The Knicks find themselves with many more questions than answers heading into the trade deadline after an embarrassingly lopsided defeat to the Nuggets behind a historically bad defensive first half.

Give yourself a hand Knick fans, you made it. When the final buzzer sounded last night it not only marked, mercifully, the end of the basketball game that was played, but also the last minutes the Knicks would play before Thursday’s trade deadline. 

While the Knicks entered the game as meaningful underdogs, there was a lot on the line for a decent chunk of the Knicks’ rotation, as this would be their last chance to show the Knicks brass why letting them go would be a mistake. Or, perhaps, convince another franchise to trade for them. What went down? Let’s dive in.

A blur

This game really flew by, both literally and figuratively. The Knicks came out of the gate looking to build on the trend they had started at the beginning of the road trip; push the pace. And push the pace, they did. Excluding an end-of-quarter heave by Immanuel Quickley, the Knicks had 25 first quarter possessions, scoring 36 points. Julius Randle led the way, grabbing four rebounds in the quarter alone, each time looking to beat the defense up the floor.

Unfortunately, while the Knicks played with purpose on the offensive end, that did not carry over to the other side of the ball. The Nuggets got whatever they wanted, surpassing the Knicks’ first quarter total with 40 of their own. And while the Knicks took a step back in the second quarter, the Nuggets kept their foot on the pedal, running their first half total up to 83 points. This was the most points any Knicks team had given up in a half since 1966.

Upon rewatch, the Knicks’ defensive effort, led by Evan Fournier, was an absolute embarrassment. Last year’s MVP Nikola Jokic was whipping a wide array of passes to anybody and everybody. That wasn’t an issue, Jokic does that to everyone. But the six minute stretch when the Nuggets extended the lead as Jokic sat on the bench? Red flag. The Nuggets built their lead to 23 by halftime and never looked back. The Knicks’ starters fought admirably for a large portion of the third quarter, but this one was never really in doubt. 

In fact, the moment that inspired the largest emotional response came in the closing seconds when RJ Barrett, inexplicably on the court with his team down fifteen and 25 seconds left, landed awkwardly and hurt his ankle. Barrett, who had played 128 minutes over the past four days, was able to limp off the court by himself. Let’s hope he’s okay, as the strides he’s shown lately have been one of the few bright spots during this frustrating stretch.

Missed the boat

As I watched this game, I couldn’t help but think of the overarching symbolism and ramifications that reared their ugly heads throughout. In the second quarter, Obi Toppin was everywhere. By just after the eight minute mark, he had already scored eight points. The bench unit as a whole, however, was struggling. A 4-point deficit had grown to 10. I get Tom Thibodeau wanting to get Randle back in the game as fast as possible.

But, with the Knicks without both Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel, and the Nuggets using 6-foot-8 JaMychal Green as their backup center, rim protection (which, by the way, Toppin is in the 92nd percentile of this season, per Cleaning The Glass) was less paramount for the Knicks. To go along with those things, the Knicks were 24-30 headed into last night’s game. This was a perfect time to experiment with Randle and Toppin. 

But Thibodeau has his code. Players have their roles. And when things are not working, the only answer is to hammer the nail harder. When the second half saw the Knicks trailing by 23, many fans saw this as an opportunity to introduce new players and rotations into the fray, in preparation for a post-trade deadline world which, surely, will be full of them. Instead, Thibdeaou played six players for all but 30 seconds of the quarter; Randle, Fournier, R.J. Barrett, Kemba Walker, Taj Gibson, and Alec Burks. The foursome of Walker, Fournier, Barrett and Randle has a net rating of -11.4. Was this really necessary? And why does this sound so familiar?

Ah, of course, that’s why. Because the seeds of the problems the Knicks are facing in this present moment were planted over a year ago, when Thibodeau did, essentially, the same thing we’re seeing this season. The only difference was, led by an All-NBA season by Randle, the Knicks were winning. 

But, make no mistake, while last season was an overwhelming success, it also was the first domino in a series of them that led the Knicks to this precise moment. Imagine, for a second, Thibodeau made the decision to bench Elfrid Payton and insert Immanuel Quickley into the starting lineup. Would Kemba Walker have felt like such a demonstrably necessary signing this past offseason? Would Quickley, who continued his prolonged slump last night, be further along in his quest to figure out the proper balance in creating for himself and his teammates? Would he have more chemistry with the two most important Knick players, Randle and Barrett?

I guess we’ll never know, but it’s tough not to wonder. And it’s even tougher not to worry that this is a pattern repeating itself this season. Only this time, Toppin is the sacrificial lamb instead of Quickley. Once again, a promising young Knicks player is seeing his role pigeonholed by his head coach. Instead of Quickley being told he’s not a point guard, Toppin is being told he can’t share the court with Randle. And I fear the consequences could be dire. To go two full seasons without figuring out if the man you drafted eighth overall can play with your highest paid player is, to be kind, sub-optimal. Karl Marx once commented on events repeating themselves by saying, “first as a tragedy, second as a farce.”

Which is why, with the meaning of this season (insofar as contending to play for postseason games) ostensibly over, these next few days are so important. Because they could very well shape not only the last two months of the season, but the next couple of years. No matter what happens, roles and rotations can no longer remain rigid. Just about everything should be on the table. The lineup of Quickley-Grimes-Barrett-Randle-Robinson has seen just 19 minutes together; let’s see them together some more. Deuce McBride has barely played 100 minutes, which is more than the time Toppin and Randle have shared the floor together. The rest of this season is about throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. It’s about taking two steps back to try and take four steps forward next season. Or else, I fear, we will have missed the boat.

“Tiny curtain's open

And we heard the tiny clap of little hands

A tiny man would tell a little joke

And get a tiny laugh from all the folks

Sittin', driftin' around in bubbles, and

Thinkin' it was us that carried them

When we finally got it figured out

That we had truly missed the boat”

Shades of gray

If the last 48 hours are any indication of what we’re in store for, the Knicks-verse is about to be a madhouse. Expectations were as high as they’ve been for this franchise since the 2013-2014 offseason, which the team has fallen well short of. Many have their theories why this season has been a disappointment, and even more have a solution. Unsurprisingly, head coach Tom Thibodeau finds himself in the center of many of these discussions. 

Which is why I find it paramount to remind anyone who has read this far to remember that answers rarely fall in the polarized extreme in any conversation. Things are almost never black and white. Some say Thibodeau bears zero blame and it’s purely a personnel issue. Others want to put him in a cannon and blast him into the sun. But, most likely, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

On one hand, I wouldn’t have written the above section if I thought Thibodeau was blameless. To me, it’s clear a big part of the Knicks taking the next step lies in Thibodeau loosening his grip on the status quo. On the other, have the Knicks had a better head coach this decade? This millennium? It is undeniable that Thibodeau has the respect of the locker room and, for now, has the team playing for him. There is value in that. 

And this goes beyond Thibodeau. Trades may or may not happen, and regardless of the outcome, you will be tempted to take your preconceived notion to their extreme endpoint. Fight that. Embrace the middle ground. It’s usually where the answers lie.