Knicks 110, Trail Blazers 93: New York’s depth = Portland’s death
The Knicks won thanks to some superstar outbursts from two players who’ve never sniffed the All-Star team
Springtime in New York means baseball in New York, which this year means two teams expected to compete into October. The Yankees torpedoed the Brewers, sweeping the opening series while scoring 12 runs a game. But with Luis Gil and Cole Hamels out some and most of the season, do the Bombers have the starting pitching to return to the Fall Classic? Meanwhile, the Mets allowed just six runs in their three-game set in Houston, but scored only five; even that showing doesn’t shake the sense that the Amazins are still an ace away from belonging at the high rollers table. Six games between the city’s two Major League franchises and not a single shutout.
If it’s shutouts you’re looking for, maybe look to the Knicks, 110-93 winners over the rapidly congealing Portland Trail Blazers. In a game New York won by 17, they enjoyed a 19-point edge in bench scoring, built off an 18-0 first half difference. As the third seed nears clinching and the Knicks face a couple of weeks of mostly meaningless games and off-days just trying to get Jalen Brunson back and in rhythm, they find themselves in the squad player portion of the season. Soccer teams have first-team players who suit up for all the “big” games, but as that sport continues to push the limits of the human body’s endurance with more and more games because there’s always someone with more material wealth than they need who’s after more, squad players become essential workers. Liverpool’s Mo Salah doesn’t play every minute of every game. Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t, either, even with Tom Thibodeau calling the shots.
Enter: Precious Achiuwa. While Brunson’s absence has meant more spotlight for Tyler Kolek and Delon Wright, the return of Mitchell Robinson cast Precoius back to the shadows. From February to early March, Achiuwa started seven of 12 games and played 30-plus minutes in nine of them; in 12 since, he’s only sniffed 20 minutes once. C’est la vie when you’re one of the 300 best basketball players alive, but not the top-200. Still, on an off-shooting night for Towns, it was Achiuwa detonating for eight straight points early in the second quarter, expanding the Knick lead before checking out while Portland ran off a counter-run to hit halftime up eight.
There’s squad player depth and there’s also first-team depth — starters who don’t usually play the lead role but who as understudies are more than qualified. Enter OG Anunoby, who this season and especially of late has shown a second-team/finishing school kind of growth, reminiscent of LeBron James in Miami and Kevin Durant in Golden State. Some players spend so long with the team that drafted them we get stuck thinking whatever we saw from them with that first team is pretty much who they are and what they do. James evolved into a post-up nightmare in South Beach; KD reached new levels as a defender in the Bay Area. Perhaps rejuvenated by a giant contract and a starring role on a legit contender, Anunoby’s off-the-dribble game and confidence and consistency attacking the basket have peaked the past few weeks, though they started even before the captain was felled. This is not a drill.
On the other side of the floor was another testament to second-team apotheoses. Deni Avdija went ninth to Washington in the 2020 draft, one pick after the Knicks took Obi Toppin and after lottery busts like James Wiseman, Patrick Williams and Killian Hayes. While Avdija’s numbers tracked up during his time in D.C., those four years the Wizards finished four games below .500, then 12, 12 again and finally 52 last year. A two-way up-and-coming young player is usually someone you wanna build around. Washington’s NBA team has been the Wizards since 1998. They have never won 50 games or reached the conference finals. They’ve lost 50-plus games 10 times, including 58 and counting this year, where they’re a half-game “behind” Utah for the league’s worst record and the right to kvetch the most when they drop three spots in May’s lottery drawing. So naturally, they traded Avdija last summer. Why draft good players if you might have to pay them someday?
The Wizards did get an intriguing young player back in the deal in Bub Carrington (if he’s any good, I suppose they’ll have to trade him too). They also landed a first-round pick five years after, if that does anything for you. In Avdija, who only turned 24 a few months ago, the Blazers got a player who in his last two games against the Knicks averaged 30 points, 11 rebounds and 4.5 assists. I imagine Washington would say Avdija is a nice player but not a star, and that’s what they’re in need of. I imagine Portland, who already have a star-seeded backcourt of the future in Scoot Henderson and Shaeden Sharpe, will be quite happy if Avdija settles into an OG-like role for them: a tertiary scorer and playmaker who brings toughness and defensive versatility. Particularly since he’s on a declining contract that pays him $14 million, $13 million and a little under $12 million the next three years (by contrast, the ever-sadder 76ers owe Joel Embiid and Paul George a combined $400 million in that time, or 9000% more than Avdija’s owed).
The Blazers are looking ahead a couple years into the future; the Wizards hope to be relevant anytime before the next ice age. The Knicks are all about the here and now. They’ve held the fort without Brunson, going 7-5 in his absence. By the end of this week they could have the third seed locked up, after which we can enjoy a brief spell agonizing over Brunson not re-injuring the ankle and Thibodeau having his starters playing in the last minutes of blowouts.
Could be worse. The Yanks aren’t gonna hit five home runs a night, and at some point the Mets will need an ace. In the meantime, Oswald Peraza and Tylor Megill make for some pretty good Precious Achiuwas, while Marcus Stroman and Mark Vientos could be our baseball Anunobys. Ya gotta believe!
