Heartbreaker

The Knicks lose another close one to the Grizzlies

Good morning. Hope everyone has burned off the extra calories. In case you missed it, a special recap of Friday’s loss to Portland went out on Saturday, so today we’ll focus purely on yesterday’s tough loss to Memphis. Don’t forget to subscribe in full if you want newsletters delivered to your inbox five days a week, plus bonus editions like Saturday’s.

Game Recap: Knicks 123, Grizzlies 127

⌚️30 Seconds or Less: Given the opponent, this was one of the more fun games of the season, albeit one the Knicks ultimately came up short in. The first half was defined by some outstanding defense by New York, but some equally putrid 3-point shooting, as they hit just three of their first 16 from deep. Both offenses got it going in the second half, as Ja Morant started pressing the issue and the Knicks struggled to contain the dual threat of his passing and driving. To their credit, New York hung around until the fourth, when Jalen Brunson put on a show for the home fans and nearly willed the team to a victory despite being a game-time decision with a quad injury. Unfortunately, after a thrilling back & forth final five minutes, he couldn’t carry them across the finish line, and the Knicks fell to 9-11 on the season.

💩 You Gotta Be S———- Me… After two Brunson free throws gave the Knicks the lead with 26.3 seconds to go, they played really sound defense on Ja on the ensuing possession, but couldn’t grab the rock to seal the deal:

On the postgame livestream after the loss, a viewer commented that the Knicks were so gun-shy after a being called for so many fouls over these two games that they were afraid to go near Morant after the miss. As much as I’m loath to blame the refs, I think he had a point. The Portland parade to the charity stripe was more the result of shoddy defense, but last night might have been the most unfavorable whistle New York has received all season, even if it resulted in “only” 31 Grizzly FT’s.

🤔 Rotation Reflections: This was the first game in a while that Tom Thibodeau had a full compliment of players at his disposal, so there was some question as to which way he’d lean, especially with the nine-man rotation having some success over the last couple weeks. His decision: expand to a 10-man rotation (plus Deuce McBride getting a few “situational” possessions on defense), with Quentin Grimes remaining a starter and Rose, IQ, Cam, Obi and Hartenstein coming off the bench. Even with this shift, there was still a bit of staggering employed, but not nearly as much as we’ve become accustomed to seeing.

The odd man out was Jericho Sims, which you figured had to be coming once Mitch got his sea legs back. Still, there were moments with Robinson on the bench where Sims’ presence around the rim felt like it could have been an asset against the ginormous Grizzlies. They ended up with 16 offensive rebounds, as New York inexplicably remains a bottom-three team on the defensive glass.

📸 Play of the Game (non-Brunson division): Stealing one from early on, if only because it’s the sort of play you see other teams make and go “why doesn’t our offense operate like that?”

Turns out things like “cutting” and “passing” are skills, and getting more guys in the door who both cut and pass can be a boon to increasing the enjoyment factor of these games. Quentin Grimes, wouldn’t ya know it, is now averaging 4.4 dimes per 36 minutes, which ranks 5th on the team after Brunson, Rose, IQ and Deuce. I’ll have some more on him tomorrow.

📈RJ & Randle Report 📉: Their play this season has become the overarching storyline for this team for better or worse, so it feels like we need to do a daily check on how each guy played:

🏀 BARRETT: Offensively, he had some nice moments, draining two threes and converting two layups in the fourth, including one on a broken play with under a minute to go. Anytime he shoots above 50 percent (which he did, barely) it’s a good sign, and you’ll take 22 points on 17 shots any day of the week. His truly bad takes and turnovers have become like Randle’s non-contests/backdoor beats in that they’re only one bad play that feels like more because of the who and the how. Defensively, the problems remain in full force. He’s just not moving well, and has too many brain farts at inopportune moments.

🏀 RANDLE: Speak of the devil…

This is just so demoralizing to watch game after game. There were 8-10 such instances last night, either of a non-contest, a lost assignment, a weak close out, dying on a screen, or just getting smoked on a drive. And that’s to say nothing of Julius wanting no part of battling for a few key defensive rebounds with Memphis’ big bodies. It’s a real shame too, because offensively, Randle played within himself and was quite good (14 points on nine shots plus a season-high nine assists).

(It should be noted that Obi Toppin was thoroughly abused by Jaren Jackson Jr last night as well. It continues to be a struggle for him at both ends right now, although he was 4-of-8 with a made three last night.)

💫 Stars of the Weekend 💫

⭐️ Immanuel Quickley

⭐️ Quentin Grimes

⭐️ Mitchell Robinson

Splitting the last two spots between three players, and that’s with an honorable mention to Cam, who had a nice return to the lineup last night in 24 very solid minutes of action. He hit a late three that gave the Knicks their first lead since nearly halftime, and had several beautiful rim attacks on closeouts in addition.

For our star recipients, let’s start with IQ, who seemed to finally be coming out of his shooting slump, only to leave last night’s game with a sore knee. On Friday, it took him 17 shots to get his 18 points, but he was aggressive in all the right ways. Just as importantly for a team desperate for threes is that he went 4-of-10 from deep.

He followed that up by making his only long range attempt yesterday, but was limited to just nine minutes of action. Before he left, he had this nifty move to end the first:

Hopefully he’s not out for long, if at all. On balance, IQ might be their second best player through a quarter of the season, and that’s even with the shooting struggles. They cannot afford to lose him.

Next up is Mitch, who was just alright on Friday but was masterful last night. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve written what I’m about to write about Robinson over the last four-plus years, but (deep breath) if we can consistently get this version of him healthy and on the floor, the Knicks will really be in business. His rim protection remains one of the few plus-plus premium skills on this roster.

Last but not least is Quentin Grimes, who continues to struggle a bit from the field (2-for-7 last night after going 3-for-6 vs Portland; hitting just 23 percent from deep) but his point of attack & help defense more than makes up for it. Yesterday, that manifested in Ja Morant having to work his butt off for anything any time Quentin was in the game. Take this play, for instance, which is about as good a job as you can do guarding a Morant/Adams pick and roll:

There is no meaner screen-setter in the league than Steven Adams; the best you can do is navigate your way around the blockade and make up for lost time. Grimes does that perfectly, and with a big assist from Mitch, ultimately gets the ball out of Ja’s hands.

If there was a gripe with Thibs last night, it’s that he didn’t have Grimes on the floor instead of RJ in the closing minutes. Putting Grimes on Ja - and by trickle down effect, Cam on Dillon Brooks, who nailed a massive three with under two minutes to go after this closeout attempt from RJ…

Hand need to be up BEFORE the shot, my guy

…might not have swung the game, but I sure would have liked New York’s chances more.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Jalen Brunson: I’m going to do a Stars Standings update soon, I promise, but a quarter of the way into the season, I think it’s safe to say everyone else is fighting for second place.

Brunson’s latest accomplishment: last night was the second time in three games he had 30 points (after 34 in OKC last week), nine dimes, two turnovers and attempted just 20 field goals. Prior to these two games, that stat line had been equalled or bettered just four times in franchise history, once by Melo, twice by Marbury, and once by Starks. These sorts of achievements are becoming the norm.

And he almost didn’t play.

Alas, if only fairy tales were real…

Heartbreaker

It would have almost been too perfect.

Going into the night as a game time decision due to a sore quad, a clearly hobbled Jalen Brunson was laboring. Unable to move at anything close to his regular pace and with his customary shiftiness, Brunson relied on smarts, savvy and guile to gut out what was still a fine performance through three quarters. Even his least was better than anyone else’s best.

And then, with the fourth quarter starting and the Knicks down a dozen, Brunson found a deeper reserve he didn’t know he had. After scoring 17 points on six shots through the first 11 minutes and 50 seconds of the final frame, including this step-back three to get the deficit back to one after a Dillon Brooks triple had taken all the air out of the building 15 seconds earlier…

…the storybook seemed ready for its final few chapter. Brunson’s free throws that gave the Knicks the lead with just under 30 seconds remaining wouldn’t be the last word though, not after Ja Morant put back his own miss to put Memphis up one with 13.9 to go. One final act of magic would be needed.

It wasn’t to be. Brunson missed a midrange pull up he’s been hitting all season, and then after Morant only hit one of two from the line, Jalen’s runner with seconds remaining was well defended and clanked off the front rim.

For the second straight game at home, the Knicks lost after their point guard had a chance to give them the lead in the waning seconds of regulation. Normally, that would be a recipe for some ugly back pages and an angry fan base.

And yet, all anyone can think if they watched these games - and really, watched almost any Knicks game this season - is how indispensable Brunson has been to their efforts. It’s a testament to his level of effort and execution that his q-rating in New York went up after two games that ended in this fashion. That’s how good he’s performed.

It’s why, when he has it going, his misses almost feel like glitches in the Matrix. Few players in the NBA get more undeniable the deeper they get into their bag.

Is he Ja Morant, who himself put on a show in the Garden, with a 27-point triple double? No, because he wasn’t blessed with anywhere near that level of athletic ability. And for that reason, there will continue to be questions about whether Jalen Brunson can even be one of the two best players on a contending team.

Those questions will remain until he proves them unwarranted, just like he’s always had to prove himself before getting the benefit of any doubts.

But while Ja may very well be the most electrifying player in the NBA, Jalen is the one you have to see to believe. Literally. Because a dude that’s 6'1" in socks shouldn’t be the best post player in a sport still dominated by Goliaths, at least around the rim. But he just might be.

I mean, my goodness…not only does this Tonka Truck of a basketball player have more points in the paint than anyone in the damn league…

…but the only guys close to him in efficiency are Kevin Duant, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic. That can’t be real.

But it is. And it’s why, when those shots didn’t go down at the end of these last two games, something that should feel very normal - the Knicks losing - suddenly became an unimaginable occurrence.

Now, at 9-11, they’ll lick their wounds and keep fighting, kicking and clawing to stay around .500. That pursuit has felt like an uphill battle at times this season, but as long as No. 11 is healthy and in uniform, they’ll have a chance to keep things interesting.

Even if this weekend didn’t have the storybook ending he - or we - deserved.

🏀

That’s it for today! If you enjoy this newsletter and like the Mets, don’t forget to subscribe to JB’s Metropolitan, or his hockey newsletter, Isles Fix. See y’all soon! #BlackLivesMatter