Highs and Lows of Hollywood

The Knicks looked great...and then turned back into a pumpkin, but the pain was dulled by a career night from their young star.

Good morning, and happy trade deadline week! It’s a little sad that this is probably going to be the most exciting week of New York’s season, but such is life for a team still missing some key pieces and probably needs to take a step back to take two steps forward. Luckily, one young Knick is making the bumps in the road bearable. We’ll get to him in a bit, but first, our usual Monday reminder to bump up to a full subscription if you’re not already in the club:

Game Recap: Knicks 115, Lakers 122

In a Saturday night primetime matchup, the Knicks and Lakers played a game that certainly lived up to the hype: two maddeningly inconsistent teams capable of high highs, low lows, and massive fluctuation between and within games.

This one started off with the Knicks on fire, hitting six of their first seven shots from deep and taking leads of 11-0, 21-6 and 36-18 in the first quarter alone. Their ball movement and general flow on offense was as good as we’ve seen all season, with nary a poor possession in the mix. Their largest lead of 21, achieved a few times in the second quarter, should have been higher, as there were a handful of poor moments in transition defense that kept the Lakers within shouting distance.

All good things (at least with this team) must come to an end though, and the third quarter of doom returned, with LA eventually taking the lead as LeBron and AD got rolling while New York’s offense dragged. The Lakers eventually pushed the advantage to nine points with 2:22 remaining, but that’s when a furious Knicks comeback began. Aided by some Laker misses at the line and punctuated by RJ’s game-tying triple (see above), the Knicks sent this to overtime, but that’s when the wheels came off for good, and LA took the W.

Tale of Two Halves

Actually, it was more like the first 22 minutes, when the Knicks scored 68 points, and then the last 29, when they could muster only 47. Particularly poor was a stretch from just inside the two-minute mark of the first half, when an emphatic Julius Randle dunk made it 68-47 Knicks, to right after the five-minute mark of the third quarter, when an Anthony Davis put back made it 80-79 Lakers.

As is almost always the case when another team goes on a massive run, that 33-11 spurt that turned the game around came with all the starters on the floor. They slowed down, started taking (and missing) tougher shots, and then allowed it to infect their performance on the other end. The difference between this and so many other games this season, however, is that that same starting five looked dominant in New York’s 42-point first quarter and even most of the back half of the second.

Naturally, their implosion led many to question some of Thibodeau’s rotation decisions. Immanuel Quickley, who had five rough first half minutes, didn’t see the court after halftime. Nerlens Noel’s 23 minutes also felt like 23 too many, as he was badly out-physicalled, grabbing just one rebound.

On the flip side, Kemba Walker - yet again looking like an innocent bystander on several possessions at each end of the court - didn’t check back into the game after he was subbed out midway through the third. Robinson also showed signs of fatigue in his 30 minutes and Quentin Grimes (15 minutes, 0 points) was an uncharacteristic 0-for-5. As for Quickley, the Knicks became desperate for shooting once LA started switching everything, and while it’s possible IQ would have had a bounce back second half, it’s starting to become difficult to ignore his current slump (29 percent both inside and behind the arc over his last dozen games).

The fact of the matter is that LeBron and AD woke up and started acting like supernovas midway through this one, LA got top notch shot-making from Malik Monk, and most importantly, the Knicks made just six 3-pointers in the final 49 minutes after making five in the first 240 seconds. New York fell to 6-25 when they shoot below 37 percent from deep. If you’re looking for reasons why they lost (and have been losing a lot), that, and not the coach, is a good place to start.

Career Night

Amidst the disappointment, it’s impossible not to come away from this one feeling at least a little positive, and that’s due to yet another impressive outing from New York’s young wing, RJ Barrett.

Some facts and figures on his night:

• A career high 36 points, to go with eight rebounds and five assists.

• He becomes the 28th player in NBA history to put up those numbers at age 21 or younger, and the ninth in the last decade, joining Zion Williamson (3 times), Ja Morant, Luke Doncic (14x), Trae Young (4x), Devin Booker (2x), Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns (2x) and Anthony Davis. He’s also the first to do so this season.

• Barrett played 50 minutes, joining Scottie Barnes as the only players 21 or under to play at least that many in a game this season.

They Said It

LeBron James sounded pretty impressed with RJ Barrett after this one:

“I’ve been on RJ for quite a while now. I was in Toronto during the summertime, I think he was a high school junior or a senior, and there was a call to my agent…that there was a kid in Toronto that is possibly next.”

The “next” here had an unmistakable connotation, as in, next big thing. Rich Paul is a wise man.

HadukenSharon @Sharonchik266

This is beautiful to hear from @KingJames on young stud @RjBarrett6 #NewYorkForever

LeBron went on to say that RJ joined him in a workout back then and that he’s continued to keep tabs on him. The last part of his comment was perhaps the most notable: “It’s a different light, a different heat when you play for the Knicks. I think he’s handled it extremely well.”

I’ll have much more on RJ Barrett and his career high 36-point outing below, but when someone like James gives you his stamp of approval, it carries a lot of weight in the NBA. When it comes on a night that Barrett played 50 minutes and asked the coaching staff if he could guard the greatest player of his generation, it carries even more.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫

⭐️ Mitchell Robinson: Alec Burks probably would have gotten this had he not thrown yet another dreadful inbounds pass, this one to seal LA’s victory with just under 30 seconds left in OT and the Knicks down five. But for what has now been far too many times to count this season, Burks was the best point guard New York had, which speaks volumes about why the Knicks are where they are at 24-29.

So Mitch gets the star in a game he was plus eight that New York lost by seven. Was he the dominant player we’ve seen for much of the last month? Not really, but Anthony Davis looking like Anthony Davis had a lot to do with that. Robinson’s conditioning issues also reared their head in this game:

RJ has to give more of an effort here and Randle has to come off Davis sooner, especially since Johnson isn’t a threat to throw the lob, but Mitch going into what we’ll generously call a light canter instead of a full on sprint just isn’t going to cut it. That this play came less than two and a half minutes out of halftime speaks to why Noel often enters the game so soon.

⭐️ ⭐️ Julius Randle: The Madness of King Julius continues.

For almost the entire first half on Saturday night, Randle looked as good as he has looked in any game this season. Right from the start, he played with a pace and sense of urgency that was poised and purposeful. He knew he was facing a team that had been in the same doldrums as the Knicks all season, and he took full advantage:

This is the guy who makes someone like me sound like an absolute fool for suggesting he be dealt for Harrison Barnes and a pick. There just aren’t a lot of 6'8", 250-pound humans who can ignite a break like this, just like there aren’t many fours in the league who can put up 32, 16 & 7 (with two blocks to boot). He was selective in his threes, hitting 2-of-4 from distance, and with a few notable exceptions (often in transition) the effort was there on defense as well.

But that isn’t the version of Randle we’ve gotten for most of this year, and it wasn’t even the version we got for the entire game:

You cold forgive Julius for thinking this shot was going down with the game he was having, especially since he made a look from roughly the same distance on the previous possession. But the prior shot came after he worked the defense a bit, forced a switch, and got the smaller Monk guarding him, allowing Julius to turn and elevate with ease. Here, no one else touches the ball, and Stanley Johnson, in for his defense, does a great job. Johnson also never had any pressure put on him, dribbling exhibition be damned.

Jeff Van Gundy, astute as ever, pointed out early in the first half how Randle was so much more effective when he doesn’t “trot” the ball up the court and plays with some pace. New York’s offense grounded to a halt in the third, and while that isn’t completely on Randle, he is the bellwether for how fast or slow they play. For better or worse, they take their cues from him. Toss in his five turnovers, and it’s an easy second place finish for Randle, comfortably behind…

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ RJ Barrett: The star continues to get a little brighter.

Funny story: When I went to save this clip so I could turn it into a GIF, I initially tried to name it “RJ spin and win,” but was alerted that a file by that name already existed.

What file? One featuring a play against the Magic, all the way back during the second game of the season:

Notice how much more compact he is now, how might tighter the spin is, and how much cleaner the footwork is. Even though the Lakers spin was with his left¹, the growth is still noticeable and notable.

Throw in the fact that the more recent edition concluded against one of the premier rim protectors in the league, and it’s fair to say we’re seeing the evolution of one Rowan Alexander Barrett Jr.

Not that it was the only time he had a finesse finish on Davis…

…to say nothing of the slam New York’s young star threw down in AD’s mug late in the fourth, clipped earlier.

And that’s exactly what Barrett is now: a star. Since the calendar flipped to 2022, RJ is 18th in league in shots per game at 18.2, and everyone ahead of him with the exception of fellow rising star Dejounte Murray has an All-Star selection on their resume.

Among that group, Barrett’s effective field goal percentage of 50.2 in that time frame ranks 15th, which doesn’t sound great until you consider how inefficient he’s been for large swaths of his career. Just being in the vicinity of these other top guys in terms of both volume and efficiency is a step in the right direction (not to mention that the three guys he’s ahead of - Devin Booker, Luka Doncic and Steph Curry - aren’t too shabby.)

Barrett isn’t anywhere near the level of those three names…not yet at least. Part of the reason his overall efficiency is so high is because his 3-point percentage is dragging up what are still porous numbers inside the arc, and a big reason why his 3-point percentage is so high is because these are still almost exclusively spot up opportunities. Even during this hot stretch, RJ is hitting just 58.8 percent of his shots in the restricted area, which simply isn’t in the same stratosphere as the other top guys. Even with all his impressive finishes on Saturday night, he was just 9-of-18 inside the arc.

But - and this is a big but - Barrett is finally starting to make up for that inefficiency by getting to the line as much as someone with his body and build ought to. Going back to that list of the top 18 shot takers in the new year, RJ’s 6.5 free throw attempts per game ranks 9th, tucked between the two superstars he faced in LA. Would it be better if he wasn’t dead last among that group in converting his freebies? Why yes, yes it would.

All in due time though, because the best part of that list is yet another category that RJ ranks last in: years on this earth.

The best is yet to come, but by the looks of Saturday night, it’ll be here a lot sooner than we think.

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#NYK75: No. 23 Micheal Ray Richardson

All-Time Franchise Ranks:

• Games Played: 315 (42nd)

• Points scored: 4485 (35th)

• Scoring average: 14.2 (42nd)

• Assist average: 7.1 (2nd)

• Win Shares: 18.7 (42nd)

Best Stat: Second most triple doubles in Knicks history with 18 (Walt Frazier - 23).

The numbers and accolades are prodigious, especially considering he was only here for four seasons.

He was the only player to average at least 14, 7 & 6 for his Knicks career. He’s one of two Knicks, along with Mark Jackson, to average at least 10 assists in a single season. He’s one of three Knicks, along with Ewing and Melo, to represent the team in at least three All-Star games since 1976. He’s one of three Knicks, along with Frazier and DeBusschere, to make multiple All-Defense 1st teams in New York. He’s one of six men² and the only Knick ,to attain at least 28 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and seven steals in a single game, and the only player ever to do it twice³. And perhaps most impressively, he still sits third on the all time Knicks steals leaderboard with 810 swipes in just 315 games, trailing only Patrick Ewing (1061 in 1039 games) and Charles Oakley (844 in 727 games).

But the story of Micheal Ray is far more about what could have been than what was. The fourth overall pick in the 1978 Draft sits down here at 23 in part because his Knicks teams didn’t do much winning (he made the postseason just once, getting swept by the Bulls in the first round in 1981), but also because his dominance was so short lived, as the Knicks dealt him to Golden State for Bernard King in 1982.

Why would they give up on a 27-year-old 3-time All-Star who had led the NBA in both assists and steals just two years prior, and who was coming off a season in which he joined Magic Johnson as the only players to average at least 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds? Because of drugs, and Richardson’s inability to control a habit that would eventually get him suspended from the league for good less than four years later.

His off court issues shouldn’t sully his on court brilliance though, and while it was all too short, his accomplishments as a Knick remain some of the more outstanding in the history of the franchise.

🏀

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 new hockey newsletter, Isles Fix. See y’all soon! #BlackLivesMatter

1. He had one with his right in the fourth that was just as, if not more impressive.

2. The others: Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Rick Barry, Chris Paul and Alvin Robertson

3. The second time was with the Nets.