Escape from Brooklyn

The Knicks - spurred by a boisterous crowd - edged their little brother by the skin of their teeth.

Good morning! Boy that could have been less stressful…

Game 44: Knicks 108, Nets 103

In a New York minute…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Knicks came out a little flat. Playing to their recent trend of meh first halves, this was a close game until halftime thanks to nine Nets offensive rebounds, seven New York turnovers and only four Knick 3-pointers. Playing with fire got them burned in the third quarter, when Brooklyn hit 6-of-7 from downtown and briefly took a 10-point lead. In the fourth, New York’s bench mob helped keep things close until the closing stretch, when Julius Randle came up huge with several big plays, including two baskets to give the Knicks a lead and the dunk that broke a tie and put them ahead for good. On that note…

Play of the Day

Switching up the order today. If Jalen Brunson calls something the play of the year, the least I can do is give it top billing in the newsletter.

The scene: After Mikal Bridges hit 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game, Nic Claxton blocked a layup attempt from the driving Jalen Brunson. Dennis Smith Jr grabbed the board and raced up the court, thinking he could sneak a layup in over Josh Hart and Precious Achiuwa, both of whom were in full pursuit.

He chose…poorly.

After Cam Johnson ended up with the offensive rebound amidst a storm of bodies, OG Anunoby blocked his attempt, and then right before the ball went out of bounds, Josh Hart did a Josh Hart thing, not only saving it, but getting the rock to Randle, who was ready to rumble up the court and give the Knicks a two-possession advantage.

Much like the man who’s going to get top honors below, Hart didn’t have a great game, but he made his presence felt at the most important moment.

Three Things

1. Perfect the enemy of the good (and maybe the very, very good). It is impossible to deny the results.

Since the trade that send out Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett and brought in OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn, the Knicks have won 10 of the dozen games they’ve played. Their defense over this time is the best in basketball, a hair over the equally stingy Cavs but head and shoulders above everyone else. Behind that elite D and a very solid offense, they have outscored opponents by about 13 points per 100 possessions.

Meanwhile, in the 438 minutes Anunoby has played, New York has outscored its opponents by 201 points (including by nine last night), which is a figure that would rank 31st in the league if it was done over the full season.

On the surface, this trade has been a Ruthian blast of monumental proportions.