Briefing: April 8
Mario Hezonja thrills the Garden faithful, Knicks clinch top lottery odds, and more!
Good Morning,
In one of the most exciting games of the season, the Knicks beat Washington 113-110 on Sunday. Think about what I just said, “in one of the most exciting games of the season.” Despite it being only their 16th win in 80 tries, Knicks fans at Madison Square Garden packed the arena and cheered as if the team was battling for a playoff spot. Take a listen.
Mario Hezonja, point guard of the future! With the Knicks short-handed at the guard position, Hezonja found himself in the starting point guard role over the weekend. The former lottery pick from Croatia had two of his best games as a Knick, posting a triple-double on Friday, followed by a career-high 30 points on Sunday.
Hezonja ready to return next season: "I’m ready to talk to [owner Jim] Dolan," Hezonja said, according to Chris Iseman. "If he gives me that call on July 1, we’re done."
Who needs Kyrie: After his triple-double performance on Friday, Hezonja joked, “They don’t have to get a point guard right [like] Kyrie [Irving], right?” [Marc Berman]
Realistic: Hezonja is signed to a one-year, $6.5 million deal that expires this season. The Knicks don’t have his Bird rights, and it doesn’t matter anyway, as they will need to renounce him as a non-Bird free agent to remove his $7.8 million cap hold to make space to sign two max free agents. If the Knicks fail to fill up their cap space, there is always room to sign players, but I’m not so sure Hezonja has proven with his late season heroics that he is worthy of a second deal in New York.
Dennis Smith Jr. returned to the lineup Sunday despite not being 100% recovered from his sore back. "I’m just trying to get some wins," Smith said, according to Chris Iseman. "Finish the season on the court. Really show my guys I’m going to fight with them."
The Athletic polled 109 players to find out where they think Kevin Durant will play next season. Overwhelmingly, the answer was the Knicks. 63.3% said New York. Only 20.2% said Golden State, the second most answered response. (Read More)
The Knicks hosted a 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Each participant paid tribute to an FDNY firefighter by climbing the equivalent of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center. The event honors the 343 firefighters who selflessly gave their lives to help others on 9/11/01.
MUST LISTEN: Jon and JB have their final Sunday convo of the Knicks season, taking a 10,000 foot view of the year, thinking about what went right, what didn't, what matters and what doesn't. [iTunes / SoundCloud]
Top Lottery Odds
The Knicks “clinched” the worst record in the NBA with their loss on Friday combined with the Suns win. This has no impact on their odds for the top pick, relative to finishing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, but it does mean that they can fall no lower than 5th from the lottery results. They essentially have the “top” odds in terms of how far they can fall back combined with no team having higher odds to land the top pick.
Knicks lottery odds are as follows (last year’s odds in parenthesis):
#1: 14.0% (25%)
#2: 13.4% (21.5%)
#3: 12.7% (17.8%)
#4: 12.0% (35.7%)
#5: 47.9% (0.0%)
Carl Braun elected into Hall-of-Fame
Former Knick Carl Braun was elected into the Hall-of-Fame over the weekend. The Brooklyn native pitched for the Yankees before injuring his shoulder and beginning his basketball career. He led the Knicks in scoring 7 times. He later became a player-coach.
Learn more about Braun
Future Draft Picks
The Knicks are owed two first round picks from Dallas from the Porzingis trade, with the first pick set to convey two years after Dallas sends a pick to Atlanta; and the second (which is protected) at least 4 years after Dallas sends a pick to Atlanta.
What pick does Dallas owe to Atlanta? The Mavs pick to Atlanta is protected 1-5 in 2019, 1-5 in 2020, 1-3 in 2021, 1-3 in 2022, and unprotected 2023. Dallas won in overtime last night, which means they will not be in the top 5 in the pre-lottery standings. However, they could still jump into the top 5 during the lottery since the first four picks are decided by lottery drawing.
What are the odds the pick goes to Atlanta this year? If the Mavs finish 6th (untied) in the pre-lottery standings (they are currently tied at 6), they would have a 37.2% chance of jumping within the top 4, and thus keeping their 2019 pick and delaying a year when the Knicks receive their picks as part of the Porzingis trade.
Rockets disrespectful?
The Rockets starters left the bench early in the fourth quarter on Friday during their blowout win over the Knicks.
Disrespectful: The episode largely went unnoticed (after all, who was watching Knicks-Rockets on a Friday night), until Alan Hahn mentioned it on the MSG Networks postgame show. (Watch above)
Jeff Van Gundy brought it up while announcing a different game over the weekend, “I really can’t believe that happened, in this league.”
Mark Jackson added, “Somebody in that (Rockets) organization has to say, ‘We can’t do that. That’s not how you handle business. That’s not how you conduct yourself.”
Fizdale didn’t seem to mind: “I didn’t realize it during the game. I found out later. I don’t know what they left for. It’s not for me to try to figure that stuff out. I was trying to focus on our guys playing a good fourth quarter.” [Marc Berman]
Lance Thomas was more pointed: “We’ve seen a little of everything this year. That’s only going to make our guys grow faster and be more mentally tough throughout their careers. That’s all I got to say about that.’’ [Marc Berman]
Remember when…
April 8, 2013: Bernard King, Richie Guerin and Rick Pitino elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame….Carmelo Anthony was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week after leading New York to a 4-0 record behind 41.8 points, while becoming first Knick to score 40 or more points in three consecutive games since Bernard King.
April 8, 2012: Knicks defeat the NBA-leading Chicago Bulls 100-99 (OT) in a thrilling Easter Sunday matinee at the Garden. New York finds itself in a 10-point hole with 3:45 remaining after jumping out to a 21-point first-quarter lead, and then closes out regulation on a 10-0 run, capped off by four missed Bulls free throws and a Carmelo Anthony triple with :11.2 remaining. Anthony, who scored 43 points on the night, dials up more heroics in overtime, burying the game winning triple with :08.2 remaining. (Vivek Dadhania with more)
April 8, 1996: In a rare “workday afternoon start” (12:30 pm), Knicks lose to Seattle 108-98 at Madison Square Garden, in a makeup of a snowed out Jan. 7 game.
April 8, 1992: Patrick Ewing scores 35 points against Boston passing Willis Reed for second place on the Knicks all-time scoring list. Knicks lose the road contest 93-89.
April 8, 1988: Mark Jackson records 19 points and 18 assists, but the Knicks lose at Chicago 131-122.
April 8, 1973: Knicks advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 109-89 victory over the Bullets at the Garden in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
NBA Buzz
Nets clinch first playoff berth since 2015. (Read more)
Warriors clinch #1 seed in Oracle’s final season. (Read more)
Rockets set NBA record with 27 threes. (Read more)
Thanks for reading, talk to you tomorrow!