Knicks must find way to combat Pistons effective Jalen Duren plan

DETROIT — Playoff series are often like chess matches, with both coaches trying to combat or adjust to what the other is doing.One decision by Pistons coach J.B.

Bickerstaff has quickly exposed a Knicks weakness so far.Bickerstaff has opted to have center Jalen Duren guard Josh Hart on defense rather than Karl-Anthony Towns.In turn, he’s had Tobias Harris, a wing listed at 6-foot-8, guard Towns.That has allowed Duren to camp in the paint and protect the rim or act as a floating help defender, often doubling Jalen Brunson and Towns when they have the ball.“When they do that, it’s different,” Brunson said.

“It doesn’t matter who’s on who.We’ve just got to attack what we see is an advantage for us.“We have the utmost trust in everyone on this team.

It doesn’t matter the situations people are put in.We’re gonna sit there, we’re gonna have each other’s back and we’re gonna go forward.

We’re gonna win together, we’re gonna lose together, and we’re gonna learn together.”Duren is routinely leaving Hart, the Knicks’ worst 3-point shooter among starters (he shot 33 percent from deep in the regular season), wide open on the perimeter, and he’s yet to make him pay for it or even respect his outside shooting.He’s actually 2-for-3 from deep in the series, which is tied 1-1 heading to Detroit, but it has not been enough to make the Pistons change their strategy.In the four regular-season matchups between the two teams, the Pistons largely had Duren guard Towns, and Towns’ 3-point prowess meant Duren had to come out and defend him on the perimeter, which as a result opened up more space in the lane and is not his strength.Towns went 7-for-16 from 3-point range in those four matchups — an average of four attempts per game.

But the quicker Harris has been better at limiting Towns’ 3-point shooting, and Towns has taken just five total across the two games — only making one.Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to ge...