Pistons 115, Knicks 106: Maybe the Knicks meant to lose
What do you get the man who has everything? P.J. Tucker minutes!
Do the Detroit Pistons have the New York Knicks’ number? Or did they leave the bar, head held high, only to find out too late it’s a fake? I was really frustrated after the final buzzer of last night’s 115-106 Knick loss. Detroit fought hard, don’t get me wrong, but New York had so many opportunities to put this game away. With the Pistons a potential first-round matchup for the Knicks and the “Big 3” available and on the floor, I was looking forward to a statement game from Jalen Brunson and company. Then I realized that’s what we got.
Color me pessimistic that a matchup between the two teams that didn’t feature two (OG Anunoby; Josh Hart) of New York’s starters – nor Mitchell Robinson – can properly foreshadow a seven-game series. And I don’t think the Knicks wanted it to. Hell, I’m not even sure they were interested in winning this game, period. Thibs played Precious Achiuwa for 40 minutes and P.J. Tucker for 27. That’s about as good a smokescreen as you can draw up. He literally benched Landry Shamet after he made a couple threes, a tide-shifting sequence in New York’s favor. The signs are there. It’s up to you to read them.
I’m no expert on odds and probabilities, but the general consensus is that the Knicks are angling for a first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, which would lead to a second-round against the Cleveland Cavaliers instead of the Boston Celtics. Losing against the Pistons helped them in that venture: Detroit closes with a back-to-back against Milwaukee that, if the Pistons sweep it, would lift them to fifth and a matchup against Indiana. Perhaps it’s all a part of a plan. Last night was also the first leg of a back-to-back, with New York home tonight for a matchup with the Cavaliers; Darius Garland and Evan Mobley are expected to suit up after sitting out against the Pacers. Look for Anunoby and Hart to return to action tonight as well.
New York has won 50 games for a second consecutive season and the 15th in franchise history. After suiting up against the Pistons, Brunson will earn All-NBA honors. Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns have had roller coaster years, sure, but neither so much that it’s thrown the Knicks off-track. New York’s postseason return is in sight, sitting on the other side of two games that could mean as much or as little as the beholder wants them to. Let’s get it over with.
Notes
Last night was Brunson’s third game back. The results have been middling as he works on his return to form. He finished with 15 points and five assists in just 29 minutes (after 34 and 38 minutes his first two games). The clutch-time buckets we’ve grown privy to were not to be — Brunson was one make away from tilting the scales, but missed all three of his looks in the fourth and shot just 1-for-8 in the second half. That doesn’t sound like the captain I know.
No two teams have ever seemed farther apart in their determinations than the Knicks and the Pistons in this one. And it was evident from the jump, with Achiuwa somehow becoming the focal point of the offense with 10 points in the first quarter. If his 40 minutes were a ploy by Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau, I’m not sure he was ever clued in. Though he stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 stocks, Achiuwa was -7 for the night. Thursday’s loss ends a nine-game winning streak for New York when he sinks a 3-pointer. This dunk on Isaiah Stewart fucking rocked, though.
It only took three games, but since Brunson’s return Bridges is once again a discombobulated overthinker who’s crawled back into his shell. On a night he shot 70% from the floor, I caught myself yelling at him to take more shots. Bridges shot 38% from three in Brunson’s absence on over four attempts per game but last night was passing up open looks, as if he had the time to explore the 14,000,605 possible outcomes of each, like Doctor Strange in Infinity War. It’s disappointing, and hopefully another facet of the bit I’ve bought into from this game: if the Knicks are going to make it to the second round and beyond, it will be because the players they paid a premium for provide performances that match the price tag. That starts with Bridges.
For all of Towns’ grandeur in and outside of the paint this season and his self-proclamation of being the greatest shooting big man ever, players with nicknames like “Beef Stew” remain an insurmountable obstacle. The numbers on KAT’s stat sheet wrote a check no eye-test would dare cash. Towns (somehow) finished with 25/10/5 and a steal in 29 minutes, his fewest in a month – uncharacteristically low, except he characteristically fell into early foul trouble. Again.
Towns couldn’t find his way into the paint if it was lit up like an airstrip in the dead of night. Naturally, one would think, “Oh, then surely he put up a handful of threes!” Nope. Towns attempted just one, only the third time this season he’s been so gun-shy. Related: the Knicks are 4-8 when the big fella puts up two or less shots from deep, 42-18 when it’s three or more. How is the staple reason you trade for a star player the one thing you’re not mandating he do? If you are, how is he refusing? Can you imagine if when New York traded for Carmelo Anthony he decided to turn into a passing merchant? (Ed. note: Millions of heads just nodded ferociously) What if Derrick Henry joined the Baltimore Ravens and decided to stop running it up the middle? I would have never believed in October that come April I’d be banging the table for Towns and Bridges to shoot more threes. Why isn’t Thibs?
Miles McBride touched the floor for just 21 minutes in the Knicks’ loss to the Celtics Tuesday. Nothing last night gave me reason to think he should have seen more. This was arguably one of the worst Deuce performances of the season: 12 points, six assists and four steals on 5-of-18 shooting. Fun fact: McBride’s only taken more shots in regulation once in his career, a February game against the Dallas Mavericks when he started in place of Brunson. Let’s keep that as the warranting circumstance moving forward. This was a rough one for Deuce.
Nothing about this game made me feel more like Neo in the matrix than Tucker’s extended run. 27 minutes is the most he’s played in over two calendar years. His lone make, a corner three in the third, was his first field goal in 365 calendar days. On a serious note, I think there’s 5-10 minutes of Taj Gibson in there. Tucker was vocal, provided help on defense and spaced the floor more than Hart has lately. Of all the things we saw in this one, Tucker logging real minutes makes both the most and the least amount of sense.
I don’t know if I truly believe the New York Knicks lost a game on purpose. But it beats the alternative.