Briefing: March 28
Opening Day, Westchester advances, Knicks defense, and more
Happy Opening Day!
The last time the Knicks played a meaningful basketball game after the baseball season had started was in 2013 when they reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
How times have changed since then:
Jacob DeGrom was a minor league pitcher with a 4.51 ERA and poor mechanics.
Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera still pitched for the Yankees.
The 2018-19 Knicks return to action against the Raptors at 7:30 EST on MSG Networks.
Kawhi Leonard is listed as out for “load management”
Winning Streak: Toronto has won five straight games at the Garden.
Believe it: Since the beginning of the 2015-16 season, Toronto is tied with San Antonio for the second best record in the NBA.
Noah Vonleh underwent an MRI on Tuesday which confirmed a right ankle sprain with a bone bruise in his right foot. He will be re-evaluated next week.
Mitchell Robinson will hold a meet & greet and signing at the NBA Store in New York City on April 25, per Adam Zagoria.
Keep the Durant rumors coming…
Stat of the Day: Last season, 28% of the Knicks minutes were played by guys 24 or under. This season, it's 70%. As we're all assessing just how high the flames on this tire fire of a season actually go, this should probably be taken into account.
Tanking Magic Number: 6
Despite Devin Booker scoring 50 points for the second consecutive game, the Suns lost again. Any combination of Suns wins plus Knicks losses equal to 6 will clinch the top lottery spot for the Knicks. For example, if the Suns finish the season 1-5, the Knicks need to finish 3-5, or worse, to clinch the worst record.
Must Read: ‘I have shoes older than him’: Why Puma is centering its rebirth around Walt Frazier, Kevin Knox and the Knicks by Mike Vorkunov:
Walt Frazier has few remnants left of his playing career and time as a shoe pioneer. In 1973, he became the first NBA player to have his own signature shoe — the Puma Clyde — but he has little to show of it now. He mistakenly thought he kept his keepsakes — his jerseys and old shoes — in a safe place in his Atlanta home but they were destroyed by family who, in missing their significance, wore them down and played in them. All that remains is the memory.
Westchester Advances
Westchester Knicks beat the Windy City Bulls 95-82 in their single-elimination playoff game. Five Knicks scored in double figures: Billy Garrett Jr. (20), Jameel Warney (20), Zak Irvin (19), Luke Kornet (14), and Paul Watson (10).
Kevin Knox, Emmanuel Mudiay, Noah Vonleh, Kadeem Allen, and John Jenkins were all in attendance.
Most of the Knicks front office, including Steve Mills and Scott Perry were also in attendance, according to Mike Vorkunov.
Revised rumors
Zach Lowe revised his report from yesterday about the Knicks contacting the Kings about a Kristaps Porzingis for De’Aaron Fox swap. The article originally put the timing of the offer around the 2018 draft; it now states the offer happened closer to the 2019 trade deadline, as we had seen reported by Marc Stein.
A previous version of this column stated that a potential offer from the New York Knicks centered around Kristaps Porzingis that would have required Sacramento to either send something beyond Fox or take unwanted Knicks salary, or both, was, according to sources, discussed at the time of the 2018 draft; in fact, it was discussed closer to the 2019 trade deadline, before Porzingis was traded to Dallas, sources say.
What this means: The timing of the offer is important in terms of how long the Knicks were “shopping” or at least “entertaining” offers for their star big man. You also have to consider the value of De’Aaron Fox at last year’s draft versus closer to the 2019 trade deadline when the league was quickly learning how his speed and athleticism were starting to translate into a second-year leap.
DSJ and Frank
Dennis Smith Jr. said an MRI uncovered some displaced discs and inflammation but he doesn’t seem concerned about the long-term outlook, as reported by Stefan Bondy.
Not Serious: "It was definitely nothing that would need surgery or anything like that," Smith said. "Proper rehab and some rest." [Chris Iseman]
Late night workout: “We were both in the gym late one night and we just chopped it up about [playing together],” Dennis Smith Jr. said of Frank Ntilikina. “So hopefully we’ll be able to. I don’t want him to get hurt and I don’t want to be hurt myself. But if we can do that it’s definitely something we’ll aim for.” [Steve Popper]
Fizdale hopes two can play together: “That’s what I was really hopeful for with Frank coming back is once Dennis got healthy, we could take a look at that. So hopefully in the last games here we could get him out there but if it’s not, it’s not the end of the world. We’ll get him a great summer of work, get him better and get him on the court next year.” [Steve Popper]
Knicks defense
David Fizdale indicated to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that the team’s defense “won’t really, really get to where it’s at until we start to really fill in the gaps with the type of guys we think can take our defense to the next level.”
Fizdale explained, “Add maybe another forward defender or another perimeter defender that has a reputation for that. Those kind of guys are the ones that elevate your system to the next level.”
This year’s defense: Knicks defensive rating ranks 28th in the NBA, per NBA.com/stats. Their defensive rating had improved each month from December to January to February, before regressing in March.
Right players: The Knicks might have a generational shot-blocker in Mitchell Robinson, but he is still extremely raw. Their best perimeter defender, Frank Ntilikina, has been in-and-out of the lineup. Kevin Knox does not exactly possess defensive pedigree, while still only being 19. For several months, Fizdale had to rely on Enes Kanter to anchor the middle of the floor and guards like Emmanuel Mudiay to handle opposing ball-handlers, not a recipe for defensive success.
What about principles: Despite the lack of talent on the Knicks roster, defense, more so than offense, is something that effort and education can drastically improve. The Knicks have experimented with a zone defense to mixed results. They have had periods of success trapping the ball-handler out of the pick-and-roll to offset their inability to stop the point of attack one-on-one, but their secondary rotations are atrocious. Finding cross-matches and getting back in transition are two huge liabilities. It just seems like the team hasn’t developed an identity on defense, other than living up to the individual reputations of each defensive player, which, unfortunately for the Knicks, are not strong.
Remember when…
March 28, 1999: The most disrespectful dunk ever? As a Knicks fan, I shouldn’t celebrate this dunk, but Chris Dudley turned out to be someone I don’t have a problem rooting against.
March 28, 1995: Michael Jordan’s double nickel game in his return to Madison Square Garden. Ok, another bad moment for the Knicks. But a memory stitched in all of our brains.
March 28, 1953: Knicks take a 2-1 series lead in Eastern Divisonal Finals, defeating Boston 101-82 at the Garden.
NBA Buzz
Devin Booker scored 59 points (his second straight 50 point game) in another Suns loss. (Read more)
Kevin Durant had his most efficient night of his career, shooting 12-13 in Warriors win. (Read more)
Milwaukee and Charlotte will play NBA’s first-ever regular season game in Paris. (Read more)
Thanks for reading, talk to you tomorrow!