Knicks 99, Hawks 90: Best win in a long time
Returning to the site of last year’s postseason failures, the Knicks put together a strong full 48 minutes of basketball against the Hawks team that bested them last season in the playoffs.
Superhero stories often feature the hero returning at some point to the scene of their creation: Bruce Wayne carrying a pair of roses to Crime Alley. Kal-El searching the cosmos for survivors from Krypton. The site of their birth is also often the site of their greatest tragedy, a place they revisit over and over to see how far they’ve come, or in times of struggle, how far they haven’t. They gain strength as they gain perspective.
The 2022 New York Knicks were born when the 2021 Knicks fell in last year’s playoffs to Atlanta. They rebuilt their backcourt with players who could give the Hawks problems. They drafted players who can defend the point of attack and the rim, two recurring issues in last year’s series. They came into last night’s rematch without Derrick Rose, Kemba Walker, Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson. They came up with their best win in a long time, 99-90, thanks to everyone who was available. That’s no exaggeration: literally everybody who played played a big part in the win.
Evan Fournier was signed to add off-the-dribble chops that didn’t exist with Reggie Bullock. The pride of Paris has had an up-and-down early season, but last night he and RJ Barrett combined for more than half the Knicks’ first-quarter points.
Jericho Sims entered last night with 33 minutes under his belt. In 21 minutes vs. the Hawks he was a positive presence in the paint on both ends. The Knicks were without Mitchell Robinson in last year’s playoffs. With him and Sims the Knicks had 48 minutes of Grade-A big men — thank goodness, because even with their play, Clint Capela had 16 points, 21 rebounds, and three blocks.
You wouldn’t know from Capela’s line how well the Knick centers played. Same goes for Immanuel Quickley. Nine points and 1-7 from deep looks like an off night for him. But stats don’t reproduce reality, they flatten it. A bialy is not a bagel. IQ was the straw stirring the drink for much of the night. New York was missing two point guards, so Quick looked to facilitate, to the tune of seven assists, one off his career high. Should the Knicks find themselves in a big game down the road and Kemba or Rose are unavailable or just not playing well, Point Immanuel is a fine alternative.
And yet, Atlanta wasn’t going away. Trae Young had 22 in the first half, including back-to-back deflating logo 3-pointers to cut what had been a comfy lead all the way down to one. A 16-0 run bridging the halves put the Hawks up six. Julius Randle was scoreless entering the third, a sad coda after last year’s pianissimo playoff performance. He was defending, and he was a boost on the glass and looking for others ahead of himself. But the Knicks are at their best when he’s putting up points, and with all the frustrations the Hawks cause him in the half court, JR got out on the break, where RJ found him.
When Randle wasn’t being found, he was finding others, here with the lovely hesitation to free Sims.
That was nice, but it wasn’t nearly the dunk of the night.
Obi Toppin scored 13 and was a live wire the Hawks couldn’t defuse. His ability to leverage the threat and reality of his vertical game is an obvious plus, but every year you learn something you didn’t know about players. Early last year Toppin’s passing was a pleasant surprise. This year it’s his speed. Pure and simple, speed kills. What Vince Coleman and Ozzie Smith were to the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals, Toppin is to these Knickerbockers. He’s averaging 50% more dunks this year than last. Speed + hops = devastation.
Trae Young went scoreless in the fourth quarter. Some of that was due to dogged D by Quickley. Some of it was due to Alec Burks. Mr. Fourth Quarter was Mr. All Night. Burks’ biggest contribution never showed up in the stat line. With the 6-foot-6 Burks starting and Walker and Rose unavailable, the non-Quickley lineups were free to switch every pick-and-roll, simplifying their defense and removing one of Atlanta’s favored approaches.
In the third, with the Hawks threatening to pull away early, Fournier scored five fast points to keep the Knicks within reach. Burks was the one who’d put them out of reach, scoring 15 in the third.
Mitchell Robinson played 27 minutes in less than prime condition and was a factor on the glass and dissuading the Hawks in the paint; they missed a million point-blank looks. Barrett shot well, stayed within his game on offense, played some stout defense and led the team with a +18 rating. Quentin Grimes followed up his career-best 17 minutes vs. Phoenix — many of which came in a lost cause — with 15 in Atlanta. He played with confidence, played like he knew he belonged. All the Knicks did. It was so fun to see them like that.
Notes
With 30 seconds left and the game decided, Atlanta was about to inbound from under their own basket. Quickley came running up to pick up Trae full court. Young dropped his head and jogged up the court, not even bothering for the inbounds. That was as much a sign of any how hungry the Knicks were for this one. They never relented.
Wanna know what missing nine of 11 shots looks like, even when you’ve earned $200M in your life as a shooter? It’s Danilo Gallinari having Quickley stuck on him in a mismatch and not trying to post him, take him off the dribble, nothing. Rooster just held it for a while, then swung it to Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot in the corner.
Kevin Huerter wasting a take foul with two Atlanta defenders behind him — putting the Hawks one foul from the penalty midway through the fourth — is yet another sign that the league needs to disincentivize such action.
Me seeing Trae flopping and not getting the calls:
Bogdan Bogdanović turned his ankle after landing on Capela’s foot late in the first half and didn’t return.
As I found myself missing Clyde Frazier the past few games while listening to Wally Szczerbiak repeatedly slaughter dead horses, I wondered if I oughta cut Szczerbs a break. Then he cited PER to show how awesome John Collins is, and no. Just. No.
Wally also uttered the whitest “Ball don’t lie!” ever after Randle was whistled for a technical foul and Young missed the free throw.
Great to see a Fred from Fresh Meadows Knicks spot during the commercials!! You go, Fred!
Mitch checked out for a bit after banging up his knee or his ankle or something, ‘cuz God forbid the Knicks ever go 48 minutes without one of their centers getting hurt.
Wonderful team rebounding by the Knicks. Even when they couldn’t grab it themselves, they worked to keep the Hawks off the offensive glass. Which is terrifying, ‘cuz if they hadn’t been so diligent, Capela would’ve had 40 rebounds.
The Hawks fans booed Randle every time he touched the ball, which I just don’t get. In New York we know how to treat opposing players who helped our team win a series against them.
The shorthanded Knicks put forth a true team effort in knocking off last year’s villains. But you know how comics work: every time the hero comes out on top, their reward is a new battle against a new bad guy. New York faces Brooklyn Tuesday. We’ll see who’s healthy then and how the Knicks fare.
