The shorthanded Knicks > the shorthandeder Wizards

Last night at Madison Square Garden a Washington team missing its three best players met a New York squad missing two of its three best. Brutalist math would say the superior team missing one fewer top talent would have the edge, and indeed the Knicks won, 118-109. But in any conflict there are inescapable realities as well as room to evolve. A grizzly bear can bite through a human skull and run up to 30 miles per hour. That’s inescapable. No Julius Randle and no RJ Barrett? That can be managed.

For most of the night it didn’t look that way. The Wizards were without the alliterative Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma, as well as Kristaps Porziņģis, but the thing about brutalism is it misses all those fractal nuances that make up the good stuff in life. An NBA team missing three players simply means other world-class ballers will have their time to shine for once, and for the better part of three quarters the Wiz were luminous. Take second-year man Corey Kispert. Three weeks ago he tied his career-high with 25 points. Five games ago he set a new high with 26. Friday night he put up 27 against Orlando, and last night set a new personal best with 29. This three put the Wizards up nine, their biggest lead of the night.

Remember Johnny Davis? Last year he was a lottery pick, a brilliant scorer in college expected to fill it up at the next level. He averaged a dozen points a game this season on sub-par shooting – fair for most rookies, except those are his G League numbers. Davis hasn’t played a ton in the Association so far. Over his first 21 games in the pros, he scored double-figures once. He’s now done so in three of his last four games, including a (for now) career-high 16 last night. Good to hear the young man sounding positive about what’s undoubtedly been a struggle. But remember: struggling is what growth feels like. 

Respected OAKAAKUYOAK Taj Gibson came into last night’s game having scored in double figures only once this season, against Boston (you can take the man outta Fort Greene, but you can’t take the Fort Greene outta the man). With KP out, Taj decided to go for a literal reintrepration, nailing a career-high four 3-pointers. His 14 points were the most he’s scored since January of 2020, when he led the Knicks with 19 in a loss at New Orleans.   

Unfortunately for the Wizards, the Knicks still had one of their Big 3 healthy, plus their secondary stars are pretty bright too. Jalen Brunson poured in 27 while making more than half his shots. His five turnovers were high for him, but even with JR and RJ out JB had more than enough support. Quentin Grimes continued his case for thank-God-they-didn’t-trade-him-to-Utah: after scoring 20+ just four times in his first 62 games this year, Grimes’ 27 last night means he’s topped that mark four times in his last six. Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin scored 22 and 21, giving the Knicks four players with 20+ points for the first time since 2018.

But into every Corleone family a little Fredo must fall: Josh Hart came down awkwardly on his ankle late in the fourth quarter and immediately left for the locker room.  

Luckily he returned to the bench a few minutes later, with the team saying he had his ankle re-taped and he could have returned if necessary. He didn’t, thanks to the Knicks spinning a 29-point swing over exactly 17 minutes of game time.

How much does any of this matter? We won’t know for a few weeks. There’s a moment of truth nearing: this team’s strength is the quality of its depth. Yet they’ll soon be in the playoffs, where everybody shortens their rotation and relies less on depth than top-end talent. Since Randle’s ankle injury, the Knicks have kept winning, sometimes in ways we haven’t seen before. Can they manage a possible Randle return to dovetail with the emergence of a nine-man chain with no weak links? Gotta keep watching to find out.