Game Day: Knicks vs. Hornets, 4/20/21
Is seven straight in the cards for the Knicks? They get the injury-plagued and struggling Hornets at home to give it a shot.
When is the magic going to stop for the Knicks?
I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for every single game on the schedule. It was probably 2012-13. There’s nothing like when the Knicks go on a tear, particularly when it’s led by someone who’s as on fire as Julius Randle has been lately.
Forget just the four straight 30-point games: on this six-game win streak as a whole, Julius Randle is averaging 30.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, seven assists, and shooting .453/.395/.843 while getting to the line 8.5 times per game. Not even Carmelo Anthony in his prime here was doing as much as Randle has been of late, considering Randle not only scores the most points, but also routinely dishes the most assists on the team as the primary facilitator, too.
If there was a team to keep the streak going against, the Hornets might be it: they’re without their two best players in LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward, a blow that they were able to withstand for a little bit, at least, before finally succumbing recently and losing four of their last five games.
The Hornets could also be without Devonte’ Graham, and Malik Monk has been ruled out as well. If Graham ultimately can’t go, that would leave Charlotte without four of their top five scorers this year.
That would officially make this a “trap” game for the Knicks, and, well, they haven’t fared too well in those this season, by and large. But this Knicks team isn’t the same one that coughed up a double-digit lead to the Timberwolves a few weeks ago, along with countless other leads on bigger teams — the Knicks now seem to understand that they can’t take any team lightly, and need to keep their foot on the gas until the end (Sunday vs. New Orleans certainly served as a nice reminder of that).
Terry Rozier is a guy to watch for the Hornets. He’s leading them in scoring this year (20.7 points per game on .599 TS%), and he cooked the Knicks last year en route to Charlotte sweeping the season series 3-0 (24 points per game on .458/.409/1.000 shooting splits). Graham missing the game would certainly be a godsend, because I still haven’t forgotten his game-winner in November of 2019.
Other than the previously-known injury to Mitchell Robinson (get well soon, buddy) and COVID absence for Alec Burks (ditto), the Knicks’ injury situation appears to be the same. If the Knicks come out ready to play like they have lately, then this game should be a relatively easy win. But the Hornets are pretty similar to the Knicks this year in that they’re a tough out and they’re really scrappy, so New York certainly can’t come out flat.
Randle going for 30 again wouldn’t be surprising, but if you want to take some betting advice from a non-bettor, I just have a feeling this is going to be a 30-plus point game from RJ Barrett, without a really ideal matchup on the Hornets to keep up with him on D.
Game’s at 7:30 exclusively on MSG (thank goodness, no more ESPN). Come hang with us on Twitter!
