Moral Victory?

Against the best team in the league firing on all cylinders, New York put up a respectable fight. Should we be encouraged?

Good morning all.

We’re now less than eight weeks from the start of the playoffs, with much work left to be done in that time. Over the weekend, the Knicks reminded us all that they’re going to remain competitive for as long as their injured players are out, but they also reminded us that they need their horses back soon if they hope to keep up with the top competition.

We’ll get into all that and more right now…

Game 57: Knicks 102, Celtics 116

In a New York minute…

From the opening tip, the NBA’s primetime national TV game of the week lived up to the billing, with both teams playing at an exceptionally high level. Off-the-charts shotmaking by the Celtics was countered by exceptional Knicks energy, leading to a tie game shortly after halftime. That’s when the dam finally broke, and a 33-13 run in just over eight minutes saw Boston go up 20 in the blink of an eye. New York fought back to cut the deficit to nine early in the fourth, but a five minute scoreless stretch finally did them in for good.

Three Things

1. Can’t knock the hustle. During halftime of this game, I proffered to my Knicks group chat that this was the best half of basketball the team had played all season.

While that was probably a tad over-exuberant, I couldn’t help but be blown away by the effort and execution on display. At full health, the Celtics are like Tiger Woods circa 2000 in that they don’t need their “A” game to decimate most opponents.

Well, last night they were playing at an A+ level, fully locked in on defense and hitting more than two thirds of their shots for the vast majority of this game.

For a long while though, it didn’t matter. The Knicks stayed with them step for step, like Rocco Mediate having an out-of-body experience while pushing the GOAT to the limit.

That comp may strike some as being dismissive of how good these Knicks are and how much adversity they seem to overcome with startling regularity, but considering the opponent (No. 1 on offense, No. 3 in defense, 65-win pace, on track for the best net rating since the KD/Steph Warriors), it really isn’t, not with New York missing its entire normal starting front line.

As usual, they did it through a combination of grit (eight offensive rebounds in the first 25 minutes, leading to six extra possessions), unexpected contributions (Deuce going 4-for-4 in the first half), and of course, Jalen Brunson being brilliant.

Couldn’t have been prouder off the effort on the national stage. Alas…

2. Can’t win ‘em all. …to actually win this game, they needed Boston to play somewhere below their normal level of aptitude on at least one end of the court, and probably both.

They did neither.

After the game-turning third quarter, the Celtics were on pace to have their best shooting performance in franchise history, hitting 80 percent of their 2-point field goals and 68 percent overall. They finally started missing in the fourth, but by that point New York had run out of gas themselves, probably emotionally as much as physically.

It’s hard to blame them. They’d just watched Boston hit nine of their first 11 attempts from deep after halftime, and while Thibs lamented his team letting up their guard on some of those shots, it was tough to find any real fault. 48 minutes of guarding a lineup in which at least three All-Star caliber players are on the floor at all times is like trying to make it through an episode of American Gladiators unscathed. There is a reason the Celtics are 24-5 when their usual starting lineup is intact.

It was the sort of performance that begged a different question - one that is arguably more important for these Knicks, with their newfound aspirations of conference contention…

3. Can Boston be beaten at full health? The obvious answer is yes, they can, because any team can lose on any given night.

But four times over the course of a seven-game series? That’s a different story.

If the Celtics stay on their current pace, with a plus-10.5 net rating, they’ll be the seventh team in the last 30 seasons to finish with a double-digit figure in that statistic. Of the previous six, four won the title: the 2017 Warriors, the 2008 Celtics, and the ‘97 & ‘96 Bulls. The two that didn’t win it all faced off against each other in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, with the 73-win Warriors defeating the 67-win Spurs en route to their memorable loss to the Cavs in the championship round. Two other teams - the 2015 Warriors and and the 2013 Thunder - finished with a plus-9.9 net rating, with Golden State eventually hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy. OKC may have done the same had Russell Westbrook not been knocked out for the playoffs in round one.

All in all, that’s a pretty undeniable track record.

If we zoom in on Boston’s five losses with their starting five intact (which have come at the hands of the Nuggets, Sixers, Bucks, Thunder and Lakers), they reveal a pretty simple game plan for beating this team: pray.

The Celtics have shot between 26 and 33 percent from deep in four of those five losses, with their only decent shooting performance coming in their January 2 loss in OKC - maybe the game of the year in the NBA - when they hit 37.5 percent from long range (and watched the Thunder go 18-of-40 on threes themselves).

The reality is that the Knicks would do well to push this iteration of the Celtics to six games if they do wind up facing off, and there’s no shame in that. Unlike a half dozen other teams, this isn’t a “championship or bust” season for New York.

Still, it’s fascinating to think about what a fully healthy version of the Knicks can do against not only Boston, but the rest of the East as well.

Hopefully we get a chance to find out.

Play of the Day

They didn’t see a win, but it was pretty cool to hear an absolutely raucous Garden crowd for a solid stretch in the middle of this game, never more so than after this exclamation point to a great half:

Nice awareness by Achiuwa here to get the break started with a timely block. He’s one of 16 players in the league with double digit blocks and steals over the last 11 games.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫

⭐️ Deuce McBride: Continues to answer the bell more often than not.

On a night when Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks combined to shoot 5-of-18, McBride was the lone bench performer who carried his weight - and then some.

Deuce finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, with all four of his first half field goals feeling like critical makes in the moment.

The on/off numbers over the last 11 games still paint him as a weak spot in the rotation, but it’s hard to argue with the progression of his offensive game, even if the Knicks probably need to align him with true initiator to make those minutes tenable.

⭐️ ⭐️ Josh Hart: Great to see Josh get a cover story from the Post over the weekend. For any imperfections he may have, the weak points in his game have stood out far more than they ever should because of the injuries that have forced him into a more prominent role.

Meanwhile, all he does is show up with max effort each and every night.

For about 40 minutes, this was a Josh Hart game to a “T,” with New York’s resident pitbull flying around the court, sticking his nose in places it didn’t belong much to Boston’s chagrin.

In 42 minutes, Hart finished with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with eight boards and six assists. Did all he could to keep the Knicks in it.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Jalen Brunson: If there’s one stat I could use to sum up not only this game, but the state of these two teams, it is this one:

Boston is the only team in the NBA rostering six players - their five starters and Al Horford - with at least 4.0 win shares. No other team has more than four such guys.

And yet, for as great as that Celtics’ core is, none of them have more win shares than Jalen Brunson, who is tied with Jayson Tatum with 7.5 WS, good for 8th best in the league.

This isn’t to imply that the Knicks are a one-man team - they aren’t - but it does show that they depend on Jalen’s unique talents as much any team in the league depends on their star. Since he was drafted, Brunson has has elevated from role player to starter to star, and is now an unguardable force of nature with an endless reserve of energy that would seem wholly inconsistent with his diminutive stature.

With 32 points through three quarters, JB and Josh were the primary reasons New York stayed in this game for as long as they did.

It wasn’t a coincidence. In the 11 games since Randle and OG last played, the Knicks have outscored teams by 33 points in the 373 minutes Brunson has played and have been outscored by 39 minutes in the 155 minutes he’s sat. Only Donte DiVincenzo, who has had flames coming out of his butt for much of this recent stretch, is in the same stratosphere where on/off is concerned.

For as tough as these last 11 games have been, the thought of this version of Brunson getting OG and Julius back into the fold should be a scary one for the rest of the league.

Tip-Ins…

🏀 I don’t think the Knicks have faced a player all season who was as hot as Jaylen Brown was on Saturday night. He “only” finished 13-of-24 for 30 points, but had 27 on 12-of-16 shooting through three quarters, which is when his team needed him the most.

Not to be outdone, old friend Kristaps Porzingis hit three of his four attempts from downtown, a few of which had the equivalent effort of a layup. He is now 14-of-25 on threes against the Knicks this season.

Sigh.

🏀 One more time for emphasis: if you missed the first half of this game, it’s worth your time to go back and rewatch. You won’t see a better 24 minutes of basketball this season.

🏀 The one real nitpick on the evening was turnovers, of which the Knicks committed 14 (to Boston’s seven), leading to 18 Celtic points. Had they taken better care of the ball, this might have been a game in the last five minutes.

🏀 Big picture, after the Celtics at the top, the East is as bunched up as it has been all season.

Zooming in on New York’s ability to stay afloat in a sea of injuries, they are now 5-6 since the last time Julius and OG were in uniform, with a virtually dead even net rating in a representative sample size. Tonight’s game against the last place Pistons is obviously huge, especially with New Orleans waiting on the second night of a back to back.

At the very least, I’d guess that after tonight, they will be at least halfway through the stretch in which the’ll be without Anunoby, with Randle hopefully returning soon after. If they can continue to hang around .500 during this stretch, that should be good enough to make one final late season push for a top-three seed.

Up Next…

The Pistons, who have followed up a frisky (for them) 4-4 stretch by losing five in a row. Isaiah Stewart is suspended, while Marcus Sasser is day-to-day.

Also, thank you for your patience during my week off! The halftime zoom returns tonight, and I hope to see all my regulars there. Here’s the link.

Final Thought

🏀

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”