Knicks 98, Magic 74: Sometimes you gotta stick the whole baby underwater
The next big game Orlando plays will be their first. The Knicks knew last night was a big game and played that way from start to finish.
The last time the New York Knicks held an opponent below 75 points – before last night’s 98-74 win over their mid-table rivals, the Orlando Magic – Tom Thibodeau was a second-year head coach in Chicago. Alec Burks was a rookie in Utah. Bojan Bogdanović was a rookie in Turkey (not a rookie baller; it was his first year playing in Turkey). Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo were not yet the Villanova kids, but just three American teenagers, probably doing the Dougie at their high school proms. Precious Achiuwa’s family had just left Port Harcourt, Nigeria for the Bronx.
On that long ago day, it was the Washington Wizards the Knicks put the clamps on. The Wiz then were not as good as the Magic are now; they were still a few years and a few important pieces from being a serious team, same as Orlando now. Eventually Washington paired their best player, guard John Wall, alongside another guard, Bradley Beal. Different players at different positions, and yet ultimately they reflected an imbalance a lot of up-and-coming teams run headfirst into: the Wizards never could find a big man or even a forward whose skill set matched their backcourt’s quality while offering complementary game.
The Magic’s starting frontcourt of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. is a ready-to-occupy dream house. The backcourt? There’s some good bones, but that’s a definite fixer-upper. Last night Gary Harris, Anthony Black, Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony combined to miss 14 of their 18 shots; Harris, Black and Fultz combined for just one assist in 56 minutes; the foursome also made just one three between them.
People often misspeak when they use the term “Achilles’ heel” figuratively. Sometimes being wrong is enough to change what people agree is right: for years the word “literally” was used to describe totally non-literal things, i.e. LeBron James did NOT “literally” carry his team to victory; if he had, he’d have pulled something. The dictionary chose to reflect the spirit of the word’s use rather than the law, and so now the primary definition of “literally” – something being the word-for-word literal truth – is the opposite of its secondary definition. We, as a people, didn’t stop until “literally” meant what it always has and what it never has. Paradoxes are both bread and circus.
People often say “Achilles’ heel” when describing a flaw in someone or something. But the myth of Achilles makes the meaning clear: his mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx to make him immortal, but – and we have never and will never judge mommy brain here at The Strickland – not wanting to dip the whole kid underwater (Charon probably had her sign a waiver), she held him by his heel, keeping that bit dry, and ultimately, vulnerable. Achilles’ heel was not a weakness, it was his only weakness; he was otherwise invincible.
It’s premature to label Orlando’s bench as their Achilles’ heel. Their next playoffs together will be their first. We don’t know how their frontcourt will fare, much less the backcourt, the bench or the coaching staff. It’s clear the Magic have something going for them, and good for them. After years of nada, even algo is algo.
In January the Knicks were Achilles; in February they were heels. Wins like last night’s and the recent win in Cleveland over teams in better health who New York may face in the postseason point to the possibility that the Knicks’ Achilles’ heel may be their health. Jalen Brunson returned after missing two games with a knee contusion and looked like he was at full strength, pouring in 26 in 29 efficient minutes. Isaiah Hartenstein looked springier than he has in at least a month, on both ends – a terrifying proposition, given the rumors of Mitchell Robinson’s possible return to action.
Not a surprise that Brunson led the Knicks with four 3-pointers made. At this point it’s no surprise their second-best sniper on the night was Deuce McBride, who canned all three of his threes. Dunno if Vegas had odds on Achiuwa and Josh Hart combining to hit five of their nine longballs, but whoever took those odds is re-thinking retirement today. In a good way.
This was a big win for the Knicks: while they finish the season series without ever having their full lineup against the Magic, they finally beat them for the first time in four tries, leaving Boston as the only Eastern team they haven’t topped (yet). With the win they leapfrog the Magic back into the fourth spot in the East and prepare for back-to-back home games against the Embiid-less, Maxey-less Philadelphia 76ers. Keep getting healthier and keep winning these games and the Knicks will be able to focus on chasing down the slipping Bucks and Cavaliers rather than looking back at the soft underbelly of the East gaining on them.
The Magic are loaded in one area, but ultimately imbalanced, reflected in their ranking fourth in defensive rating while an offensive 23rd on the offensive end. The Knicks struck a good balance this year between youth and veterans, offense and defense. Some of their recent M.A.S.H. unit has healed up, OG Anunoby is participating in five-on-five activity, Julius Randle is working up a sweat while re-habbing pre-game, and Mitch is said to be running and jumping. How might history have changed if Thetis had submerged Achilles all the way underwater? If the Knicks can overcome their biggest challenge this year – health – before the playoffs, they may rewrite history themselves.
