One Away from 50

The Knicks faced some adversity from Brooklyn, but keep rolling heading into the playoffs.

Goot morning, and happy special weekend edition of the KFS Newsletter!

Quick editor’s note: because of some family obligations, there is a chance Monday’s newsletter won’t be coming your way until closer to 10 am as opposed to the usual 5 am. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause!

Game 81: Knicks 111, Nets 107

In a New York minute…

The Knicks got off to just about the worst start start imaginable, missing 14 of their first 16 shots from the field and scoring just five points through the first nine and a half minutes of action. Despite that poor start and some hot shooting from Cam Thomas and Lonnie Walker IV, New York never trailed by more than 17, and a 40-point second got them to within single digits at halftime.

That led to a memorable third quarter, which was one of the most dominant of the season. The Knicks defense, led by OG Anunoby and Josh Hart, was suffocating, and routinely turned D into O as New York went into the fourth up eight. The bench mostly held the fort, and while some Nets shot-making made things too close for comfort late, the Knicks (and Mitchell Robinson in particular) made enough free throws to bring home the victory.

Three Things

1. Flipping the switch. It’s not that the Knicks didn’t take this game seriously, but they were clearly missing an edge on both sides of the ball early on. Combine that with the absence of Isaiah Hartenstein (out for injury management, and replaced by Jericho Sims in the starting five), some hot Nets shooting, and Brooklyn’s sound defensive game plan against Jalen Brunson (switching Nic Claxton, who can move his feet pretty well on the perimeter), and this thing almost got out of hand before the second quarter.

But there’s a reason the Knicks are on the cusp of 50 wins while the Nets are on the verge of 50 losses. Jalen got going, Josh Hart started to do Josh Hart stuff, and the threes started to fall. The third quarter was a clinic on both sides of the ball, and while the fourth wasn’t their cleanest close to a win this year, they did enough to get the job done.

2. Big Meech comes up huge. Nets coach Kevin Ollie was brash, you have to give him that.

Three times in the third-to-last minute of the game - right before intentional fouling results in two free throws and the ball - Ollie had his team intentionally foul Mitchell Robinson. Less than a minute earlier, Robinson had gone 1-of-2 at the line when he was fouled following an offensive board, and came into the line shooting 37.9 percent from the charity stripe.

The strategy was sound…but it still backfired.

After splitting makes and misses in his first three trips, Robinson went to the line with 2:03 to go and his team clinging to a one-point lead. He sank both.

There was still some excitement in store - more on that in a bit - but in Robinson’s most extended minutes since he returned from injury, he came up with some of the biggest late-game makes of his career.

3. No Tanking. On the second night of a back-to-back, there was some thought that the Knicks would rest players here, perhaps feeling comfortable with wherever they landed once the playoff seeding chips landed.

No chance. Yes, I-Hart was off, but that sounded like a pre-planned move with Hartenstein’s achilles in mind. Deuce McBride also sat, but he had an illness. Everyone else was a full go, and Donte, Josh and Jalen combined for just over 120 total minutes.

Where did the win get them? Let’s take a look…

Standings Check In / Playoff Probability Deep Dive