Game Day: Knicks @ Clippers, 5/9/21

The Knicks look to break their recent skid against the Clippers, who have been somewhat beatable lately. But it’s going to take a full 48 minute effort.

On paper, the Clippers are a nightmare matchup for the Knicks (or pretty much any team). This is the team that gave the Knicks a measuring stick matchup all the way back at the end of January, and they clobbered New York down the stretch in a show of force.

Both teams are pretty different now. The Knicks, the last two games notwithstanding, seem to have kinda leveled up. The Clippers have won two straight games, but not exactly against the best competition — the tanking Raptors and the LeBron-less Lakers. Before that, they had lost three straight to the Pelicans, Suns, and Nuggets (hey, those teams look familiar!).

The Knicks are still going to be without Alec Burks and Immanuel Quickley, though, and I really think that’s going to hurt them. It certainly did in the last game. Against a team like the Clips, you need to have a starting unit and a bench that can get it done, and Quickley and Burks are a huge part of what makes the Knicks bench great at times.

Still, this should be a good game, just like the Phoenix game was prior to the final quarter. Julius Randle will get to face off against his muse, Kawhi Leonard, and it will be interesting to see if the two end up matching up on both ends. The Clippers will be without Serge Ibaka, but otherwise will have their super-sized starting lineup ready to rock.

One thing I’m almost positive about — Elfrid Payton’s reign as a rotation player should be ended. That said, thanks to injuries, it definitely won’t. But Reggie Jackson is exactly the type of player that’s just good enough to burn the shit out of the Knicks if he’s left unchecked, and in a lineup where he’s the third or fourth most important scorer out there, you can’t let him go off plus let Paul George and Kawhi get theirs. But whatever.

The game’s at 3 PM on ESPN. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! Come hang with us on Twitter for the game if you want!