What a Weekend

The Knicks follow up another heartbreaker with their most improbable victory of the season.

Good morning! What a day to wake up a Knicks fan.

We have a jam-packed weekend slate of games to recap, but first a special announcement: I’ll be going live on the Knicks Film School YouTube channel today, tomorrow and Wednesday around noon each day. The plan is to catch everyone up on the latest trade news and rumors, so be sure to tune in. Check the KFS Twitter account or my own feed for official starting times.

Oh, and if you’re not a full subscriber to this newsletter, hop on board!

Game Recap: Knicks 108, Sixers 97

⌚️60 Seconds or Less: This had all the makings of a hangover game, and after Saturday night, who could blame them. The Knicks hadn’t been blown out in over two months, so when Joel Embiid and the hot-shooting Sixers went up 33-12 late in the first quarter, it was easy to chalk it up to emotionally drained bodies and tired legs. It’s an 82-game season. It happens.

To everyone except, apparently, this team. Spurred on by their bench unit, including Evan Fournier playing in place of the sick RJ Barrett, New York rattled off a 17-0 run, almost all of which came with Philly’s two stars off the court. After the Knicks kept it close for the next quarter or so, the Sixers looked on the verge of taking control a few times in the third, but could never extend the lead to double digits.

That brought us to the beginning of the fourth, which is when three consecutive triples by Deuce McBride, Obi Toppin and Fournier gave New York a lead they’d never relinquish. That was the first of three triples in the final frame for Fournier, whose jolt of offense was the difference in the game, along with some outstanding board work from Isaiah Hartenstein. Give or take a few touch & go moments against the press, the home team wound up winning this one without the late drama we’ve become accustomed to.

Big, big win against a great team.

💪No Quit, All Grit: In a league where many teams don’t even play their best players in back to back games, these Knicks continue to live by one very simple ethos: we may not be perfect, but every minute of every game, you will get everything we have.

That was the case last night, as New York held the Sixers - who coming into this game had the best record and second best net rating in the league since December 9 - to their lowest point total in over two months. Making matters more difficult, Philly came out firing on all cylinders, scoring 35 points in little more than 10 minutes. They’d generate just 62 over the final 38.

This doesn’t happen unless everyone is all in, all the time, and nowhere was that better personified than by Evan Fournier. RJ Barrett was announced as a scratch mere moments before tip off, meaning Fournier didn’t have any time to prepare for meaningful minutes off the bench, but he was ready regardless. Credit to him for being the ultimate professional despite what I’m sure has been a frustrating season.

He’s symbolic of this team in that sense - down, but never out; retaining belief even when the chips are down. It’s tough to put into words just how improbable and impressive it was to win this one. The Knicks never win these games. Not against teams like this, with stars that good, riding as high as they’ve been for two months. If Philly wins the title, no one should be surprised. They are that talented and well-constructed.

But last night, New York was better. They out-willed the Sixers in a game they had no business being in to begin with.

That’s heart. That’s grit. That’s this year’s Knicks.

📸 Play of the Game: If I’d told you a few weeks ago that the biggest play in maybe the biggest win of the season was going to come thanks to the efforts of Isaiah Haretnstein, Evan Fournier and Deuce McBride, how many unkind names would you have called me? On second thought, don’t answer that. Just watch:

Julius only ended up with the ball in the first place after Hartenstein snuck past Embiid for an offensive rebound on a Jalen Brunson missed free throw. He was so good on the glass all night, tying his season high with 14 rebounds, but in 12 fewer minutes than when he last achieved that total.

From there, Fournier does a beautiful job first attacking the close out and then splitting the defense before finally making the wise decision not to challenge Embiid and instead make the extra pass. Deuce splashed for his third triple and seventh of the last three games.

Much more coming about this one in Stars of the Game below.

About Saturday Night: Knicks 128, LA 134 (OT)

⌚️60 Seconds or Less: Heartbreak, thy name is Knickerbocker.

This started off fairly uncomplicated: the Clips were playing like the fully healthy title contender (favorite?) that many billed them to be. The Knicks defended well enough, and on offense, were on point with their shot-making and steady ball & player movement throughout. Thanks to an All-Star performance from recently snubbed (and sick) Jalen Brunson, this was a 10-point game late into the third quarter.

A quick 7-0 Clipper run put New York down 17 early in the fourth and seemed to spell certain doom, but that’s when the magic began. In their most spirited comeback of the season that started with the bench and ended with the starters, the Knicks engineered a 20-point turnaround, taking a three-point lead on a Jalen Brunson floater with 18.2 seconds remaining - a shot that capped a 10-0 run. After too many fake comebacks to count over the years, this one seemed real.

Ha.

In the OT, LA regained their offensive bearings, tightened up their defense, forced some turnovers, and beat a team that seemed emotionally sucker-punched after the end of regulation.

🙈 The Last Play: Sports is cruel in many ways, but perhaps the cruelest is how one single moment can erase a quarter’s worth (or a game’s worth…or a season’s worth) of joy, almost rendering it meaningless in an instant.

That’s what Nicolas Batum’s 3-pointer at the buzzer did, sucking all the air out of Madison Square Garden after the excitement had gradually built to a crescendo.

The biggest question was whether he should have had an opportunity to shoot it to begin with. After Paul George’s initial miss, Kawhi Leonard tipped the ball to Ivica Zubac, who then passed it back to Leonard on the sideline. Leonard was immediately swarmed, first by Jalen Brunson and then by Julius Randle. He held the ball for less than a second, but it was enough time to commit a foul. It didn’t happen, the ball swung, and the rest is history.

After the game, Thibs was asked about whether the team was told to foul. He said that because the Clippers didn’t have a timeout, “there wasn’t a chance to get together, but we should have been aware.” He expanded a bit by saying that whether or not a foul should be given in such a situation depends on whether a player’s back is to the basket or they’re facing the hoop, because fouling someone facing the basket introduces the possibility that they can go into a shooting motion and go to the line for three shots.

Looking at the play, this would seem to imply that the safest opportunity to foul would have been when Zubac got the deflection, and Hartenstein was right there. After the ball swung, Kawhi was facing the hoop, so perhaps Brunson (who you’d think would be the player with the most situational awareness) feared a shot attempt could occur as he was fouling. Thibs also mentioned that they had a foul to give and there was some time left, implying that LA would have had the opportunity to run a set play designed to spring someone for a quick three.

Regardless, the bigger issue according to Thibodeau - and one we’ve seen plague the Knicks time and again this season - was the inability to get the rebound.

“You’re one rebound away from the win, so we’ve got to come up with that. We’ve got to put our bodies on people. They’re shooting it long, it’s going to go long. You’ve got to get to people.”

As the ball goes up, Julius dives in for the board, but leaves his man - Kawhi - unattended. RJ was right there but never stood a chance.

Things to work on, to be sure.

🔥 Fire Fourth: All of the above was such a damn shame because everyone - everyone - chipped in to make this happen.

The fourth quarter scoring started with back to back makes from Deuce McBride, who is feeling it. Prior to this nice stretch, he’d gone 10 of 11 games without converting a single 3-pointer. He seems to have turned a corner. It’ll be fascinating to see how / whether the team keeps him in the rotation if and when they bring someone in before the trade deadline.

After two more threes from Obi and Grimes, IQ did a nice job baiting Terrence Mann for a foul call, and his two freebies cut the lead to six. LA shot back with six straight, which prompted Thibs to bring Jalen and Julius back in the game. They didn’t take long to make an impact:

This play was big in the moment to stop LA’s attempt to regain momentum. Julius Randle’s process will always be put under a microscope, and any possession that comes to a halt with the ball in his hands will always be a little nerve-wracking. Overall, he did a nice job in this game, five turnovers notwithstanding.

The next two Knick buckets came courtesy of a man who almost nobody wanted on the court. RJ Barrett was 4-of-17 when he checked in for Immanuel Quickley midway through the fourth, and missed two more shots to get to 4-of-19. Included in those 19 misses were seven missed threes, bringing his total to 15 straight at one point, and while he defended well enough in the first half, that too fell off as the game went on. And yet, when the lights were brightest, he came through with some key buckets, including a 3-pointer that broke the streak. What a strange bird he is.

From there, it was the Jalen Brunson show on offense, with a beautiful drive and dish to Hartensten, a running finish over Terrence Mann, a drive and kick to Quentin Grimes for a corner three to give the Knicks the lead, and finally, this made bucket to give them a 3-point cushion:

Perhaps lost in Brunson’s late-game barrage was how strong New York’s ball movement was all night long. They crossed the 30-assist mark for the fifth time this season, and were running a lot of actions throughout the night featuring far more activity than we’re used to seeing. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

Also not featured: The Knicks bore down and defended in a way we’ve rarely seen since Mitch went down. A bottom-five defense since Robinson was lost to injury, New York’s activity level was off the charts, whether in the form of clean switches, hard hedges, or simply staying in front of ball-handlers and not biting on fakes. No one did it better than Julius on the penultimate Clippers possession of regulation:

So yeah…there’s a reason why this one hurt. What a win it would have been.

💫 Stars of the Weekend 💫

⭐️ Deuce McBride: I originally had this going to Evan Fournier but changed it at the last minute. Flip a coin between he and Deuce, and you still might not get the right answer, because Isaiah Hartenstein was that good in both of these games.

I mean, look at the beast this guy has turned into over the last few weeks:

But will all due respect to Hart, this came down to Deuce and Evan. Fournier had the biggest game of the weekend, and arguably one of the most important performances of the season for New York. Simply put, they lose to Philly without him. His shotmaking down the stretch felt vital; there were possessions where you were praying the ball would end up in his hands. That’s how good he was, totaling 17 points, including 5-of-8 from deep. His plus-28 in just 24 minutes were second best on the team and a personal season high.

And yet, he loses it to the guy who was a plus-34 in 23 minutes. The only Knicks with a higher total this season were Julius Randle and Quentin Grimes, and both of those came in a 30-point blowout over Detroit. This game was slightly more competitive.

And in that cauldron, Tom Thibodeau wanted McBride on the floor for the entire fourth quarter. His energy was that impactful on both ends. In part because Fournier only played in one of the two games, Deuce gets the nod here.

⭐️ ⭐️ Julius Randle: His weekend averages: 26.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists on just under 50 percent shooting. All-Star numbers right there.

Aside from stopping Kawhi, his most impressive play to me wasn’t one of his several pretty passes or impressive makes, but this board over the possible 2023 MVP:

More and more as this season has gone on, Julius had become the tough guy he appears to be on the outside. That physicality continues to translate in new and necessary ways for the Knicks, who needed Randle’s two key buckets down the stretch to keep Philly at bay. Great performances from the big guy.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Jalen Brunson: Tweeted this out on Sunday, but in case you missed it: on Saturday night, Brunson became the first Knick ever to total at least 40 points on fewer than 20 shots with at least seven assists and one turnover. Coming off an illness, it was as impressive a performance as we’ve seen from his this season.

How did he follow it up? With a ho hum 21, 7 & 5, except those totals are deceiving. As the game went on, New York began hunting James Harden and getting him switched onto Brunson repeatedly. Harden didn’t stand a chance, and the resulting mismatch led to all sorts of goodies for the Knicks down the stretch. In short, his impact was greater than the numbers suggest. In a season where he’s been criticized for calling his number a little too much, he struck a perfect balance against Philly and was instrumental in securing the win.

🗣 News & Notes ✍️

🏀 Kyrie is headed to Texas.

In a stunning deal that went down on Sunday afternoon, the Mavericks traded Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, a 2029 first-round pick and two second round picks to the Nets for Kyrie Irving. According to reports, the Lakers had discussions with Brooklyn leading up to this deal in which LA would have sent Russ and a future first to the Nets, but Sean Marks preferred this package instead.

From a Knicks perspective, the most direct impact this has is on the 2023 Dallas first round draft pick that New York owns from the KP trade. That pick is top-10 protected and is currently slotted in the 19th spot. One would think that this trade makes the Mavs a better team, but we’ll have to see how things play out on the court.

League-wide, the Knicks will join 29 other teams in wondering how this trade impacts the long-term partnership between Luka Doncic and the Mavs. Luka has three more years on his contract after this one before he can opt out, but the thinking has long gone that Dallas will have to build a contender around Doncic before the end of next season to prevent him from looking to leave.

Depending on Irving as a suitable co-star is obviously a risk, and they will have a massive decision ahead of them in July. According to reports, Irving will not extend now, and will take the situation into unrestricted free agency, when he’ll surely demand a long term contract. Will the Mavs give it to him? If they don’t, they’ll have close to max space to fill the void, but in a down market that doesn’t feature an obvious No.2 (or arguably even a No. 3) on a title team. They’ll also have the ability to offer a competitive pick package once their obligation to New York is extinguished, but again, they have little else to add to any prospective trade offer for a star.

Thinking ahead to this summer, if Kevin Durant once again reiterates his request to be moved, would Brooklyn be more willing to acquiesce his demands, and if so, would the Knicks be interested? Last summer, Leon Rose was entangled in the Donovan Mitchell talks, which may or may not have factored into New York’s decision not to get in on the KD sweepstakes. There’s also a question as to whether Brooklyn would ever move Durant to their crosstown rivals. Either way, if he once again gets antsy, I’d be surprised if we didn’t hear the Knicks mentioned.

Last but not least, with Irving off to the Western Conference, the East has an available All-Star spot up for grabs. Might Jalen Brunson get tabbed? Saturday’s 41-piece couldn’t have hurt.

🏀 In the rumor department, Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype gave us this nugget over the weekend:

“The Knicks and Jazz have had exploratory conversations surrounding Obi Toppin, Evan Fournier, and draft pick compensation for Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt”

Beasley somewhat confirmed these rumors himself, when in a previously recorded podcast with Marc Stein and Chris Haynes that dropped on Saturday, said that he’s heard New York is interested in him. Yahoo’s Jake Fischer also mentioned the Knicks as a suitor for the Beasley/Vanderbilt package.

If, in fact, this is the end for Obi in New York, I’ll certainly have some thoughts, but I want to save those for such a time when they’ll be relevant. For right now, it’s pretty clear that the front office is focused on upgrading the roster in preparation for a postseason push, even at the expense of young talent.

That last phrase is a loaded one, of course. Vanderbilt is more than a year younger than Toppin, while Beasley is barely a year older, but neither was the 8th pick in the draft, nor were they the first selection of the Leon Rose regime. If nothing else, these discussions seem like a tacit acknowledgment that the Obi experience might never go as initially planned, and to some extent, that they’re worried less about getting poor value on their investment and more about not letting his present value drop any lower.

As for Beasley and Vanderbilt, the former is a high volume outside shooter who doesn’t offer much more, while the latter is a high energy, defense-first big with 19 made threes in 52 games, almost all of which came from the corner. Attaching a protected first to make this swap would be anything but a home run, although both guys might fit well in New York’s rotation.

Who knows. With three days until the deadline, I’m sure we’ll be hearing many more rumors before the clock hits 3:00 pm on Thursday afternoon.

🏀

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