Game Day: Knicks vs. Wizards, 3/23/21
Fresh off yet another stinging loss to the Sixers, the Knicks face an inferior opponent at home: the Wizards. Will this game end in a win like their last bounce-back game after a Sixers loss?
That loss the other night still kinda stings, doesn’t it?
It feels just like it did a week ago, after the Knicks lost by low single digits to the Sixers to plunge them a game below .500. The Knicks would follow that game up with a should-have-won-by-more-but-almost-blew-it-but-hey-a-win’s-a-win game against the Magic last Thursday.
This week, their punching bag (hopefully) is the team from Washington, in town for two straight games against the Knicks today and Thursday. That might seem good, but facing the same team twice can be tough. You literally know exactly what the other team was doing the previous game, which makes it easy to make adjustments.
At any rate, that’s a problem for Thursday. Today, the Knicks need to get back to .500. The Wizards are down pretty bad right now, losing eight of their last 10 games. But consider the quality of their opponents, and it suggests the Knicks probably won’t have a cakewalk in this game.
During that 10-game stretch, Washington has beaten the Clippers and the Jazz, while losing to the Nets, Kings, Bucks, and Celtics by single digits. Russell Westbrook is sorta back to his old self, putting up near-triple-doubles on a nightly basis — he’s averaging 24.5 points, 11.4 assists, and 10.4 rebounds over his last 17 games, and has actually been shooting well enough from three to almost keep you honest (32.4%). Bradley Beal is a walking 40-point game on any given night, especially against the Knicks. Basically, the Wizards are 15-26, but they could play you like a 26-15 team on any given night.
The Knicks might be as close to full strength as they’ve been this week when Derrick Rose comes back. It sounds like COVID-19 hit him pretty bad, though, so he may need a couple practices to get his wind back. At any rate, Immanuel Quickley didn’t seem to have any injury setbacks last game, so he should be good to go. Mitch twisted his ankle after JUST getting back from his broken hand, but it seems all systems are still go:
The play of Nerlens Noel and Mitch could be key in this one — yes, it’s on the Knicks’ perimeter guys to keep Westbrook and Beal out of the paint, but when they inevitably do get in there, Mitch and Noel are going to need to prove that they can contain those two guys without fouling. I think they should be alright. I get the feeling that as long as the Knicks can force Westbrook to beat them from the perimeter and sell out on making anyone but Beal beat them (which they’ve done in the past), then this one could go the Knicks’ way.
Game’s at 7:30 on MSG. Feel free to comment along here or hang with us on Twitter!
