Kings 103, Knicks 94: I didn’t miss this feeling
A four-game win streak for the New York Knicks wasn’t meant to be. They dropped Friday night’s matchup with the Sacramento Kings, 103-94.
The New York Knicks rolled into Friday night’s matchup hot and heavy, coming off of three straight wins over the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, and Golden State Warriors.
In an almost eerie fashion, it seemed the Sacramento Kings were out to halt New York’s momentum at the first possible chance. After De’Aaron Fox opened the night with a quick layup, the game was put on hold for nearly 15 minutes while they sorted out an issue with the shot clock.
At approximately 10:18 pm EST, play resumed, but it’s quite possible the Knicks never recovered from the seemingly coincidental icing job by Sacramento. Despite committing to getting their baskets down low (New York’s first five makes were in the paint), they still found themselves outpaced by the Kings and down 23 to 13 after Fox racked up his ninth and tenth points.
On the second night of a back-to-back, it’s not unexpected that the Knicks started out slow, especially against a Kings team that ranks 12th among the league in pace. It’s what followed Sacramento’s run that was unprecedented, at least for New York and their fans.
The Knicks closed out the first quarter on a 16-2 run, by way of RJ Barrett and Julius Randle, who combined for 20 of the team’s 25 points in the first period.
Headed into the second quarter leading by one point, an early optimism set in that these New York Knicks were on their way to making wins on back-to-backs a welcome habit. The next period commenced and finished with little excitement on their side of things.
Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin both had some nice moments early on, but that trend wouldn’t continue on into the second half. We’ll touch on that later.
Here you’ll see an incredibly cunning move by the Knicks’ rookie guard, where he paints a rainbow pass to Toppin as if he had actually airballed the 3-point attempt:
I know his initials are IQ, but man, there are a lot of veterans who can’t pull that off. Obi also had a putback finish on what appeared to have actually been a Quickley miss, but who’s to say?
Yet, despite some flashes from the youth, New York’s offense just didn’t have the same rhythm we’ve seen in recent wins. There was no cohesion or fluidity on that end of the ball, which resulted in Julius Randle having to resort to hero ball to keep things close in the first half.
For Sacramento (some of you might want to skip the next few sentences), it was rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton who lit the way. The 12th overall pick of the 2020 draft did a little bit of everything for the entirety of Friday’s game, no doubt sparking regret in the minds of some Knicks fans.
New York was able to put together a 54-49 lead at the break, with a lot of things waiting to be addressed as they entered the locker room behind a no-doubt disappointed Thibs.
His disappointment would only continue well into the third quarter, with the Kings firmly finding their footing on the offensive end and outsourcing the Knicks 27 to 18.
Obi Toppin continued adding to the highlight reel with a putback dunk off an Alec Burks miss to close the period. This put New York within four, and trailing going into the fourth quarter. But playing from behind for the entire quarter, the Knicks weren’t able to scrape out this win.
Things started off slow once again in the fourth, with New York finding themselves down as many as 10 within minutes, courtesy of Cory Joseph earning a lucky bounce on nearly every shot. Randle was able to keep things interesting with some bully ball tactics on young Marvin Bagley III, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to seal the win.
Haliburton continued to elevate his team behind some incredible defensive moments and a continued stream on offense. Harrison Barnes put some veteran moves on some of the young guys, and Fox signed up for a frequent flyer membership at the charity stripe.
Notes
This is the first game I walked out of a little uncomfortable with Thibodeau’s rotations. Immanuel Quickley, playing poorly, saw some extended and likely undeserved run, while Kevin Knox barely touched the floor in the final period. Hopefully getting guys like Frank Ntilikina and Austin Rivers back will help to ease the gaps and transitions in the rotation, but it’s definitely something to monitor going forward.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns, and San Antonio Spurs all passed on Tyrese Haliburton. It was not just the New York Knicks. This feels like a needed reminder, considering how the lot of Knicks Twitter reacted to his 16-point, five-rebound, and four-block performance on Friday night. Toppin has barely played, let’s take a breath before we start overanalyzing an already-decided draft, hmm?
Julius Randle may not have had a bad game yet this season. Even against the Kings on Friday, he put up 26 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists in the loss. There is no more question as to if he’s an All-Star. If this trend for the Knicks continues, they’ll have their first participant on the annual roster since Kristaps Porzingis in 2018.
I’m willing to go on record and say RJ Barrett’s broken his slump. Over his last six games he’s averaging 21.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists while putting up 50/45/87 shooting splits. He hit a bump in the road to start the year, but as far as game totals go, we’re just getting to what would be the start of his second season in a non-COVID world.
Lastly, don’t get too down over this loss. We would have chalked this up as an automatic loss last year, as we would have both the previous three games. The times are a-changin’.
I didn’t miss this feeling: watching the New York Knicks lose a game that subsequently drained all my life force. But something about that feeling’s absence in recent weeks seems promising, as do a lot of the young guys, despite Friday’s outcome.
