The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers will square off once again in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals Thursday night after New York won an overtime thriller in Game 1. Ironically, head coaches of both teams are former Golden State Warriors assistant coaches, those being Mike Brown (Knicks) and Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers).
After Game 1, Coach Brown cited his time in Golden State for helping the Knicks out with their defensive strategy against Cavaliers star guard James Harden. “When I was in Golden State and we played Houston, we counted James Harden’s dribbles,” Brown said. “We told our guys he’s dribbling close to 1,000 times a game. Keep picking him up full court and make him dribble. At the end of the game, it would wear him down.”
Keeping constant pressure on Harden worked for New York during Game 1, as they held the MVP to 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting and 1-for-8 shooting from 3-point range while committing six turnovers. Turnovers have been an issue for James Harden in this year’s playoffs, giving the ball away four times or more in 11 of 15 playoff games thus far.
This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Mike Brown leans on time with Warriors to help Knicks stifle James Harden
Reporting by Mack Baltes, Warriors Wire / Warriors Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
