Knicks 110, Clippers 102: Calm
The Knicks pulled out a drama-free win in a home matinee over the visiting Clippers, giving fans at least one day to revel in the best of what this team can be.
I was lucky enough to be in the building for yesterday’s Knicks win over the Clippers.
What was striking to me, being in the Garden (in probably the best seats I’ve ever been in, shout out to my wife for the amazing Christmas present) was the sense of calm in the building yesterday, both from the players and the fans. Things have really been on the brink lately, it seems. Fans have booed the players. Players have booed the fans right back. The Knicks clearly had higher aspirations than being 22-24 through 46 games, fans clearly had higher expectations for them as well, and the shifts the team has made from looking like world beaters for a few games to looking beaten down for the next few have been frustrating for all parties involved.
So it was kind of weird to me, then, to come into the Garden expecting I might have to begrudgingly take part in booing my team (after they put up arguably their most pathetic showing of the season in their last game and faced a matinee game, their least favorite type of game, on a three-game losing streak), and instead was treated to a wire-to-wire victory.
There was a time where I was expecting the other shoe to drop. Well, multiple times. At first, I remarked to my wife about the hot shooting in the first quarter by the Knicks — they went 7-8 from three to open the game, building a comfortable little 12-point lead by the 3:24 mark — saying that they’re going to need a plan for when the threes stop falling. We’ve seen enough that this team can be undone once the open shots stop falling and they lose their confidence. My worry was all for naught, the Knicks decided they’d just never cool off en route to shooting 44% from deep for the game.
And then there was when Julius Randle, who had mostly just been checked in single coverage, not responding well at all to being doubled in the second quarter. He threw two turnovers in quick proximity to one another and looked like he might be getting flustered. And yet he ultimately figured it out, started passing well out of doubles, and found himself with 24 points, nine boards, and five assists by game’s end.
Even RJ Barrett managed to keep me on the edge of my seat while also feeling completely comfortable — he scored his 28th point with 9:22 left in the fourth quarter, and then missed his final four shots down the stretch to just avoid his fourth game of 30-plus points in the month of January (though as the month is meandering its way towards February, RJ’s now averaging 22.9 points, 6.7 boards, and 3.5 assists on .443/.445/.692 shooting for the month. Not too shabby). He also politely flirted with a triple-double but never really had a shot, but that’s OK — tying your season high with six assists, many of which came down the stretch and helped close out the game, will do just fine.
Through it all, the Knicks showed that when they play at their best, they can be a team to be reckoned with. Granted, it’s not every day that you get to face the Clippers minus Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, but the Knicks won’t have to wait long to get a real test, in the form of the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at MSG.
Notes
— RJ really is incredible to watch during this run. I think the Knicks are really starting to find something here, leveraging the gravity and respect that Randle earned from opponents last season into Barrett being able to face single coverage basically all game. Now that he’s really found his pace, his shot, and his ability to finish around the rim, he’s looking more and more like a potential star again. You’d like to see the efficiency up on a day like yesterday (he shot 9-24 overall), but the process was good and I don’t think he took any bad shots.
— I think the Knicks’ center rotation looked the best it’s looked all year yesterday, and probably exactly like what Tom Thibodeau has been jonesing for this season. Mitchell Robinson was strong and dominant, even if he got worked once or twice by some lovely post moves by Ivica Zubac. (I said during the game that if Mitch can add a baby hook similar to Zubac’s like 7-8 feet away from the hoop, he’d be damn near unstoppable.) With Mitch unfortunately twisting his ankle in the second half, it was all the more comforting to see Nerlens Noel look like his old self in his return to action. He’s not sporting that knee brace anymore, and his lateral movement looked much improved. While he did get a block, what struck me most was how his quick hands had returned, leading to him generating three steals. As long as Mitch’s injury isn’t serious, the Knicks might finally have their 48 minutes of elite defensive play at the center spot on lock. Shout out to Taj Gibson too, who had his best outing in a while when he got called on for emergency duty in the second half.
— Quentin Grimes is a stud. If you’re just looking at his stats for the game — six points, 2-10 shooting — you might think he had an off game, but he didn’t. There’s a reason he got the second-most minutes off the bench behind Noel, and that’s because he made his defensive assignments’ lives living hells for the time he was guarding them during this game.
— The Clippers shot 66% from the free throw line, leaving 10 points off the board. The Knicks shot 16-19 from the stripe. It’s REALLY NICE being on the other side of that arrangement.
— Immanuel Quickley is a point guard, shut up if you think otherwise. I think a lot of people have this idea in their head that a “true” point guard has to generate opportunities for his teammates by being fast as fuck and able to put pressure on the rim. Quickley doesn’t really do that — instead, he just probes and probes and probes and gets his way into the paint, and has a much-improved sense of when to get the ball out at just the right moment to a cutting teammate this year vs. last. Look at some of his assists lately and ask yourself how many of those would’ve ended in floaters last year.
— Cam Reddish made his debut to a huge amount of applause from the Garden crowd. I found myself wishing Thibs could’ve drawn up like one single play for him, but I think this game was mostly about seeing how he was going to mesh on the defensive end. Early returns suggest he did a pretty good job. He also had a really nifty transition bucket for his first make as a Knick.
— Obi Toppin isn’t human.
— There was this guy seated next to my wife and I that was cheering for the Clips early on, but kinda mutedly. I thought I was sitting next to the only Clippers fan in New York. Eventually we struck up a little convo and realized he was a childhood friend of Terrance Mann’s, and was there to cheer on his buddy. He made a point of saying that he wasn’t a Clips fan, though. As the game wore on, he started getting louder and louder, to the point of damn near annoyance where every time Julius would touch the ball he’d scream “HE’S A TURNOVER! HE’S A TURNOVER!” So much for just being a Terrance Mann fan.
That’s it for now. The Knicks play the Cavs tonight in a test to see if the vibes are for real or not. Another chance to get to .500 hangs in the balance. Will the Knicks take it?
