Thunder 117, Knicks 107: First blood
The league’s two hottest teams collided last night in Oklahoma. We still love the Knicks
There should have been three heavyweight bouts last night in the NBA: the 73-win Cavaliers were facing the defending Western champion Mavericks; the defending champion Celtics took on their fired former coach and the West’s third seed, the Rockets; and the two hottest teams in the league, the tops-in-the-West Thunder and their 13-game winning streak hosting the Knicks, third in the East and on a nine-game run of their own. But Dallas was without Luka Dončić while Houston just lost Jabari Smith for a couple months. So the spotlight was on New York in Seattle Oklahoma City. Kindly direct your focus there, ignoring the absences of Chet Holmgren and Mitchell Robinson as you do.
If you have a construction helmet, today’s a good day to bust it out because people are dropping heavy takeaways all over the place. The Knicks lost 117-107. So what? That means they can’t beat the Thunder? They led most of the way until falling apart in the fourth, in a game that was officiated so inconsistently it could have been reffed over four quarters by four different crews – from four different decades. They obviously could have won. They didn’t. Is that the takeaway? Don’t be silly.
One of the things that stuck with me from this game was how fun it was to watch. Whether you’re cool with the NBA product or convinced the style of play in the league today is trending toward some depressing, distinction-less Camazotzian singularity where we all wave thundersticks watching teams trade threes, stylistically Knicks/Thunder featured two teams who know what they wanna do and usually get their way. Usually.
The talk around Oklahoma City this year tends to be about their league-leading defense. Last night you saw why. There were possessions where it seemed the Thunder had six men defending five Knicks. In the second half the visitors could muster all of 41 points. The home team didn’t prevent Karl-Anthony Towns from scoring so much as they took him out of the offense altogether.
KAT took just 13 shots, and I’m willing to bet last night was the first time he’s played 40+ minutes without taking a three since he played for John Calipari. Towns only took fewer shots in a loss twice this year, in two of the first three games against Boston and Cleveland. He played only 24 and 32 minutes in those contests versus 42 last night, so it’s fair to say the Thunder took him out of the offense more than most. Good thing for them, because when Towns did get the ball with space and time, he looked like a 7-footer they had no answer for. The Thunder defend the way a dictator rules: you don’t have to have all the answers if you can stop people asking questions.
It was also evident these Knicks cause the Thunder problems that many teams don’t. Early on they defended Jalen Brunson with Lu Dort, a favored move of theirs; playing Dort on the opponent’s most active guard saves Shai Gilgeous-Alexander some energy on that end, a tactic that would have been gangbusters against Knick teams of the past — Dort on Raymond Felton would mean SGA on last-rites Jason Kidd; Dort chasing Reggie Bullock around screens would leave SGA free to ponder why Elfrid Payton was playing ahead of that Quickley kid. Last night, Dort on Brunson still left Shai to deal not-your-average-bears Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby. The Knick wings made six of nine shots while defended by SGA, who unlike a lot of teams the Thunder will face has nowhere to hide against New York’s starters.
I hadn’t thought of it till Alan Hahn mentioned it, but last night was a matchup of the best point guard in each conference, two players whose teams are built in their image. Alexander possesses an array of advantages not available to most, gifts that are projected to age well: he’s big, he’s long, he’s strong. Unlike the Thunder’s first MVP point guard, SGA isn’t the same freakish physical force Russell Westbrook was.
Westbrook had smoke coming out of his ears and rocket boosters under his feet. Shai’s game is zero carbon and whisper soft. He scores with the effortless assurance of the seasons changing. Getting older and slower isn’t going to stop him from dominating, not as he grows stronger and smarter.
Many view the Thunder similarly. They own half the league’s first-round picks from now till the year 2525. Alexander, Holmgren and Jalen Williams are 26, 22 and 23. If last night is any proof, Aaron Wiggins is occasionally the greatest player who ever lived. Alex Caruso is a free agent this summer; every other member of their rotation is either under contract or has a team option through 2025-26. The Thunder are as good a team as there is today and figure to wallow in talent and flexibility a good long while.
Just like how “crafty” pitchers and point guards are always left-handed, “slick” is what we call it when wit and athleticism allow a player to elide, to slip through cracks, usually someone serpentine and long like SGA. Brunson isn’t “slick”; he’s not long. He’s slippery, and just as syncopated as the ragtime Alexander, but New York’s band leader is shorter and stockier than slick. We call that street smart.
It’s the pixie dust in all their front office machinations, too. How’d they lock down Brunson the way they did? Rose’s son is OG’s agent? Leon used to rep KAT? How’d they make the Bridges trade given where they stood with the apron? Connections. Knowing who to know. Street smarts.
That’s these Knicks’ charm, the quality that we believe marks them as special, the team who’ll pull the sword from the stone marked “1973.” Patrick Ewing’s Knicks were gonna yank it out by sheer force of will and a lotta muscle. Brunson’s Knicks are smaller than those guys, but they have a knack for making things happen. Believing in them is one denomination in the same church, the one that trusts God put timers on bombs because there’s time to stop the bomb. Can’t you envision Josh Hart and Deuce McBride trading action-comedy movie quips while they defuse some crazy biological weapon? Nick Nurse would make a good villain.
Don’t look for tea leaves in last night’s loss. It was compelling, contrasting drama for 45 minutes between two teams who’d make for a helluva title fight come June. The Thunder won the sparring match. The rematch is in a week. Maybe the league does the teams and fans a favor and sticks with one officiating crew next time.
