Friday Mailbag

With 20 games to go, I answer 20 questions to help bring us home.

Good morning! We have a jam-packed edition of the newsletter to end the week, so let’s get right to it, starting with a preview of this weekend’s action…

Game Night

TONIGHT: Magic at Knicks, 7:30 pm, MSG Network

SUNDAY: Sixers at Knicks, 7:00 pm, ESPN

Injury Report: Tom Thibodeau gave us a bevy of updates yesterday, and thanks to Fred Katz for conveying the messages….

• Jalen Brunson did “most of practice.” He’s listed as questionable.

• OG Anunoby is taking contact and playing five-on-five now. Thibodeau said he's day to day, but he is still listed as out for tonight.

• Julius has progressed to “light contact,” per Kris Winfield. Sounds like OG has pulled ahead in terms of timing.

• And last but certainly not least, Thibs on Mitchell Robinson: “Mitch looks good. He told me to tell everyone that."

For Orlando, Wendell Carter Jr is questionable. For Philly, Tyrese Maxey is out tonight, but no word yet on Sunday. De’Anthony Melton will miss the game, as will Joel Embiid.

Halftime: Got a special surprise for everyone tonight. Strongly suggest you tune in. Here’s the link.

No halftime Zoom on Sunday, however, as I’ll be at MSG taking in the action for Sixers Knicks.

What to watch for: Is Orlando really going to sweep the Knicks this season?

In nearly four years under Thibs, an opponent has defeated New York at least four times in the same season only twice: Brooklyn in ‘21-22, and Boston this year.

Granted, the Magic have won four straight in this matchup, but two of those games were without Jalen Brunson, and a third saw the Knicks missing six of their top eight rotation players immediately before the All-Star break.

The last time Orlando won five straight in this series was 13 years ago.

One might say the Knicks are due for a W.

Standings Check-In

All hail Luka and Ant-Man.

Thanks to two of the NBA’s preeminent young stars, Dallas beat Miami and Minnesota beat Indiana last night. As a result, here’s how things stand going into tonight:

The other key games tonight and Pelicans at Sixers and Heat at Thunder. No key games tomorrow, but Sunday we have Washington visiting Miami and Indy heading to Orlando. Someone’s gotta lose that one!

20 Games, 20 Questions

For this week’s mailbag, we’re doing 20, count’em twenty questions to head into the weekend strong. I answered the first two yesterday; here’s the next 18…

Kyle M. asks... Small picture - who would be your ideal first round matchup? As of this morning, we’d see the Magic, which given their youth and lack of playoff experience would be far more desirable than say a Heat or Sixers matchup.

Unless Embiid still isn’t back for the playoffs, doesn’t it have to be the Magic?

I feel bad saying that for a few reasons. Primarily, I think Paolo is a stud. Like, “we’re going to look up a decade from now and see a 7-time All-NBA guy” level stud. More importantly, he’s good right now. Besides that, their length gives Brunson fits, which means the Knicks will have to operate somewhat out of their comfort zone to win.

But Orlando is 28th in the league in 3-point frequency and 25th in 3-point accuracy, which is a brutal combo for Jamahl Mosley to game plan around in a seven-game series.

After Orlando - and I can’t believe I’m saying this - I’ll take Miami. I think the Knicks are ready to take down the bogeyman.

Then give me Cleveland (an easier placement for me given Donovan Mitchell’s knee issues), then Indiana (who I wrote would be my least favorable matchup a few weeks ago, but I may have been getting a little ahead of myself), then Philly with a healthy Embiid, then Milwaukee, who seems to have learned how to play NBA defense.

Lee asks…Going to re-up my question from a prior mailbag: what’s your current projection for 1-10 in the East?