After his squad ceased their “struggle bus” losing streak–as the great Knicks voice Mike Breen put it–at home by playing gritty defense, limiting the visiting Indiana Pacers to ten points down the stretch in a 92-84 victory at the Garden Monday night, Knicks forward Julius Randle marveled at the team’s come from behind performance.
“10 points in the 4th, that’s impressive,” he said. “That’s Knicks basketball and that’s who we are.”
Certainly, Monday’s game carried hues of the old school, defensive-heavy style of basketball displayed by the Knicks-Pacers in their battles of the 1980’s and 90’s. Neither team finished above 45% shooting from the field, and the Pacers were held to just two baskets in the fourth quarter after leading the Knicks for about three and a half quarters. Both sides also combined to start 1-21 shooting from the arc and 11 blocks on the defensive glass.
Eventually, defense led to critical offense with the Knicks outscoring the Pacers 13-4 in the final minutes to earn their eighth win of the season.
However, the performance Randle lauded hasn’t been totally characteristic of the Knicks’ 2021 season through the first fourteen games.
Coming off their first season under head coach Tom Thibodeau—a 41-31 record, finishing 4th in the East with a first round playoff exit—the Knicks had a few important objectives to cover in the offseason.
First, president of basketball operations Leon Rose and GM Scott Perry wanted to bring in more veteran leadership and offensive prowess to bolster that side of the ball and take some of the pressure off Randle to be the #1 scorer. They did so with the contracts of New York native Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier-both former Celtics teammates—in the offseason.
Then, it was focusing on improving the team’s three point shooting, a component of their game that especially haunted them in the playoffs against a high-caliber three-point shooting team in the Atlanta Hawks.
Last season, the Knicks shot a respectable 39% from three-point range, but they were ranked 27th in three pointers attempted (compared to average opponents who ranked 21st). In the Hawks series, the Knicks’ best three-point shooter was Derrick Rose at 47%, yet no player in the rotation attempted and made more than six and two three-point shots, respectively, outside of Julius Randle. Thus, Randle and company organized extra workouts throughout the summer and spent more time at the facilities with the coaching staff working on this front.
The defensive foundation had already been set the moment Thibodeau walked through the door, so that aspect of the game would come down to simply maintaining the suffocating defense that had the Knicks consistently ranked top three in the league in 2020.
In the first six games of this season, all that behind the scenes work in the gym seemed to come together as the new look Knicks became one of the hottest shows to start the NBA’s 75th campaign.
From the opening night game–a 2OT thriller at Madison Square Garden–against the Boston Celtics, the Knicks established themselves as one of the highest three-point shooting teams in the league. Almost an entire overtime period consisted of three-pointers for the Knicks, and throughout that game against a division rival, they received deep-range contributions from six different players. Those six players combined for 21-32 from the perimeter, boosting the Knicks to a season high 138 points and a 1-0 start.
Then in a dominant 121-96 victory in Orlando, the Knicks tied their team record for the most three-pointers made in a single game for the fourth time. Second year guard Immanuel Quickley, one of the team’s boldest shooters from three-point range, proceeded to break the record in the fourth quarter of that blowout game as part of his 16 points and 4-8 shooting from deep. The new record set is now 24 three-point shots.
Throughout the first week of regular season competition, the Knicks were ranked 1st in three pointers made per game, 2nd in three pointers attempted per game, and third in points per game.
When time had come for Thibodeau to send in his reserves to get some rest, the offense didn’t slow down either. Veteran guard Derrick Rose has given the Knicks valuable minutes this season, particularly against top opponents in the East, scoring 12.5 points per game and shooting 46% from the field. Fellow guard Immanuel Quickley has also been a lightning rod from the three-point line whenever the Knicks are in need of a huge shot. Obi Toppin has been an instant Garden favorite with his ferocious slams and grabs alley-oop plays.
The defense floated around in the middle of the league rankings, but still the Knicks started the year 5-1 atop the Eastern Conference and with a grand opportunity to stack wins early.
That opportunity, however, has not born fruit over the last nine games, as the Knicks have struggled to remain a consistent basketball team and it has cost them several wins against low-quality opponents.
There have been the games where the Knicks’ entire rotation rekindled the energy they played with in the first six games and dominated on the court, notably against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 5th in a 113-98 rout.
Monday’s game against Indiana provided another valuable example. The Knicks offense wasn’t as sharp as it has been in some games, but it was the product of the staple Thibodeau defensive scheme that kept the Knicks relevant until a few big shots went down.
On the other hand, the Knicks have gone 3-6 over the first nine games in the month of November and four of those losses have come against the Scotty Barnes-less Toronto Raptors, the beatable yet surprising Cleveland Cavs, and the rebuilding Orlando Magic.
In some of the aforementioned contests, the Knicks have lost a ton of offensive production from their starting unit, particularly the one that started the season so emphatically versus Boston.
According to Stat Muse, the Knicks original starting five from the season opener against Boston is now combined for a -266 plus/minus ratio when they’ve been on the court in their latest stretch. Obviously one of the worst in the league, the fish has rotted from the point guard spot where Kemba Walker has carried a -89 ratio, which is ranked 11th worst in the NBA.
Evan Fournier, whose plus/minus ratio is a -36 per Stat Muse, has also seen his offensive production dwindle below what the Knicks thought it could be for them. Started the year averaging 19 as a starter and hot from the three, Fournier’s average is now 12 points per game and he has been relegated to work with the bench team on occasion.
With the Knicks starting five performing so inconsistently from one game to the next, it has called on their bench to be the heroes and do the extra work to bring the team back into games. Despite the eventual losses in most cases, the second unit has answered the call and executed more than one comeback effort for the team.
Led by Rose, Toppin, and Quickley, the Knicks second unit leads the team in plus/minus ratio when on the floor. Rose’s +110 standing is currently 3rd in the NBA with the former Chicago Bull under Thibodeau averaging double digit scoring in four less minutes per game compared to last season.
Randle spoke to the media following the team’s recent loss to the Orlando Magic for the second time at MSG Wednesday night about the see-saw performances of his locker room from the perspective of his own personal outings.
“It hasn’t been great,” he said. “A lot of this stuff is rhythm, trying to figure each other out. I think it’s been exactly how this season has went, there’s been good days and there’s been not great days.”
Turnover woes have suddenly reared its ugly head on the Knicks as well. Priding themselves on being turnover team that protects the basketball, the Knicks rank 11th in turnovers with 13.9 per game which is a 7% increase year over year.
In the 104-98 loss to the now 4-11 Magic, the Knicks starting five combined for 16-49 shooting from the three-point line. Randle held the best number in that category, going 4/10 from the arc for 12 of his 13 points. The other three scorers—Walker, Fournier, and RJ Barrett—were 2-14 (Barrett 0-7 after his three shot was much improved to start the season and he hit a dagger there to solidify the win over Indiana).
The Knicks were also outhustled on the boards by Orlando 51-45, another huge factor in the Magic’s ability to steal the lead and eventually finish off the Knicks for the second time in upset fashion. Orlando put up eight more shots in the game than the Knicks (96-88 FG’s), a mere result of second and third chance opportunities.
Since you may be asking yourself about turnovers?? Well, there were plenty of those too, lest anyone forget the egregious pass by Rose late in the fourth quarter that was slammed on the other end by Wendell Carter Jr. to put the Magic up six with 29 seconds remaining and ice the game.
Terrence Ross, who torched the Knicks for 22 points in the fourth quarter of the first Magic win at MSG, had his own emphatic dunk off a stolen pass as well down the stretch.
Tom Thibodeau spoke of his team’s need to play together, producing collectively in all areas of the game, for forty eight minutes while trying to dissect another awful defeat in his post game presser.
“You can’t let your guard down, and unfortunately we beat ourselves tonight,” the head coach said somberly. “Our turnovers hurt us, the second shot hurt us, we’re capable of playing a lot better than we did.”
“I have to do a better job getting them ready. That’s on me.”
There is no doubt something concerning happening with this Knicks team, one that started so bright and put the entire league on notice. Thibodeau said he needs to do better in preparing his team, part of that may require some changes to the current rotation that has handicapped the Knicks in critical stretches of games.
This is not to say the Knicks current starting five is not talented, not that they don’t have promise to be a playoff contending basketball team come late April into early May. The Knicks may just need a fresh circle of five in their starting rotation to boost them early in certain games. If they want the goal of the playoffs to become reality, they have to make changes when those changes are deemed necessary.
Compared to other teams in the league who consistently thrive off a duo or trio of stars every night, the Knicks need their entire 15-man rotation to play varying amounts of hardnose and efficient minutes to win games. That entire team effort from Randle down to the rookies was what propelled them into the playoffs with home court advantage last season, attracting the love of New Yorkers and writing one of the greatest storylines of the 2020 NBA season.
Whichever direction Thibodeau, Randle and the team decides to go as they prepare for a Saturday night game with the far more lowly Houston Rockets (1-13 as of Wednesday night), the Knicks need to shake off the inconsistency bug that has riddled them in games they are supposed to win. They’re a team that’s a few bad games from still riding atop the Eastern conference with the Brooklyn Nets.
There is plenty of talent and promise hidden underneath the Knicks recent struggle. All they need to do is find it again, bring it on a nightly basis, and let the winning atmosphere we saw in the first week of the season return to 7th Ave with force.
For more NBA coverage, click here.
