Death by 29 Cuts

Let's look back at Tuesday's debacle and try to diagnose what went wrong.

Good morning! The rest of the NBA world got going last night, but we’re taking one more day to focus on Tuesday’s unfortunate opening performance. First though, some news…

News & Notes

🏀 According to Ian Begley, Matt Ryan and the Knicks have “mutual interest in working out a deal,” but New York’s salary cap situation may be preventing them from finalizing a pact. Ian notes that Ryan is still eligible to sign a two-way deal, meaning the Knicks could give him one after they convert Ariel Hukporti to a regular NBA pact, as is expected. Even then, they would be one player short of the minimum 14-man limit, but have 12 more days to get up to that number.

Death by 29 Cuts

How do I love (to beat) thee (with threes thanks to a variety of defensive lapses)

Let me count the ways…

The more plays I re-watched from Boston’s opening night opus, the more I had to laugh, probably to keep myself from crying.

The Celtics didn’t beat the Knicks from deep in one or two or three ways. We’re talking double digits. The only question is whether you’d get up to your pinky toe when counting, and whether it would be on the first or second foot.

On the bright side, not every one of those ways is cause for a five-alarm fire.

One three came when Jalen Brunson got hit in the face (no call) and lost the rock, which was immediately pinged to the corner for an open three, sending Thibs into a tizzy.

Another came when 19-year-old Pacome Dadiet didn’t recognize he had to switch to Jrue Holiday in the corner as Jrue curled around an Al Horford screen that rendered Deuce McBride into a pancake on a BLOB play.

He’ll learn.

Several came on some truly absurd shotmaking by Jayson Tatum, who was as unconscious as he ever has been against the Knicks.

And yes, a few came on second chances after New York failed to corral an offensive board, which only hurt because that’s the sort of thing we used to do to teams last year. Sigh.

But the vast majority of threes came because of a miscommunication, a failure in execution, a lack of situational awareness, or some combination thereof. Within each of those categories exists a unique subset of maladies.

We start with the most vile four-letter word in Knicksville at the moment: Drop.