The Knicks have their first repeat opponent of the 2020-21 season, a road tilt with the Indiana Pacers. Will things go differently for the Knicks this time? Jon Schulman previews (with a special tribute to MF DOOM).

For the second time in this young season, the Knicks pop the clutch and head over to the Pacers speedway. Injuries are coupling and tripling for New York. The Knicks’ early MVP candidate, Julius Randle, left the game late on New Year’s Eve with what the broadcast called a cramp. Hopefully that doesn’t creep back in. It looked like a knee to the thigh to me, which left him hobbled. If it’s the latter, Jules could have some severely tender dark meat right there for a while, and it could hurt his ability to explode into gaps on the move. Which would in turn ruin New York’s chances to win any games. Unless someone else wants to show up and be a usage-soaking workhorse.

Indiana is also nursing the loss of one of their top guns, TJ Warren, who may be gone for the whole season after having surgery on a stress fracture in his right foot. This could help propel the Knicks, who suddenly look to have a decent size advantage on the starting line if Indiana is content to leave the little fire hydrant, Aaron Holiday, in there.

Wing and Prayer

There’s a slight possibility that if I’ve seen RJ Barrett’s 3-point shooting numbers, so have the Pacers. Of course, maybe they don’t hawk the box scores that don’t involve them. While young maestro Rowan may have missed his last 21 attempts from deep, he was 3-3 against these Pacers in their first meeting. So just what has gone wrong from RJ’s first make to his last miss?

Allegedly the investigation is still ongoing. Despite the bottomless crappetizers, RJ still needs to shoot good shots and his teammates have to continue hitting him when he’s open. Can’t just turn him into some trussed mendicant, am I right?

Thankfully, the possible return of Immanuel Quickley might help the ball pop around a little more, and maybe RJ can hop into one with a little more feel and a little less thought. Kevin Knox has been able to tread water in Quick’s absence, which should be somewhat reassuring.

I, for one, am praying Quickley and/or Frank Ntilikina return, because the Knicks could use all the help they can get. If Alec Burks returns soon, hopefully the Knicks can get back on track and be ready to beat the brakes off Utah and Denver when they head to the city. As for today, no matter how much Julius Randle has learned from last season to now, Domantas Sabonis is the man in the mirror anticipating his every move. Try to smash it, and you’ll get years of bad luck.

Knicks by -7

Blare it in your jeep so your peoples can stare at them rhymes

Ayo, yo. Y’all can’t stand right here. That’s where DOOM’s flowers go. I’ve been a fan since I had peach fuzz but it was Operation: Doomsday that rearranged my brain. Since that, MF has become so ubiquitous in my life that I think about him every time I pop the cork on a bottle of that sweet premium wine, which is a little too frequent these days. Hey, you know what that is, if you wanna see a wino, bring the wine out.

I have no idea what this life is, and the more I know, the more I know I don’t know shit. But here we hit 2021 and all I can feel is this clock certainly seems to be ticking faster. Retarded hard copy in real life on the internet article Rain man, today is my first chance to stay close to my main man like a chain gang and commemorate the brilliance of one MF DOOM. RIP, Daniel Dumile.

I can’t wait for him to reappear after a long hiatus when I move on from this portal. Until then, I’ll carry his legacy everywhere I go. Frail in a retirement community, with any luck still sharp, telling a pretty nurse, “There’s been a place for you in my heart since we first met, a teenage love that didn’t feel no hurt yet.” She’ll roll her eyes, and I’ll continue “My boys warned me you was poison like BBD first cassette.” Her weight shifts, and she tastes her teeth, “I’m sorry, a metal fist terrorist claims responsibility.”

DOOM