Mike Brown Deserves Credit for Pulling an Anti-Thibs to Help Knicks in Playoffs

Knicks head coach Mike Brown talks with Karl-Anthony Towns on the sideline. | John Jones-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks' first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks hasn't been the smoothest, but New York is finally back in control ahead of Game 6.

Much of the blame for the Knicks' falling down 2-1 in the series initially fell on head coach Mike Brown, who not only allowed a struggling Jalen Brunson to hijack the offense but also ran nonsensical bench-heavy lineups and didn't pivot away from them.

However, a ton of credit is also owed to Brown now for making tactical adjustments that have paid dividends. This willingness to deviate from his predetermined plans paints a stark contrast to his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, and puts the franchise in a position to enjoy a longer postseason run than Thibs ever did.

Mike Brown's adjustments helping turn around Knicks' playoff potential

After Game 3, the Knicks were in a dangerous state. Brown's insistence on playing bench lineups without a primary ball handler or No. 1 option allowed Atlanta to chip away at leads and get back into the series. Letting Brunson dribble the air out of the ball in a challenging matchup, unsurprisingly, was holding the offense back.

Considering how Thibodeau stuck to his guns, for better or worse, many braced for Brown to do the same despite things clearly not working.

Yet, Brown has been willing to throw out plans rather quickly in these playoffs.

New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown reacts on the sideline against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at State Farm Arena. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

One massive pivot has been to share offensive playmaking more equally between Brunson and Towns, starting with Game 4. The latter, operating out of the high post, has swung this series back the Knicks' way, with his gravity as both a three-point threat and agile big man forcing either a Hawks big man or top wing defender to step out on him.

This removes a threat at the rim or in the passing lanes, opening up more high-value looks for all of New York's options. Atlanta can no longer just sit around, watch Brunson do whatever he pleases and stick to its preferred matchups. Instead, the Knicks are screening off the ball and cutting while Towns diagnoses openings, putting the Hawks in scramble mode.

Speaking of Brunson, switching him onto Dyson Daniels has been key for New York's defense. Daniels isn't a scoring threat, which makes him less of a challenge for the defensively challenged Brunson.

This also helps lessen Brunson's presence in the defensive equation. Before, he was often guarding CJ McCollum, who's made a career of punishing guards who struggle on the other side of the floor. This put an otherwise strong defense in a much worse spot with a matchup the Hawks could reliably come back to over and over.

Team Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) of the New York Knicks react in the shooting stars competition during the 2026 NBA All-Star Saturday Night at Intuit Dome. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Now, the likes of OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, Jordan Clarkson and Miles McBride can focus on keeping their assignments in check while Brunson shadows Daniels. Considering the back-to-back blowouts in the Knicks' favor and McCollum crashing back down to earth alongside these results, the reward from Brown changing his ways is obvious.

All of this isn't even to mention the constant rotation tweaking Brown has committed to, with some players not rising up to the challenge of the postseason environment.

Depended-upon sixth man Landry Shamet put up a dud (three points, 1-of-6 from the field) in Game 1, then saw his minutes slashed in half. That message didn't get across, as it was followed by another stinker, so Brown relegated the veteran to only garbage time in each of the last two contests.

Meanwhile, Mikal Bridges has become a clear weak link on the starting five. Rather than stick with a player who was used extensively in the regular season, Brown cut his playing time as well, with 21 and 19 minutes in Games 3 and 4, respectively. But the coach was also willing to give Bridges a chance to redeem himself with a larger (27 minutes) Game 5 role, showing he can adjust to an adjustment even.

Brown's creativity is paying off

Now, Brown has had more room to experiment with double-big lineups in this series and has mostly exercised restraint there despite the Hawks' frontcourt weaknesses. He's also tinkered with the bench in other ways, including making Clarkson and Alvarado both part of the rotation again.

Jordan Clarkson vs. Atlanta Hawks 4/28/2026

9 PTS | 3-7 FG | W 126-97 pic.twitter.com/a6gx98v1PJ

— NBA Shooting Audit (@NBAShotAudit) April 29, 2026

Clarkson's provided a steady source of points (7.8 PPG on 47.1% from the field) while playing solid defense, and Alvarado's been a sparkplug off the bench who's only getting better (12 points in Game 5) as the series goes on. The latter didn't even appear in Game 1, which shows how far Brown is willing to deviate from what he envisioned if it could help his team.

Though confidence in Brown was lost from the poor start, he's done more than enough to regain Knicks fans' trust, proving why he was picked to lead this team after Thibodeau's exit.