The shorthanded Knicks took on the more shorthanded Grizzlies in Memphis and ground out a win in Grind City

Last night, a motley crew of Knicks beat an even motlier crew of Grizzlies. 

I signed up to write this recap in late December, shortly after I last dipped the pen to discuss the Knicks, the Milwaukee Bucks and our old friend RJ Barrett. I handpicked Knicks/Grizzlies to be my next recap for a multitude of reasons, the strongest being a fresh installment of RJ vs. Ja Morant: a battle of top-three picks from the 2019 NBA Draft. Just a few weeks since, Barrett is a Toronto Raptor and Morant’s out for the season with a right shoulder injury. Morant certainly wasn’t the only Grizzly on last night’s injury report, as Memphis entered with just nine active players; one, Jake LaRavia, exited in the first half with a sprainked ankle, leaving Memphis with a band of just eight. 

The Knicks also had a notable name on the injury report, as Jalen Brunson missed his first game of the season with what the team called a calf injury but does reek of load management. New York came out flat and gave fans a good scare, but got their act together in the second half and handled a Memphis team that had significantly less talent than they did. Instead of analyzing the ups and downs of a game that means little in the grand scheme of the season, a few shoutouts: 

• Shoutout to Miles McBride for making the absolute most of his newfound opportunity and making the Knicks’ front office look like the best drafters in the business. Deuce dropped an uber-efficient 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, topped off with six rebounds, five assists and two stocks. He came up in big moments when the Knicks needed him, and provided some much-needed offense on a night without Brunson, including playing the entire second half. 

• Shoutout to Malachi Flynn for making his non-garbage-time Knick debut a much-needed jolt of offense for a team that looked dejected to open the game. Flynn played just ten minutes, all in one first-half stint, but gave the Knicks a handful of timely buckets while making a tangible effort to push the pace.

• Shoutout to Isaiah Hartenstein, who completely dominated the paint on both sides of the floor. I-Hart finished with a monstrous 12 points, 20 rebounds (tying his career high), four blocks and two steals. Amazingly enough, this felt like just another day at the office for Hartenstein, who continues to set the world on fire since Mitchell Robinson went down. 

• Shoutout to GG Jackson, one of my favorite young players around the league who capitalized on a rare dose of playing time. Jackson’s path to the NBA has been met with much criticism, making tonight’s effort even more commendable. Jackson, who hasn’t even been 19 years old for a month, was a five-star recruit and the #1 ranked prospect in the 2023 high school recruiting class. After his junior year, he committed early to North Carolina a year before he was scheduled to walk onto the campus. Just a few months later, Jackson decommitted, reclassified to the 2022 class and re-committed to South Carolina, a move that infuriated the Tar Heel fans in my life. His draft eligibility was moved from 2024 to 2023, giving scouts one less year to evaluate him. His lone season at South Carolina was hills and valleys, as Jackson posted a woeful 47.4% true shooting percentage on a team that finished 11-21 and failed to make the national tournament. 

  Anybody who watched Jackson at South Carolina knows the numbers don’t tell the full story. The film showed the same flashes that saw him ranked at the top of his school class, and he rarely failed to make highlight reels with his Durant-esque jumper, tenacious finishing and tight handle. His pre-draft evaluations were all over the place, with some calling him a lottery talent while others claimed they wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole. Jackson ended up falling to the second round and landed in a crowded pool of young talent in Memphis. Nice to see the first “Oh shit!” game of his career last night.

With the win, the Knicks have taken six of seven games since the OG Anunoby trade. They now embark on a long stretch of home games with a Monday matinee versus Orlando. The Magic are hardly motley and stand just two games behind the Knicks in the East, so this is a good time to start up some home cooking.