With Mike Brown’s team set to play the Magic in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday in Las Vegas, here are three keys for the Knicks to advance:
Match Magic’s physicality
The Magic like to get in your face and pick up full court on the defensive end.
The Knicks were outmuscled the first two matchups, but better handled the Magic’s aggression in the last meeting.
Give Jalen Brunson help
He has been brilliant of late, but the Magic will try to bully him — and likely double-team him — and force others to beat them.
Karl-Anthony Towns, in particular, has had mixed results against them this year — which version of him will show up?
3-point defense
It has been the Knicks’ biggest weakness this year. In the two losses to the Magic, they let Desmond Bane thrive from behind the arc — he scored 22 and 27 points, respectively, shooting a combined 6-for-13 from deep.
