NBA

Knicks must go back to firing more 3-pointers

INDIANAPOLIS — During the season, the Knicks launched almost 29 3-point shots per game. During the first eight games of the playoffs, they hoisted 24 per game.

On Saturday, though, they barely shot any.

In scoring a miserable 71 points in their Game 3 loss to the Pacers, perhaps the most eye-opening offensive trend was that the Knicks’ 3-point game vanished. They attempted just 11 3s (hitting three), by far their lowest total of the season. In their 90 previous games this year, regular season and playoffs, the fewest 3-pointers the Knicks had attempted was 19.

Thus, going into a pivotal Game 4, coach Mike Woodson wants to see more shots from deep.

“At least get them up. We haven’t even been shooting [them],” he said yesterday. “A lot of it is the pace we’ve been playing. We’re playing too slow. We got to pick our pace up and not walk it up as much. We’re doing that and we’re not getting draw and kicks. We’re playing on one side of the floor.”

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Not everybody may love the Knicks’ trey-happy style, but the fact is, they’re an excellent-shooting team from deep, and it’s a staple of their offense. So it makes no sense to abandon it in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

This year the Knicks set NBA records for most 3s taken (2,371) and made (891), and they ranked fifth in the league by hitting 38 percent. In the first eight games of the playoffs, while their averages per game were slightly down — from 10.9 made and 28.9 attempted during the season to 8.1 and 24.1 in the postseason — they still launched and made a ton, hitting 34 percent.

During the season, the Pacers led the NBA in 3-point defense at 33 percent. But Tyson Chandler thinks the Game 3 issues from deep were self-inflicted.

“Honestly, I think we’re doing it to ourselves,” Chandler said. “I watched the tape myself and there’s open looks. We have to be willing passers. You have to sacrifice yourself sometimes for the betterment of the team, for the betterment of your teammates. When you drive in the paint and you draw, you kick it.

“I think we need to do a better job of allowing the game to dictate who takes the shots and not the individuals.”

Woodson said he “might have to” use Steve Novak and Chris Copeland to get more 3-point shooters on the floor. Still, he’s not sure that will matter.

“That’s the only way [to get the Pacers off the 3-point line]. Even if they don’t leave, it opens up opportunities for Ray [Felton] to [penetrate],” Woodson said. “But I still won’t blame it on [those guys not playing]. Chris and Novak are 3-point shooters but it doesn’t mean they’re going to sniff it either if [Indiana] stays at home.”