded the Pacers 66 to 38, which led to second-chance opportunities. Those extra possessions allowed New York to take 101 shots to Indiana’s 72.

“What they did in Indiana, no one was proud of,” Hartenstein said of the difference between Game 4 and 5. “We were in the mud. Still, that can’t happen. We came together. We wanted to be more physical and play Knicks basketball. We got back to that today.”

“Isaiah was phenomenal,” Thibodeau said. “It was a great team effort but Isaiah in particular, those extra possessions were huge for us.”

In addition to Hartenstein’s 17 rebounds, Hart grabbed 11 while Precious Achieuwa and Alec Burks picked up five rebounds apiece off the bench. All in all, a dominant effort from the Knicks, but Hartenstein’s performance on Tuesday was something that hadn’t been seen in 30 years.

The…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/knicks-isaiah-hartenstein-joins-elite-054747642.html

Author : SNY

Publish date : 2024-05-15 05:47:47

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