Weekend Warriors

The Knicks face a back to back against lesser competition, but going 2-0 won't be easy. Plus, another edition of the Friday Mailbag.

Good morning! It’s been quite a week. Here’s hoping the Knicks can finish it off in style.

Game Night(s)

Tonight: Knicks at Wizards, 7pm, MSG Network

Tomorrow: Knicks at Hornets, 6pm, MSG Network

Injury Report: The news on Quentin Grimes seems to be as good as could have been expected: he has a sprained wrist and has been listed as questionable for tonight. RJ Barrett also remains questionable with his migraine issue.

For Washington, Delon Wright is out. For Charlotte, Miles Bridges will be back from suspension despite being a defendant in multiple domestic violence cases, including one that remains active.

Halftime Zoom: I’ll be on tonight but off tomorrow. Here’s the link.

What to watch for: Nothing complicated here. Can the Knicks come away with two wins against substandard competition despite the back to back and three games in four days? 2-0 here is anything but a given. How many minutes the key guys play tonight, especially with multiple players possibly being down, will be worth watching.

There’s also the issue of what Thibs will do if Grimes and/or RJ are out, but I’ll get into that more below.

📬 Friday Mailbag 📬

Back with another edition of everyone’s favorite end of the week tradition! We start off this week’s lucky 13-pack of questions with an inquiry about Jalen Brunson…

Lee asks… I don’t think anyone is talking enough about the strides Brunson has made as a 3-point shooter. He’s become pretty automatic on catch-and-shoots, and his pull up game is pretty consistent too. I’m a little weirded out by how much trouble he’s had at the rim, and he’s also not been getting to the line, but if he shoots threes like this, all of that will open up. Am I crazy for thinking that he should be shooting 10 threes a game, every game?

Love the question and the thought process Lee (and h/t to all the people who asked about Brunson’s struggles inside the arc).

10 threes per game is a lot. Even this season, only Steph Curry is clearing that number. But you’re not far off with a realistic estimate, as 15 players are attempting at least eight triples a night. Brunson is at 6.4 a game, good for 43rd most in the league. Among the players who have attempted more than his 70 shots from downtown, no one - including Steph Curry - is hitting them at a higher rate than JB’s 45.7 percent clip.

Best of all, Lee didn’t know how right he was in bringing up both pull ups and catch & shoots for Brunson. Going into tonight, Brunson has taken and made exactly the same number of threes off the catch as he had off the bounce: 16 makes in 35 attempts. Given this proficiency in both departments, it’s not unreasonable at all to want something in the range of 8.0-8.5 3PA/g.

Count me as unconcerned about JB getting to the line less. He’s taking about one fewer free throw per 36 minutes, which is an inconsequential amount through 11 games. Even if teams are now wise to his trickery, he’ll re-adjust and bait fools aplenty once more.

As for the 2-point drop off, I’m not overly concerned, if only because he still takes up so much of the defense’s attention. That will never change, because if it does, he’ll make’em pay.

That said, there are looks he’s missing that I never thought he’d struggle with as consistently as he seems to be. Maybe he’s still adjusting to being at the top of every Knicks scouting report across the league. Maybe he’s tired from FIBA. Or maybe he’s just in a bit of a slump.

Whatever it is, if there’s one guy I don’t worry about fixing things, it’s Jalen Brunson.