Mitch broke his hand after a fantastic first half and the Knicks looked listless at times, but ultimately came away with a victory against the Bradley Beal-less Wizards behind the play of Julius Randle, Derrick Rose, and more.

Death, taxes, and the New York Knicks losing to the Washington Wizards. For years, regardless of who dressed for either team, the Wiz always found enough in the tank to end up on top. Shit, last season, they showed up to the Garden on Dec. 23, 2019 with Gary Payton II and what may as well have been The Strickland staff, and came out victorious. They withstood a 20-and-10 barrage from my forever favorite son, Frank Ntilikina, in what ended up being the penultimate game of the season in Washington on March 10 last year and still came out on top.

So when it was announced yesterday that Bradley Beal — the leading scorer in the NBA and what seems like the only good player on the Wizards’ roster at this moment in time — was out for Friday night’s game, I still had a queasy feeling. Initially, after a few blown coverages that led to uncontested dunks for Alex Len, the Knicks seemed poised to allay my fears and blow the game open early. 

They mauled the Wizards inside, repeatedly, as Mitchell Robinson feasted on lobs and put-backs to the tune of 10 points and 14 rebounds in 20 first half minutes. The Knicks pushed the lead out to 11 multiple times in the half, but as it wore on, a malaise set in. Rather than taking care of business by executing and putting the game to rest early, the ’Bockers seemed content to take turns selfishly attempting to pad their stats against the league’s worst defense.

Fortunately, for their sake, the Wizards, led by an increasingly pooptastic Russell Westbrook, did little to take advantage of their visitors’ profligacy as both sides struggled to get into any kind of rhythm. The lengthy delay caused by technical issues at the scorer’s table didn’t help the cause, as the half meandered to a conclusion with the Knicks taking a 53-42 lead into halftime.

The second half started ominously for the Knicks. First, it was reported at halftime that Mitchell Robinson would sit the second half with an undisclosed right hand injury. Second, somebody named Garrison Matthews took advantage of what was, quite frankly, a lazy and unergetic Knicks team to start the half by knocking down a trio of triples. Things turned from bad to worse as The Wizards cut the lead to 58-55 early and word trickled out that Robinson had fractured his hand. The negative vibes were palpable, but seemed to stir Julius Randle, who until that point hadn’t had enough of an imprint on the game.

That changed as Randle drilled a critical bailout three as the shot clock expired to push the lead back out to six to restore order as the Knicks slowly regained their composure, buoyed by Julius’ 11-point quarter. However, it was still just an eight point game when Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley checked in with 1:49 left in the third.

The duo ignited the Knicks on their way to a 7-0 run as the Knicks led 79-64 to begin the fourth. With a chance to bury the Wizards, they didn’t pass up on it, as Rose cooked in pick-and-roll and Quickley chipping in with timely hoops. The lead ballooned to as much as 25 and the Knicks came out deserved, if unimpressive, 109-91 victors.

Notes

• First things first, the Mitchell Robinson injury really fucking sucks. I know there’s a school of thought that he hasn’t progressed nearly enough. I think we’re going to find out just how silly that notion is when the Knicks play opponents who aren’t anywhere near as listless and talentless as the Wizards. Mitch’s rim protection has unsurprisingly been great, but he’s made tremendous strides in his boxing out, positioning, awareness, and screening. I expect significant defensive drop-off in his absence, which may be lengthy. Maybe he’ll get the credit and appreciation he deserves for his development this season when that happens.

• RJ Barrett really struggled tonight. After a bright start, things fell off the rails as he struggled to convert around the rim while also forcing the issue when nothing was there. He also seemed to be trying to avoid contact on multiple forays rather than searching it out, something which factored in to the missed layup at the end of the previous game against Miami. I truly am not worried about him, but this was a forgetful night despite some nice dishing. The good thing for Barrett is he has a chance to bounce back tomorrow night.

• The biggest compliment I can pay to Julius Randle is that he had 24 points, 18 rebounds, and four assists tonight in what felt like a rather subdued performance. It’s getting to the point where I just expect him to ball every night. Appreciate what this man is doing, because without him the Knicks would probably look every bit as rotten as that sad sack of a team they played tonight.

• Not going to get into the whole Elf thing, but Thibs really needs to stagger lineups better so that RJ and Randle get minutes with both Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley. Playing them almost exclusively in the spacing-starved starting lineup doesn’t seem very optimal to me. The numbers bear it out, too.

• Speaking of which, the early returns on the Rose/IQ pairing have been promising. You can see they’re still working things out, like when Quickley tried to throw a lob to a cutting Rose in the first quarter which the veteran wasn’t expecting. It’ll be a bit of an adjustment as they get acclimated to each other’s preferences and tendencies. They’ve both shown comfort with allowing the other opportunities to run the offense and shift off ball. The dynamic of having two guards capable of bending defenses playing alongside each other — with contrasting but complementary offensive play styles — has been a positive one. Quivers started off brightly too, but this feels different. The offense actually flows and the ball zips around with some real zest and purpose. I like it.

• Rose’s first stint with the Knicks was terrible. He played with blinders on, averaging just 3.8 assists in 32.5 minutes per game as the starting point guard for a team fielding Carmelo Anthony and Pisstaps Dickfingas at the forward slots. On top of that, he refused to shoot from beyond the arc. It really sucked. When he left New York not many were sad to see him go, and getting waived by the Cavs soon after only confirmed the belief that he was finished. Rose (and Thibs) disagreed, and since then, with both the Timberwolves and Pistons, Rose not only became a more efficient scorer, but also started dishing more. He wasn’t playing like the selfish jackass he was in New York, and so far in his second stint that improvement has been obvious. He had six assists today in just 20 minutes, and even turned down a breakaway layup to try to hit Randle on the trailer. His willingness to push in transition has also activated Obi Toppin, who was rewarded by Rose on multiple occasions for running the floor. Early days, but I’m encouraged this reunion is going to work out better than Richie Aprile and Janice Soprano’s did.

• Alec Burks didn’t score and went 0-3 from the field, but I thought he played well, which, I guess, is supported by his team-high +21 on the night. Weird game for him, but playing him with Rose and IQ looks potent offensively.

• The Wizards are super fucking fucked. I think they know it, because they play like they know it. In Beal’s absence the entire “system” is feeding into the death throes of washed Russell Westbrook’s bullshit hero-ball style of play. I won’t blame them too much for swapping out Wall for him, but that move looks disastrous right now, and they’ve still got two years after this with the former MVP. They’re as fucked as the mid-2000s Knicks. It’s just a matter of time before they realize it and hit the reset button with a Beal trade.

• Dāvis Bertāns got five years, $80 million after shooting 42.4% from three last season on 8.7 attempts per game. Entering tonight he was at 33.1% and 7.9, respectively, for the season. He’s giving Russ a run for his money for worst contract on the team. He also got cooked by Rose.

• I’m not sure what Rui Hachimura is, but I’m fairly confident giving him as much leeway as the Wizards have to create his own shot off the dribble isn’t wise.

• Reggie Bullock got a technical. That was weird.

• Nerlens Noel was TERRIBLE in his short first-half stint. He picked up three quick fouls, including two and-1’s on RoLo. To his credit, he bounced back when called upon unexpectedly to start the second half. I’m still worried about his limitations getting exposed in extended burn in a starting role in Mitch’s absence, but for tonight, against maybe the easiest opponent the Knicks will face all season, he stepped up.

• Taj has looked friskier in his last couple of opportunities on the court, but I think, given his limited rim protection, the Knicks should go small with Randle and Obi at the 4/5 for spurts in Mitch’s absence. Maybe Thibs agrees?

• I’m very happy that the Knicks won this game tonight, but I didn’t care for their performance for much of the game. In particular, Payton and Barrett seemed to force things too much, and the former failed to get the team into their sets far too often, especially against a team that inept at every single aspect of defense. This was an easy opponent to to overlook, and they did, but it’s not wise or advisable to fuck around to the degree the Knicks did for long stretches of this game. Not a habit you want to get into, especially when you’re not exactly brimming with superstar talent.

The Knicks are back at it tomorrow at the Garden as they face off against the Victor Oladipo-less Houston Rockets. Quoth Leroy Smith: “The Wizards are really bad.” They certainly are, and the Knicks took advantage, so now they have a great opportunity to seal victories on both ends of a back-to-back for the second time this season. Let’s hope they take things more seriously from the tip tomorrow!