In rock, paper, scissors, nothing beats Chuck Norris — besides the Knicks defense, which leveled up again last night in NoCal

The New York Knicks played in a playoff atmosphere last night and emerged victorious, 98-91 against a brute opponent in the Sacramento Kings. OG Anunoby, who continues to look slightly hobbled when he shoots, led the way with a defensive effort for the ages. This game was up for grabs down the stretch, when the Knicks went scoreless on three consecutive possessions. But each time the Kings tried to inch closer, Anunoby was somewhere making sure they couldn’t. He guarded De’Aaron Fox; he guarded Domantas Sabonis. If a rotation was missed, Anunoby was there to save it with a stunt.

Behind him was Isaiah Hartenstein, a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Hartenstein battled with Sabonis all night, making his life as difficult as possible. It was as though Hartenstein looked at Sabonis and said, “Wait a minute. I can pass like you, but you can’t defend like I can.” Hartenstein played like he had something to prove — maybe not just to himself, but to the Knicks and other teams paying attention to his impending free agency.

The Knicks’ defense was tough as nails for four quarters, holding the team with the highest offensive rating in NBA history to their second-lowest point total of the season.

Climbing the MVP ladder

Despite another terrific defensive performance (and a lopsided whistle), there were moments when this game looked in serious doubt. And when the Knicks needed to put the ball in the basket, they leaned on the guy they’ve been leaning on all season. Jalen Brunson scored 42 points on 61% shooting. After the game, Kings coach Mike Brown was profuse in his praise of Brunson: "Man, he's a helluva player. I don't know if — Steph, maybe — we blitzed anybody as much as we did Jalen tonight . . . and he still scored 42 . . . we sent the double team at him every single time he came off the pick and roll in the second half, and probably half the time in the first half . . . helluva player . . . helluva player . . . helluva player."

In a league that seems to grow more skilled by the second, Brunson continues to showcase a skill set that make him unique. Look no further than his direct matchup in last night’s game to prove this point. Fox is a wonderful player; sometimes he moves so fast it seems he’s gliding on ice skates. Josh Hart joked postgame that Fox had him dancing like a ballerina all night with his crossovers and inside-out dribbles. Yet, Fox was clearly the inferior point guard in this matchup. When Brunson dribbled down the shot clock and lulled Keon Ellis to sleep before darting to the basket for the game-sealing two-pointer, it was as though he was closing the book on any dissension to his All-NBA candidacy.

Should we go a step further? Is Brunson an MVP candidate? It’s likely going to be tough to crack the top-three with Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Dončićseemingly cemented at the top, but should Brunson see some top-five votes? 

This writer is starting to believe so. The Knicks’ offense is over 15 (!) points per 100 possessions worse when Brunson isn’t on the court. Of course, there are other factors in play here — Julius Randle, the team’s second best offensive player, has been out for over a month. Thibodeau doesn’t stagger much, so when Brunson sits other starters are often sitting next to him.

But the biggest reason for this drop-off is the Grand Canyon-sized chasm between Brunson and the rest of the roster in terms of offensive impact. Nobody creates advantages off the dribble like him, nor is anyone the shotmaker he is. He can score from all three levels and is such a threat that teams are starting to double him well beyond the 3-point line, which opens up lanes and shot attempts for teammates. It makes perfect sense that removing that from the equation hurts the offense. Brunson has 15 games to show voters he is one of the league’s most valuable players. If his performance last night is any sign, he’s more than up for the challenge. 

An ode to Tom Thibodeau

E.E Cummings wrote, “[T]o be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight . . . and never stop fighting.” Tom Thibodeau has only been an NBA head coach since October of 2010, but his presence is such a staple in the league it feels like he’s been around forever. If you’re an NBA fan, you likely have an idea what kind of coach he is. He cares about defense and doesn’t care so much about his player’s minutes. Maybe some have zoomed in and know he really values defensive rebounding and rim protection. But Thibodeau isn’t the same coach he was in 2010.

While his foundation has mostly remained stagnant, some of his edges have softened. Thibodeau has come to value shot-mapping. Even before he was the Knicks coach, his Minnesota Timberwolves were actually ahead of their time with regards to where they took their shots. He brought that over to New York. Of course, the league has transformed, too, so some of this has been pure Darwinism. Thibodeau was thrown into the deep end and knew he would sink if he didn’t swim. In this case, swimming meant embracing a more volatile approach to a basketball game than is natural to him, who is, to be generous, a bit of a control freak. What we’re seeing this season is a coach trying desperately to hold on to who he is in the face of an evolving league.

Since the Warriors won their first championship, only one team has had a defensive rating (DRTG) under 100. In March, the Knicks’ DRTG is an absurd 98.3, almost eight points per 100 possessions better than the league’s second-best (New Orleans). The difference between the Knicks’ defense and the Pelicans’ this month is wider than the gap between the Pelicans’ and the 17th-best defense.

You could argue that this is the most Tom Thibodeau-team Thibs has ever coached. If Mitchell Robinson is able to return, that’s 48 minutes of elite rim protection, due to the rise of Isaiah Hartenstein. Thibodeau needs an elite initiator to operate his read-and-react offense and has one in Brunson. Anunoby is the ultimate defensive Swiss army knife who happens to be an elite 3-point shooter. They also have three other elite 3-point shooters to put next to Brunson in Donte DiVincenzo and Bojan Bogdanović. Deuce McBride has been scorching hot from three and is an elite defender in his own right. Alec Burks is shooting 38% from deep on the season. I haven’t even mentioned Randle; he should be able to help, if he returns.

Thibodeau has his team, and for the first time since 2020-21 it doesn’t feel as though he’s being tugged in multiple directions. When RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were in the rotation, there was always a sense that Thibodeau was in a never-ending battle trying to decide between what he thought he should do and what he actually wanted to do. Those days appear to be gone. Every player, assistant coach and member of the front office appears to be operating in lock-step behind Thibodeau’s vision. The league tried to change him and Thibodeau never wavered. He never stopped fighting. And, perhaps uncoincidentally, neither does his team.