The Schedule

The schedule is as follows. Important dates for Knicks fans are in bold.

• July 9-11: Training camp for the teams invited back to play for the playoffs.
• July 30-Aug 14: Rest of 2019-20 season. 22 teams return and play games to determine their seeding in the playoffs.
• Aug 15-Oct 13: Playoffs
• Aug 25: DRAFT LOTTERY
• Oct 15: NBA DRAFT
• Oct 18: Free agency starts.
• Nov 10: 2020-21 training camp starts.
• Dec 1: 2020-21 season starts.

The Lottery

At this point the NBA hasn’t announced if the Draft Lottery Odds will change; if they remain the same — especially for the 6 bottom teams that did not make the resumption of play and playoffs, the Knicks will get the odds that a team gets who finishes 6th from last. If so, that would mean the Knicks would have:

• 9.0 % chance of #1 pick
• 9.2 % chance of #2 pick
• 9.4 % chance of #3 pick
• 9.6 % chance of #4 pick
• NO chance at #5 pick
• 8.6 % chance at #6 pick
• 30% chance of #7 pick
• 21 % chance of #8 pick
• 3.7 % chance of #9 pick
• 1.4 % chance of #10 pick

The President, GM, & Head Coach

New President Leon Rose hasn’t talked to the NY Media yet since taking the job in March. No press conference; no nothing.

My suspicion has been from the beginning that Leon Rose was brought in specifically to go get elite free agents like Greek Freak, and that Scott Perry would be retained as GM to handle the roster. That appears to be the case, as Scott Perry has been named as the ongoing GM.

My hope was that Mike Miller would be retained as coach — as he did a great job on offense and defense in the partial season he got to coach last year. At this point, the rumors are that Rose is interviewing at least 9 people for the head coach job — many of them former clients at his agency. That is disappointing.

Miller’s chances to retain the job dim day by day. The leading candidate at this point, according to Mike Berman of the NY Post is Tom Thibodeau — again a former client at CAA.

Free Agency

With the big fish lined up for summer of 2021 (aka Greek Freak), it is anticipated the Knicks will not make a big splash in this off season’s free agency — but just replace select players they will not exercise the club option on for the 2-year deal they signed them to last summer — see roster below.

That means the Knicks will again be looking to add ‘lesser’ free agents to a 2-yr-with-club-option-for-2nd-year contracts. One player that the Knicks are reportedly interested in is power forward Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons.

The Players

The Knicks had several players signed to 2-year contracts with club option for the 2nd season — it will be up to GM Scott Perry and new VP of Operations Leon Rose to decide which of those players to offer a second season to. With that said, the roster looks like this:

• C: Mitchell Robinson — looks like he will be a star.
• PF: Julius Randle — guaranteed one more year of the 3-year contract, club option 3rd year.
• PF: Kevin Knox — under contract for this coming year.
• SG: RJ Barrett — looks like he will be a star.

PG: Elfrid Payton — just turned 26; one of the better ‘young’ point guards in NBA; makes only $8 million/yr. But signed to 2-yr contract, 2nd year is club option. If Knicks draft an elite point guard, Payton may or may not be gone. They could certainly keep Payton to hold the job as the draftee will be a rookie, and trade Smith. They also have to figure out if Ntilikina is a starting point guard. We’ll see

Reserves:

• C: Taj Gibson — COULD BE GONE. Knicks have the club option to retain him or not this coming year
• PF: Bobby Portis — COULD BE GONE. Also signed a 2-yr contract, with Knicks holding option for the 2nd year (this coming year). We’ll see
• PG: Frank Ntilikina — under contract for this coming year. Looked terrific at the end of the season — finally showing confidence and the ability to be an excellent 6th man in the NBA at least. Is he a starting point guard? Not so sure about that but we’ll see.
• PG: Dennis Smith Jr — under contract for this coming year. Looked terrible last year most of the year. Bad decision maker. Can play Excellent defense and is mercurial athletically.
• SG: Allonzo Trier — COULD BE GONE. Unsigned for this coming season. Is a free agent.
• SG: Damyean Dotson — COULD BE GONE. Unsigned for this coming season. Is a free agent.
• SG: Wayne Ellington — Signed 2-yr deal and Knicks hold club option for the 2nd yr — this coming year.
• PF: Kenny Wooten — Currently a free agent but it is expected Knicks will sign the slam dunking/shot blocking phenom to another year.
• SF: Ignas Brazdeikis — Lit up Westchester; didn’t get much of a chance with the big club. It is expected Knicks will give him another 1-year contract.
• PG: Kadeem Allen — COULD BE GONE. Also a free agent. We’ll see if the Knicks sign him.
• SF: Maurice Harkless — COULD BE GONE. Becomes a free agent now. Made $11 million last year

The post 2019-20 NBA Season to Resume — Without Knicks appeared first on Knicks.City.

Randle & Barrett Come Up Big

It was a BIG game for Julius Randle (33 pts on 13-22, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists) and RJ Barrett (26 pts on 9-14, 2-5 from 3, 6-6 from the free throw line, 5 rebounds, 4 assists), who carried the Knicks, especially in the overtime session.

Barrett outdueled rookie counterpart Cam Reddish who had 11 pts on 5-13 shooting, (1-5 from 3) in 34 minutes off the bench.

RJ cookin' pic.twitter.com/7zjBZTZQs7

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 12, 2020

Mitch Set FG Pct Record?

And Mitchell Robinson was fantastic again (16 pts on 7-7 shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks). He possibly finishes the season breaking the record for field goal percentage in a season, with .742, prompting him to tweet after the game.

Does this mean I broke the FG record for the season?

— Mitchell Robinson (@23savage____) March 16, 2020

.@23savage____ is a cheat code pic.twitter.com/KiJFhH5f2b

— NEW YORK KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 9, 2020

Payton at the Point

Elfrid Payton had a terrific game — 4-8 shooting (3-4 from the free throw line) for 11 pts, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, and 4 steals but had 5 turnovers. He was gigged in the postgame analysis for not getting the ball to Randle on the final play of regulation, but instead penetrating and having the ball knocked away by Cam Reddish. Frank Ntilikina, coming off his best game as a Knicks when he scored 20 points, had a subpar shooting night — 1-7 for 8 points and a -10 in 23 minutes. He was not able to contain Trae Young in the 4th quarter.

Mitch is a movie pic.twitter.com/BeFEC7IVea

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 12, 2020

Trae Heroics

The Knicks started the 4th with an 18-point lead but then Trae Young got hot. He hit 7 of 9 in the quarter, including 4 three pointers, and went 9-10 from the free throw line — again in the 4th quarter alone. And of course he plays with a different set of rules — if you put a finger near him it is a foul. So Knicks guards had to play with their hands by their sides when guarding him. Young hit nothing but net on a 3-pointer launched from center court and then after a Julius Randle miss, Young drove the length of the court and hit a banker high off the backboard to tie the game at 118 with 15.3 seconds left.

SEND IT TO OVERTIME, ICE TRAE! pic.twitter.com/u6gUbWNv3V

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 12, 2020

Young finished with 42 pts on 12-25 shooting and 12-15 from the free throw line. He had 11 assists but 6 turnovers.

Knicks Win Season Series

It was the 3rd matchup between the 2 teams this season — the Knicks won the first matchup in a laugher; the next game was the blown victory and double overtime loss in February; this time it was a victory against 20-47 Atlanta in OT.

• Dec 17 — NY 143 Atlanta 120 at MSG — Knicks Crush Hawks
• Feb 9 — Atlanta 140 NY 135 in 2 OT at Atlanta — “This Close”
• March 11 — NY 136 Atlanta 131 in OT at Atlanta

Maurice Harkless had his best game as a Knick — 6-13 shooting for 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and a +10. Kevin Knox had a nice game — 3-7 shooting (3-3 from 3) for 12 pts in 16 minutes.

For Atlanta

For Atlanta, John Collins had 22 pts and 15 rebounds, and De’Andre Hunter had 15 pts on 5-12 shooting, and Jeff Teague had 15 pts off the bench.

Etcetera

As mentioned at the top, the game was played under the knowledge that the NBA was about to postpone the rest of its season after Rudy Gobert tested positive for Coronavirus. So although it was a good game, CoronaVirus dominated the aura of the game and conversation afterwards.

The Knicks are 4-3 in the 7 games before the CoronaVirus break or end of season, whichever it becomes.

If the season has ended — then this final game by RJ Barrett was huge for his stats — 9-14 shooting & 6-6 from free throw line.

• His field goal pct went from .397 to .402 (finishing over .400).
• His free throw pct went from .605 to .614.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161611

The post A Good Way to Finish — March 11, 2020: NY 136 Atlanta 131 OT appeared first on Knicks.City.

The Wizards are well coached by Scott Brooks, and seem to have just enough talent — especially Bradley Beal — to beat the Knicks. NY lost a preseason game to Washington, and 3 out of 4 during the regular season:

• Preseason: Washington 115 NY 99 at MSG –“Knicks Knocked”
• Dec 23: Washington 121 NY 115 at MSG –“A Jumpshot Away”
• Dec 28: NY 107 Washington 100 in Washington –“Another Night; Another Win”
• Feb 12: Washington 114 NY 96 at MSG — “Left a Bad Taste”
• March 10: Washington 122 NY 115 in Washington

Consider that if 2 more of those regular-season games above go the Knicks way, NY would be 22-43 and Washington would be 22-42.

Ntilikina’s Best Game

Frank Ntilikina excelled in this game — his best game as a pro: 20 points on 6-9 shooting (3-5 from 3) with 10 assists and 2 steals, only 2 turnovers in 30 minutes. He penetrated, orchestrated, and scored when he was the best option.

| An efficient, double-double night from the French Prince. pic.twitter.com/k0zi2qYdR7

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 11, 2020

Knicks 2nd Quarter Comeback

The Knicks launched their comeback in the 2nd quarter on the hot shooting of Bobby Portis (20 pts on 9-15), the stellar play of Ntilikina, with Taj Gibson (4-4 for 10 pts), Mitchell Robinson (4-5 shooting, 10 pts), and  Julius Randle (16 points on 5-11) dominating.

20 PTS | 6 REB | 5 AST

Another strong performance off the bench from @BPortistime pic.twitter.com/Z5cvImYLxN

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 11, 2020

Nobody Could Stop Beal

But nobody could stop Bradley Beal in the 4th — he hit 6 of his last 10 shots to finish with 39 points.

Bradley Beal with the 4⃣0⃣ piece tonight!! #WizKnicks | @RealDealBeal23 pic.twitter.com/f49KXOsMuP

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) March 11, 2020

“We were anticipating Bradley Beal having a (big) second half, and we needed to come out and do a better job of containing,” said coach Mike Miller in the post game.

RJ Barrett had an off game — 5-15 shooting (1-5 from 3; 5-7 from the free throw line) for 16 pts.

For Washington

Shabazz Napier had 21 points and Thomas Bryant was outstanding with a double-double (15 pts, 10 rebounds), Rui Hachimura (12 pts 7 rebounds), and Moritz Wagner (10 pts) provided Washington interior strength in the 4th. The Wizards were without Ish Smith and of course John Wall is out for the year.

Etcetera

The game was played amidst the impending alarm of the Coronavirus scare. The lockerroom was closed to reporters after the game, by new NBA guidelines. The arena was half filled — as travel during this time is becoming ill advised.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161603

The post Can’t Beat the Wizards — March 10, 2020: Washington 122 NY 115 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Julius Randle carried the Knicks down the stretch, finishing with 22 points on 7-14 shooting (7-9 free throws), 12 rebounds, and 3 steals. Elfrid Payton had 16 pts (7-11 shooting), 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.

18 PPG | 7 RPG | 7.7 APG ⁰

EP been pretty good the last three games pic.twitter.com/UCuihYKehi

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 9, 2020

And Mitchell Robinson had 14 pts on 5-6 shooting, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in 27 minutes.

14 PTS | 11 REB | 3 BLK

From defense to offense, Mitch brought the energy pic.twitter.com/hGdIqCpCcG

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 9, 2020

RJ Barrett had 12 points and Frank Ntilikina 7 pts. For Detroit, Christian Wood led all of their scorers with 22 points.

Etcetera

Just before this game, the Brooklyn Nets fired their coach Kenny Atkinson prompting us to do a little bit of artwork and post this tweet:

Durant second thoughts? pic.twitter.com/ItdtdGlVJx

— Knicks.City (@knickcity) March 8, 2020

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161597

The post A Win Is a Win. And Defense Wins — March 8, 2020: NY 96 Detroit 84 appeared first on Knicks.City.

The Knicks couldn’t hit a 3 in the entire 1st half. By the time they did — by RJ Barrett midway through the 3rd quarter — the game was over. The 39-24 Oklahoma City Thunder won in easy fashion — the Knicks were down around 20 points throughout the 2nd half.

Started Off Good

The Knick starters were leading this game in the 1st quarter, 19-17 — but the Knick reserves came in and gave up the lead and were soon behind 29-22 — the 2nd team couldn’t score; Kevin Knox was terrible; Wayne Ellington was giving them nothing. Allonzo Trier remained on the bench.

In the 2nd quarter, Elfrid Payton was all over the place — penetrating, scoring, penetrating and feeding Mitchell Robinson for a slam. Bobby Portis was a scoring machine. Frank Ntilikina was playing well. NY was down by 3 — 39-36 — midway thru the 2nd quarter.

But Oklahoma City pulled to a 13-pt halftime lead because no one on the Knicks besides those four were stepping up. Julius Randle was attacking but trying too hard and became a turnover machine. RJ Barrett, Maurice Harkless, Wayne Ellington, and Reggie Bullock gave them nothing.

Payton, Payton, and More Payton

In the 3rd quarter — Elfrid Payton again dominated — it was Payton, Payton, and even more Payton — 3 consecutive buckets for the Knicks. But he was getting little help and when RJ Barrett finally hit the Knicks 1st 3 of the game midway through the 3rd, the Knicks found themselves down 17.

18 PTS | 9 REB | 8 AST

A near triple-double for @elfrid pic.twitter.com/QH9APkBOUL

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 7, 2020

Payton & Barrett

Barrett and Payton started balling, at one point doing a give and go for a bucket, causing Walt Frazier to comment “That was a nice little Knick nack — RJ and Payton working the backdoor play to perfection.” You turned around and Barrett had 15 points — he’s a scorer.

17 PTS | 4 REB | 3 AST

A solid performance from @RjBarrett6 vs. OKC last night. pic.twitter.com/ZpSYOlFC1h

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 7, 2020

Allonzo Trier was finally brought in with 11 minutes left in the 4th with NY down by 19. He had 5 pts on 2-4 shooting (1-3 from 3) in 12 minutes. Mitchell Robinson finished 5-5 for 11 pts in 22 minutes.

Elfrid Payton finished with 18 pts (on 7-12 shooting, 4-4 free throws), 9 rebounds, and 8 assists — yet another game where he knocked on the door of a triple double.

For Oklahoma

Danillo Gallinari had 22 pts; Chris Paul had 21 pts; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 18 pts (most of them after the half), and Dennis Schroder had 16 pts (also most of them in the 3rd and 4th quarters).

But there are losses and there are losses — and this was a loss. Not a good game for coach Mike Miller.

Spike Lee

This was the game that followed the big hullabalu of Spike Lee having an altercation with security about entering through an employee entrance, going on the Steven A Smith show and vowing to not come to a Knick game for the rest of the season.

Pretty sure no other NBA team has this kind of action https://t.co/gLqzySAQaf

— Knicks.City (@knickcity) March 6, 2020

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161574

The post A Loss Is a Loss. This Was a LOSS — March 6, 2020: Okla 126 NY 103 appeared first on Knicks.City.

“Sell the Team” Not & Their 15 Minutes

After the game, the cousins got media attention and pictures in the newspaper. Marc Berman of the NY Post amongst others covered the story. We responded to Berman’s tweet of his story and got immediate responses — apparently from the cousins themselves or their friends:

Knicks just beat Houston, had 2-game winning streak.
New VP Leon Rose.
Played 39-22 Utah close til late in 3rd wout Mitch Robinson; fell behind by 21 but never gave up, pulled back to 8 at end.
These cousins are out of phase with what's going on.
They got their 15 minutes

— Knicks.City (@knickcity) March 5, 2020

Most Knick fans defended the team on this one — the cousins appeared to be out of phase with what’s been going on and looking for attention, which they got.

From my vantage point at MSG I didn't hear any "sell the team" chants. Those dudes were clout chasing. Fuck em

— Knicks Fan TV (@KnicksFanTv) March 5, 2020

The Game Itself

Utah jumped out to a quick 25-11 lead in this game fueled by the shooting and play by Bojan Bogdanoic — the Jazz opened it up to 31-15 in the 1st quarter. Utah — which leads the league in 3-pt field goal percentage — were hitting 3’s.

Knicks were down 17 near the end of the 1st quarter, when Bobby Portis took over and scored 9 points in 4 minutes, highlighted by back-to-back 3’s and 15 pts in a 9-minute period.

21 PTS (8-15 FG)@BPortistime brought the energy off the bench pic.twitter.com/Hsdu6eOSyw

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 5, 2020

Elfrid Payton was also terrific, and Julius Randle was taking it to Utah center Rudy Gobert — using his quickness to dominate Gobert. Randle finished the game with 32 pts on 12-21 and 11 rebounds.

Game day @TheGarden #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/X9PMRhnBGQ

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 6, 2020

Utah was up by 10 at the half and the Knicks closed to within 3 with 7:26 left in the 3rd on an Elfrid Payton drive.

20 PTS | 7 REB | 9 AST

Another solid outing for @elfrid pic.twitter.com/yxGJBL9888

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 5, 2020

But then Utah went back to Bogdonavic and the 3-pointers, and started to pull back away. Mitchell Robinson was out for the Knicks — and NY missed his inside presence and shot blocking.

Payton finished with 20 pts (on 8-13), 7 rebounds, and 9 assists.

RJ Barrett had 14 pts on 5-12 shooting, 5 assists, but looked gassed late in the 3rd/early 4th. The key was the Knicks did not give up in the 4th against the 39-22 Jazz — NY pushed hard to narrow the deficit — another game where kudos had to be given to the coaching of Mike Miller.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161563

The post “Sell the Team?” Not — March 4, 2020: Utah 112 NY 104 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Frankie Clamps on the last possession pic.twitter.com/x0NtWvE5HB

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 3, 2020

RJ Barrett also dominated in this game, scoring at will early and then coming up with a crucial play late. After shooting an air ball 3-pt attempt with 46 seconds left and the Knicks up 122-121, Barrett called for an iso play on the next possession, against tough defender P.J. Tucker with 10 seconds left. Barrett drove left against contact for the lefthanded drive to put the Knicks up 124-121.

RJ. BARRETT. CLUTCH pic.twitter.com/I0xcjY9dks

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 3, 2020

Ntilikina then stripped Westbrook on a drive to the basket but was called for a phantom foul. Knicks coach Mike Miller didn’t challenge because he said he didn’t get a clear look at the play on the court and the overhead replay didn’t provide a good angle, and he didn’t want to lose his last crucial timeout. He took that timeout and ran a play for Julius Randle, with the Knicks up 124-123 after Westbrook’s free throws. Randle was fouled and hit one of two free throws to give the Knicks the final margin of victory.

Just Frank doing elite things to elite players. Refs bailed Russ out here. This steal SHOULD have sealed the game. pic.twitter.com/RWcQKmbzUL

— It’s a Hard Knicks Life Podcast (@HardKnicksLife) March 3, 2020

NY Dominated the Boards

The Knicks dominated the boards and kept James Harden mostly in check. In the 4th quarter Harden was flopping multiple times but not getting the call from the refs; he got calls when he was (barely) fouled, but not when he flopped. In fact on the play after Barrett’s missed 3 with 46 seconds left, Harden drove to the basket — threw the ball at the backboard — and flopped to the floor — and got no call — setting up Randle’s tough iso drive with 7 seconds left. You could see Harden complaining to the refs after the play, and throughout the game as usual.

Meanwhile Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, and Bobby Portis used their height and strength advantage to score at will inside and outrebound Houston 65-34.

GET THAT OUTTA HERE pic.twitter.com/4QbXMAaxPF

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 3, 2020

• Robinson had 12 points (5-8 shooting) and 13 rebounds in 24 minutes and a +5. He had no blocked shots — it seemed the Knicks were careful not to be drawn into any fouls by Houston.
• Randle had 16 pts and 16 rebounds;
• Gibson 8 pts and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes.
• And Bobby Portis had 15 points (6-10 shooting, 2-3 from 3), 5 rebounds, and a +11 in 18 minutes. Portis made big inside moves against James Harden including one late that had celebrity comedian Chris Rock shaking his head ‘wow’ on the sidelines (as Harden flopped but did not get the call).

Alright then BP pic.twitter.com/llESgm6t42

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 3, 2020

Knicks Hit their 3’s & Guarded Houston’s 3’s Early

Houston didn’t play much defense and the Knicks roared out to a 10 point early lead that they upped to 21 at one point in the 2nd quarter. The Knicks were scoring inside and hitting their 3’s and defending Houston’s 3’s pretty well. Wayne Ellington was hitting 3’s from all over (5-8, all 3’s, for 15 pts).

WAYNE 3⃣ pic.twitter.com/WEQ8TXxegZ

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 3, 2020

And RJ Barrett was Dominating inside and hitting 3’s outside. Barrett finished with 27 pts on 10-18, 3-8 from 3, 5 rebounds, 5 assists. He was 4-7 from the free throw line (hit his first 2 then missed a few) and cooled off in the 2nd half (had 19 at the half; made some errors coming in in the 4th) but made the big final bucket/play.

The loss last week in Houston, which was close (Knicks played with them all night and lost by 10) — was a precursor to this game. That time, the Knicks didn’t guard the 3 well early; this time they did. Westbrook didn’t play in that one, but neither did Ntilikina or Elfrid Payton for the Knicks. Payton played well in this one, but Ntilikina was on such a roll on both ends of the court, coach Mike Miller kept Ntilikina in for the entire 4th quarter. Ntilikina finished with 11 pts on 5-10 shooting, and the great defense on Westbrook (24 pts on 9-19).

Harden had 35 pts on 8-22 shooting (3-13 from 3) — so he got his points but missed a lot. He was 16-16 from the free throw line — got to the line with his usual drives that if you put a hand near him it’s a foul.

Etcetera

New VP of Operations Leon Rose was sitting courtside, next to GM Scott Perry. Perry was caught on camera smiling and laughing for the first time this season; seemed relaxed. Knicks Twitter gave Rose a new knickname — “lucky”.

Scott Perry and Leon Rose lookin' like proud papas out there for the @nyknicks win #NewYorkForever | #Knicks pic.twitter.com/lvWJ8NV45G

— NEW YORK KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 3, 2020

Before the game, a candid video surfaced on Twitter that showed Spike Lee yelling in the tunnel entrance underneath MSG, about being unjustly treated by security. He apparently entered through the wrong entrance and was given a hard time by Security, or gave them a hard time. By game time he was in his seats, snuffing rumors circulating on twitter that he had been banned by MSG.

First, Charles Oakley and now Spike Lee. One by one every single Knicks fan will be banned from MSG (Via @BroTalkLivePod) pic.twitter.com/DgQGqN2fb7

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 3, 2020

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161545

The post Knicks Manhandle Rockets — March 2, 2020: NY 125 Houston 123 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Barrett Star

Because when you watched RJ Barrett in this game — big 6’7 NBA body going to the basket and absorbing contact with relish; in all kinds of ways to score; or hitting 3’s when he wasn’t doing that, and playing great Defense — you come away saying, ‘you know, I wouldn’t want anyone else in that draft. Not Ja Morant as terrific as he is, he is small (and Elfrid Payton played him even 2 weeks ago); and not Zion Williamson who has been great so far (if not much of a highlight reel) but you have to worry about those knees with his build; nor anyone else being offered up in rookie of year talk.

Take a step

That was nasty, @RjBarrett6. pic.twitter.com/QRZaJu71y7

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 29, 2020

Barrett was the #1 player in the nation entering his first year of college ball and he looks all of that now. Remember when Zion Williamson was asked on draft night what it feels like to be the best player in college ball, he said “I don’t know you have to ask RJ Barrett.” The Knicks may have gotten the player of the draft. Barrett finished with 19 points on 8-10 shooting, 3-4 from 3, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a +19.

Robinson Star

And Mitchell Robinson — Beast. He is getting better and better, especially lately when he seems to have hit a realization point — ‘found it’ — that magical moment, according to Wally Szczerbiak on the post game, when you figure out the NBA game and it slows down for you. You all of a sudden anticipate where your teammates are going to be and where the opponents are going to be. Mitch was all everything in this game, scoring, slam dunking, blocking shots, ripping down rebounds on both offensive and defensive boards — the biggest, baddest man on the court. He looked like Wilt Chamberlain — a young Wilt Chamberlain who was taller than everyone else and more athletic than anyone else on the court.

DENIED pic.twitter.com/FSKD1RsoI5

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 29, 2020

Robinson was The reason why the Knicks Dominated inside and won this game. He even dribbled and scored on a drive at one point — after snaring a rebound and going baseline. He finished with 23 points on 11-16 shooting, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, in 29 minutes but again the boxscore seemed tame compared to how he played. So many times, Chicago players dribbled into the lane, saw Robinson, and went back the other way.

The effort is always there pic.twitter.com/FnnUKcGqZ6

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 1, 2020

And ps Robinson continues to lead the NBA with a historical high field goal percentage of .732.

Cream on Top of the Cake: Knox

To add cream to the top of the cake, Kevin Knox had his best game of the season. His Defense has improved recently as has been mentioned, and he did a nice job offensively: 4-9 shooting (2-3 from 3, 2-2 on free throws) for 12 pts, 6 rebounds in 21 minutes.

you're a legend for this pic.twitter.com/nIlrK2VriS

— soarta (@soarta47) March 1, 2020

Everyone Balled — Payton, Randle, Taj, Moe, Ntilikina!

And Elfrid Payton, Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis, Maurice Harkless, and Frank Ntilikina all balled — a total team effort. Even Wayne Ellington played well.

The Game: the Beginning

The Knick starters came out with great energy, and jumped out to a 10 point lead near the middle of the 1st quarter. Taj Gibson especially, was balling — cooking Wendell Carter inside. Taj had 7 of the Knicks first 9 points, with 4 rebounds in the first 4 minutes.

Post move tutorial by the vet pic.twitter.com/RXmyn95byw

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 29, 2020

But the second team gave the lead all back, on a 10-2 Chicago run. The Knicks dominated inside; but Chicago was hitting 3’s to stay in it and then even get the lead. Ntilikina entered the game with 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter and left with 3 minutes played in the 2nd quarter, due to 3 fouls he picked up guarding Chicago’s Coby White.

The Game: the Middle

The game then see-sawed in the 2nd quarter until the Knick starters went on a 16-2 run to end the half, on the play of Barrett and Robinson and Randle, and Taj Gibson with strong inside play and defense, and Moe Harkless doing the right things, and Elfrid Payton who was penetrating and passing and hitting up Robinson for alley oop slam after alley oop slam. At the half, Payton had 0 points, but 9 assists and a +16.

Which EP Mitch oop was your favorite? pic.twitter.com/Mp1yICvTLN

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 29, 2020

The Game: the Ending

Chicago came back in the 3rd though, cutting the Knicks 13-point halftime lead to 3 entering the 4th. The Knicks hung onto that lead throughout the 4th quarter — Chicago pulled to within 2 on a Coby White 3 with 9:28 left, but the Knicks kept pushing it back to a 5-pt lead.

“We bended but did not break”, said Knicks coach Mike Miller afterwards.

Frank Ntilikina played good ball on the second team during this period, keeping the Knicks with the lead with heady play at the point, and hitting a big 3.

3⃣ ball corner pocket for @FrankLikina pic.twitter.com/alyD3xAAmE

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 29, 2020

Also Kevin Knox made two huge dunks at the start of the quarter. and hit a 3. Mitch Robinson slammed home an alley oop pass from Ntilikina and Portis powered his way inside for a bucket, and hit a hook shot as well.

OK KEV pic.twitter.com/t0vjazLtbH

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 1, 2020

The starters came back in for the last 6 minutes. And it was Payton to Barrett and then Randle making Big plays. Taj Gibson played heady ball down the stretch too, as did Moe Harkless. NY had a 7 pt lead with 4:08 left, then moved to a 10 point lead, and the game was theirs.

Randle finished with 22 points on 7-15 shooting, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and a +17. His drives and scoring down the stretch was a key to the win.

For Chicago

Coby White hit his usual 3’s and finished with 22 pts on 7-17 (4-8 from 3) — more than Barrett’s 19 pts — but there isn’t a GM on this planet who would choose White over Barrett after watching this game, I think. And Zack LaVine was doing his thing — 26 points on 10-25 and 4-8 from 3. Wendell Carter Jr had a tough night — 6 pts on 1-5 shooting, 9 rebounds and a -15 in 18 minutes , schooled by old man Taj Gibson who had 17 pts on 5-6 shooting (7-8 free throws), 8 rebounds and a +12.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161529

The post Not Just a Win — Feb 29, 2020: NY 125 Chicago 115 appeared first on Knicks.City.

But they outclassed the Knicks to take a 15-point halftime lead, and upped the lead to 21 points in the 3rd until the Knicks began their usual tease to get back to within 6 points in the final 5 minutes, but lose.

Coach Mike Miller was responsible for this loss as much as anyone — not playing Allonzo Trier in the 1st quarter or well into the 2nd quarter — instead playing Wayne Ellington and Reggie Bullock together in the 2nd quarter which caused Philly to start taking off. Miller was no doubt countering Philly’s bigger guards — 6’5 Josh Richardson, 6’6 wide body Glenn Robinson III, and 6’5 point guard Shake Milton —  and did not want to put the 6’4 and slender Trier in against them. Trier who was coming off that fantastic 4th quarter the game before. And Miller might have been looking for some 3-pt shooting from Ellington and Bullock (although Trier can hit the 3 too). But the defense of Ellington and Bullock was porous and they offered nothing offensively.

Where’s Trier?

The game veered off course for the Knicks at the end of the 1st quarter — Dennis Smith Jr got partially blocked on a slam dunk by Kyle O’Quinn that would’ve tied the game at 23; it went the other way — NY played good D, Philly’s Mike Scott missed a 3 but Philly got the offensive rebound in a scramble, and then Furkan Korkmaz hit a fallaway 3 from the right corner — serendipity kills the Knicks — instead of a tie game it was Philly up by 5 at the end of 1Q. Ellington was put in at the end of the 1st quarter, and the Knicks remained stuck on 21 for the longest time — a 23-21 Philly lead became a 31-21 lead as — starting late in the 1st, Elfrid Payton missed a jumper, Payton missed 2 free throws, Smith got blocked on that slam, Kevin Knox missed 2 free throws, and Philly started to pull away. Soon Walt Frazier asked, “WHERE’S TRIER??” Minutes later Marc Berman of the NY Post tweeted “Sixers up 40-26. No Trier.”

Miller corrected his error and brought Trier in late in the 2nd quarter — Trier’s earliest appearance in a game since the beginning of the season. Ellington finished with 9 minutes, and 0-2 shooting (both were 3’s) for 2 pts and a -11, and Bullock was 1-2 (0-1 from 3) for 2 pts in 18 minutes and a -21. This off Bullock’s -25 last game. Trier played 10 minutes — 3-5 shooting for 6 pts.

Randle Balled; Harkless On Fire from 3; Gunfight

Julius Randle balled in this game — starting in the 2nd quarter and really taking charge in the 3rd followed by Mitchell Robinson, Elfrid Payton, RJ Barrett, and Maurice Harkless. Harkless got red hot and was hitting 3’s from everywhere — he hit 5 in the 3rd quarter. But Philly was hitting 3’s too to counter. It became a gunfight.

All 5⃣ of Moe's threes in the 3rd quarter pic.twitter.com/vfPpX9JdFP

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 28, 2020

Dennis Smith Jr left the game with concussion symptoms so it was Payton at the point for the rest of the way. That same combo of players above carried the Knicks back to within 6 in the 4th but it was the usual tease.

Randle Says “F You” with His Play

Randle finished with 30 pts on 11-18 shooting, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and a +10 — he basically said fuck you to all of Knicks twitter that relentlessly smashes him.

2⃣9⃣ points for @J30_RANDLE pic.twitter.com/7O0xTJeUTr

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 28, 2020

Knicks Starters Shined

Elfrid Payton also lit up the boxscore for 18 pts on 7-15 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 12 assists in 36 minutes and a +8.

RJ Barrett made some terrific drives in this game, finishing with 6-13 for 15 pts, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and a +3. Moe Harkless had 17 pts and a +10. Mitch Robinson played great in his 32 minutes — the boxscore did not show how well he played — he finished with 6 pts, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and a -1.

Slicin' n dicin' pic.twitter.com/0qxx1DsOcq

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 28, 2020

And so you look at the +/- figures and you see how the Knicks lost — the Bobby Portis (-18), Kevin Knox (he was playing in that 2nd quarter and was 0-3 for 0 pts and a -7), Ellington, and Bullock negative +/- figures jump out; the starting team all had very positive +/- figures.

Taj Gibson was injured so did not play, causing Portis to start at center. Mike Miller afterwards said that Mitchell Robinson is playing his best ball as a Knick — very efficient — and they want to keep him in his current rhythm of coming off the bench.

End to end ball pic.twitter.com/dK5TzmLM3O

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 28, 2020

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161515

The post Knicks Stink — Feb 27, 2020: Philly 115 NY 106 appeared first on Knicks.City.

Trier and Payton Trending

After that it was score/foul/free throws/score/foul etc the final 20 seconds but the Knicks were too many points away. Payton was immediately trending on twitter, as was Trier.

Trier finished 6-8 (1-2 from 3, 2-2 free throws) for 15 points and a +7. Payton had 6 pts (3-6 shooting), 9 assists, but 5 turnovers including those 2 late. Payton played pretty well early but was not on his game late; maybe his ankle is still not 100 percent; maybe he wasn’t as aggressive/confident playing next to Trier who was so aggressive/confident; hard to say.

Zo putting in work this quarter pic.twitter.com/uHHNeliyra

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 27, 2020

The Reason for the Loss

Said coach Mike Miller in the post game: the Knicks lost “because they had 25+ minutes of inconsistent play in this game, which left them zero margin for error in the last 5 minutes.”

Miller Finally Aludes to Why Trier Doesn’t Play.. His Size

As hoped, Allonzo Trier got an earlier than usual call into this game after his good showing in the last 5 minutes of the previous game. He came in with 4:30 left in the 3rd quarter. His play was electric — it was the old Allonzo Trier, as we saw in the last game, causing many on Twitter to ask why the heck he hasn’t been playing more this year, and urging that he should take all of Reggie Bullock‘s minutes. As we’ve mentioned — it doesn’t seem to be because of his passing — Trier has become pass first since Jan/Feb last year when he went through a learning process; and he seems intent on D — it seems to be because Trier is 6’4″ in today’s stocking feet NBA and slender, making him small for an off guard in the NBA.

Miller alluded to this in the post game — when asked why Trier all of a sudden got playing time in the heat of the game. Miller said Trier hasn’t been playing because the Knicks have a deep team at the guard, and they believe in all their guys — but Trier played in this one because they ‘needed offense & play making, and Charlotte has some smaller guards that allowed Knicks to go deeper on their bench‘.

Trier sinks the deep ball pic.twitter.com/LB1OhLuEnK

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 27, 2020

Portis Put Jumpshot Where Mouth Is

Bobby Portis and Mitchell Robinson were the other stars in the 4th quarter for the Knicks. Portis put his jumpshot where his mouth is — after saying two weeks ago that the Knicks would not really miss Marcus Morris, as Portis himself “averaged 13 (points) and 14 (points) the last two years. We have scorers who can score the ball but we want to share the basketball and be [a] team. Last four games we didn’t care who was the leading scorer.” Portis balled — hitting jumpers from all over to help bring the Knicks back. Portis had 17 points on 8-11 shooting (1-2 from 3) in 23 minutes.

After the game, Portis was feeling his oats and tweeted this 20 minutes after the game ended:

Fuck em we ball! https://t.co/52DoUOBesv

— Bobby BP Portis (@BPortistime) February 27, 2020

Mitch Robinson = Beast

Mitchell Robinson was grabbing rebounds on offense and defense and slamming home the ball; blocking shots, and playing like a beast. He finished with 12 pts on 5-7 shooting, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 30 minutes.

Mitch SWAT pic.twitter.com/4CPlS5w3R7

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 27, 2020

Charlotte’s “Well Placed” 3’s Hurt

But it was also Charlotte’s “well placed” 3-pt shooting that hurt the Knicks. NY came out with tremendous energy to start the 3rd quarter and immediately cut into a Charlotte 10-pt lead; but 3 straight Charlotte 3’s pushed them back. At the end of 3, the Knicks were still down by 10. Charlotte was 10-30 from 3 not a great percentage; the Knicks were 4-15 — a worse percentage — so there in lies part of the tale.

A lot of the damage was by Rozier — who was 7-15 (4-7 from 3, 8-8 from the free throw line) for 26 points. The irony is that the Knicks wanted to sign Rozier this summer as a free agent, and Rozier wanted to play for the Knicks — but Charlotte came in at the last minute and offered Rozier 3 guaranteed years and the Knicks are only doing 1- and 2-year contracts to give them cap flexibility. So then the Knicks turned to Bullock.

Devonte’ Graham, Charlotte’s 6’1 point guard, also hurt the Knicks with 7-18 shooting (although 2-9 from 3) for 21 pts. Bismark Biyombo had a good game (5-6 for 12 pts, 4 blocks) but Trier fouled him out of the game with about 4 minutes left. Former Knick Willy Hernangomez hurt them as well; making some splendid drives to the basket, and also some terrific passes inside — he had 7 pts (on 3-3), 4 assists in 19 minutes.

Other Knicks

For the Knicks, RJ Barrett had a tough game — he was 0 for his first 6. He continued to be aggressive and drive to the basket, but finished 2-11 for 5 pts and a -13 in 21 minutes. He did not play the 4th quarter — Trier got his minutes.

And Julius Randle did not play the 4th either, as Miller stayed with the hot Portis. Randle played well, especially in the 3rd quarter where he came out with tremendous energy on both ends of the court. At one point Knick analyst Walt Frazier echoed “Randle playing like a man possessed now, on both ends of the court”, and later “Randle omnipresent now.” He finished with 7-14 (1-1 from 3) for 18 pts, 9 rebounds in 25 minutes.

Kevin Knox played so-so for 23 minutes; he made some mistakes in the 3rd and found a seat. And Moe Harkness played ok for 25 minutes, playing decent defense.

Dennis Smith Jr played backup point and got 21 minutes, and played fairly well — 4-12 shooting for 9 pts and 3 assists and a tremendous slam early in the game.

pic.twitter.com/d8tMSaaclr

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 27, 2020

And Bullock got 10 minutes. But it was Allonzo Trier getting the minutes from 4:30 left in the 3rd through the rest of the game (he played 16 minutes; never left the court after he came in).

With 24 games left, the Knicks are 17-41. They are coming close to winning so many games, yet continue to “just miss”. And they’re missing Marcus Morris who is gone with the trade.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161506

The post Wear You Out — Feb 26, 2020: Charlotte 107 NY 101 appeared first on Knicks.City.