Game Day: Knicks vs. Mavericks, 4/2/21
The Knicks head home, looking to stop their two-game skid and get back over .500. Can they do it against Luka, Porzingis, and the Mavs?
If you’re reading this and you haven’t already read Shwin and Knicks Illustrated’s alternate history of the Kristaps Porzingis trade, what are you even doing? Go read that first and then come back!
Tonight feels like a potential tipping point for the Knicks’ season.
Do they come out tonight, fresh off a 1-point loss to the worst team in basketball after blowing an 18-point lead, and lay down at home to a team featuring arguably their fanbase’s most hated player in the league?
Or do they come out, finally give 48 minutes of good basketball for the first time in the last four games, and get their shit together for the stretch run?
I guess we’ll see tonight when the Knicks take on the Mavericks at Madison Square Garden.
Injuries might not make things easy on the Knicks, either, facing a mostly-healthy Mavs squad that’s basically just missing deadline acquisition JJ Redick from the regular rotation at this point. RJ Barrett, Reggie Bullock, and Derrick Rose are all questionable for this game. Barrett and Rose are both nursing sprained ankles, while Bullock was a late add to the report with an illness. One would assume it must be something other than COVID, thankfully.
Until proven otherwise, I’ll assume that all three are going to play, maybe more for the fact that it seems like all three might need to play for the Knicks to pull out a win.
Unfortunately, Elfrid Payton will probably start regardless of who’s healthy or not. Be sure to read Jonathan Macri’s Knicks Film School newsletter today for more on just how much Elf screwed things up last game:
Don’t check the quote tweets unless you want to see a has-been of a never-was complaining that pointing out Elfrid’s many flaws with this starting unit makes you a meany-pants, rather than someone who analyzes basketball.
I’m hopeful that Thibs at least watched last year’s Knicks-Mavs tape and saw the absolute masterclass that Frank Ntilikina put on defending Luka Doncic. Frank’s been out of the rotation for a few games now, but if Bullock can’t go, it’s kind of a no-brainer to have Frank eat up those minutes as the guy to keep Luka in prison all game.
And let’s not forget Julius Randle putting Porzingis through hell. You thought he rocked him last year? Porzingis hasn’t even seen 2020-21 All-Star Julius Randle yet.
Game’s at 7:30 on MSG. Feel free to comment along here or hang with us on Twitter!
