Bulls 118, Knicks 117: Pain
You can’t spell “loss” without the “o” in “Oh, there were bright spots.”
Pain.
The beautiful aspect of the NBA season is that it’s long enough for it to feel like a roller coaster, yet short enough that the bumps of every twist and turn are noticeable. Some bruise and fade away. Others leave scar tissue.
Looked at rationally, losing 118-117 to the Chicago Bulls last night isn’t so bad. The Bulls, who have a far more talented roster than their record would indicate, are already desperately fighting to keep their season alive. Just a week ago they were on the brink of meeting this core’s end before it ever really began. If you told Knick fans before the season that their team would go 2-1 against the Bulls, with both wins coming in Chicago, most would have signed up on the spot.
But fandom isn’t rational. And NBA fans, least of all Knick fans, are not robots. A vacuum doesn’t exist. The games are all we have. And this particular game was not one that deserved a recap with this tone. We should be celebrating the best game of RJ Barrett’s career. Or highlighting the resilience of the Knicks, whose eight-game winning streak was snapped Wednesday night, and their ability to get right back on the horse.
This should be a festive night. It’s the holidays, after all. Instead it’s a wake. And we’re not in Ireland. The Knicks fell to the Bulls. How did it happen? Let’s dive in.
Don’t Let Them Get Hot
The foundation of the Knicks’ turnaround this month has been their defense. After falling as low as 26th in team defensive rating, the Knicks have climbed their way into the top 10. Head coach Tom Thibodeau has built an entire career on a defensive scheme with one primary principle: protect the rim. Early in the season, this principle was put to the test by teams exploiting the Knicks’ inability to stop the ball at the point of attack. Penetrate the teeth of the defense and you force Knicks off-ball perimeter defenders to dig down into the paint and help out, which creates open space for shooters.
Living with the volatility of 3-pointers may have been a sound strategy 15 years ago (when Thibodeau mastermined the NBA champion Celtics’ defense), but in 2022 there are simply too many competent 3-point shooters to cede an abundance of open looks from beyond the arc. But Thibodeau doesn’t scare easily. Faced with the possibility of meeting his (Knicks) maker, Thibodeau didn’t change his ways. Instead, he changed the parts to fit his way better. Last night the Knicks kept up their defensive intensity early on; they rotated, helped and communicated in a way that resembled all of those actions from their eight-game winning streak. They mostly allowed shots that they wanted the Bulls to take. But something funny happened. Many of those shots went in.
The trouble with ceding a bunch of baskets early is that, whether well-defended or not, they allow the opposition to create a rhythm, and once a team is in rhythm it’s tough to get them out of it. This is exactly what happened last night. The Bulls were like a bowling ball rolling down a grass hill. Once they got their feet wet the offense started humming. It didn’t matter that their feet got wet by (mostly) stumbling through the mud; the damage had already been done.
But defense isn’t the only side of the ball the Knicks have been thriving on lately. They have matched a top-10 defense with a top-10 offense. There is no secret to their success. The Knicks aren’t the most overly efficient team (22nd in true shooting, 25th in effective field goal percentage), but they shoot the right shots and crash the offensive glass (3rd in offensive rebounding rate). So when the Bulls came out firing, it was little surprise that the Knicks were able to match them shot for shot. At the half, the Knicks led 60-58. The race was on.
A Star Rises Amidst the Rubble
From a Knicks fans’ perspective, this really was the only major storyline of the game. One could make the argument that, since the Knicks entered the season without any realistic championship expectations, Barrett’s (plus other young players) development should trump wins and losses. I’ll save you another monologue about rationality and fandom, but it’s tough to think that way after losing a heartbreaker.
Make no mistake, it appears Barrett has arrived. This isn’t based off of one game; RJ’s been very good for awhile now. I’ll spare you more stats, instead noting how he is accumulating them. It hasn’t been some unsustainably hot-shooting stretch (33% from three on the season), and most of his games looked like what we saw last night. No, he’s not scoring 44 every night. What he is doing, however, is consistently attacking the teeth of the defense. Very few players get to their spots with the ease Barrett does. The game really appears to have slowed down for him. Possessions where it seems he’s pre-determined his action and forces a bad shot are becoming more and more rare. This new version of Barrett is methodical and reactionary. Whatever the defense has thrown at him, he’s dissected it and come up with an answer.
As frustrating as the end of this game was, some of my favorite moments came in those final minutes as we watched RJ grow as a primary initiator. The Bulls decided they were not going to let Barrett beat them. They sent doubles and blitzed any time the Knicks sent a screener to help him. At first, it was a struggle. Barrett forced a bad shot and then had a turnover. Some may have wanted Brunson to step in and stabilize, as he’s done for much of the season, but this was Barrett’s time to sink or swim. So, as Barrett has done as of late, he adjusted. When the Bulls sent doubles, Barrett found his release valve in a timely manner. When he had a path to the basket, he drove with conviction and drew contact or found a teammate. Barrett scored or assisted the Knicks’ last six points.
There were other positives. After a brutal first quarter, Julius Randle continued his stellar play. Again, the output is rarely what matters for him. It’s about the how. Randle saw Barrett had it going and did everything he could to enable him. Even better, he seemed actively determined to play off of him. Randle finished the game with 29 points on 50% shooting, almost all without calling a play directly for him. The game is much simpler for him when doesn’t try to do too much.
The third star of the game was Immanuel Quickley. I will be blunt: 21 minutes was not enough for Quickley. I’m as enamored with Grimes as anyone, but the gap between him and Quickley (if one exists) isn’t wide enough for him to play 15 more minutes than IQ in a game like this. Quickley was everywhere defensively. He guarded Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and even Nikola Vučević. He stopped multiple fast breaks by himself. The best thing about Quickley is his game-to-game impact floor is remarkably high because the defense and effort will always be there. Fortunately for Knick fans, his offense has found its way back as well, over the last three games averaging 19 per game shooting 63% from the field and 60% on 3-pointers. Last night he had 15 (6-10 from the field) along with three assists, three rebounds and no turnovers. The Knicks were a team-best +11 in the minutes he played.
We can complain about Thibodeau’s rotations, a lack of creativity with his late-game sets or an inconsistent whistle, but the truth of the matter is that the Knicks were in a position to win the game at the end. Barrett put this team in a position to win. The Knicks sent their two best free throw shooters to the line in the final minute of the game. Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes missed all four of them. It’s as simple as that. This should have been a victory. Instead we’re left wondering what if.
The Knicks get a quick shot at redemption as they kick off the Christmas Day slate against the rival Philadelphia 76ers. I think we will learn a lot about this team and their mental fortitude. Will they bounce back? Or continue to let winnable games fall by the wayside? A playoff spot is theirs for the taking. It’s up to them to go and grab it.
Happy holidays everyone! Thanks for reading and contributing to The Strickland’s best year yet.
