Thunder 127, Knicks 123 (OT): A new rock bottom
Facing their second tanking team in as many games, the Knicks looked ready to win over the Thunder at home, before once again snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Hello darkness, my old friend. Say hello to the new Knicks, same as the old Knicks. You thought the Knicks hit rock bottom blowing a 23-point lead against a Blazers team that has mailed the season in? Think again. The Knicks just hit a new rock bottom after losing in overtime against the Oklahoma City Thunder, playing without two of their best players in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort. How did this happen? And where do the Knicks go from here? Let’s dive in.
The game
Alright, let’s get this over with. The game itself was a weird one. Much like the collapse against Portland when they fell down 12-0 but led after the first quarter, the Knicks got down quickly, this time 12-4, but immediately righted the ship and led at the end of the first quarter. Evan Fournier led the way, something he’s becoming known for, with 10 points and two assists in the quarter alone. Julius Randle kept his hot streak going, bringing the energy from the opening tip and contributing in as many different areas as possible, ending the quarter with six points, five assists, and three rebounds.
The second quarter saw more of the same from the home team. The ball was moving and the Knicks looked to push as much as possible. Mitchell Robinson was absolutely dominant on both ends. He corralled seemingly every possible offensive rebound, and on the defensive end he had three blocks and two steals by halftime. Despite all this, the Thunder, perhaps foreshadowing the end of this game, would not go away. I remember things feeling quite ominous at halftime. I couldn’t make sense of how the Knicks could play such an efficient, aesthetically pleasing half, and only be up one against a team like the Thunder.
This made it all the more surprising when the Knicks came out scorching hot to start the third quarter. Not even at the eight-minute mark, the Knicks had scored 17 points and stretched the lead to double digits. Rookie favorite Quentin Grimes hit three 3-point shots by himself during that stretch. Finally, the scoreboard was reflecting the dominance the Knicks were showing on the floor. Surely, the Thunder would go away, right? Wrong. Led by a couple of rookies of their own in Josh Giddey and Tre Mann (who were phenomenal), the Thunder clawed their way back into the game and at one point in the same quarter were even leading.
The fourth quarter saw more of the same. Every time it seemed as though the Knicks would pull away, the Thunder had an answer. Obi Toppin gets an easy layup off of a pick-and-roll action with Immanuel Quickley? Kenrich Williams hits a three. Alec Burks gets fouled shooting a three and then Toppin powers home a highlight alley-oop, once again from Quickley? Ty Jerome answers with a three of his own. Back and forth the two teams went for the entirety of the quarter, until they reached what I consider to be the key point of the game.
At 5:31 in the fourth quarter, Mann was fouled by Cam Reddish and hit both free throws to give the Thunder a 106-104 lead. Those would be the last points Oklahoma City scored until 1:07 left in the quarter. For those keeping score at home, that’s over four minutes that the Knicks held a team they were absolutely dominating on offense scoreless. This should have been an easy victory. But, because it’s the Knicks, they managed to score just six points in those four minutes, including an almost four-minute scoreless stretch of their own. Even if you didn’t watch this game, you know what happened. Burks walked the ball up the floor, Randle set a half-hearted screen to force a switch, and then had limited time to go to work against a set defense. Or Burks, who was 0-3 during this stretch, kept the ball and created offense for himself. Those are the teams’ late game options. And for the zillionth time, they were unsuccessful.
Still, the Knicks should have won this game. After blowing a two-for-one opportunity getting the ball with 40 seconds on the game clock in a tie game, the Thunder, possibly after an angry phone call from tank master Sam Presti, tossed an inbounds pass to Grimes, who took it coast to coast for two easy points giving the Knicks a lead with 15 seconds left. Unfortunately, the Thunder were prepared for this situation. With 6-foot-8 Darius Bazley acting as their center, the Thunder pulled a reluctant Robinson from the paint where he had been so dominant throughout the game. Mann attempted to drive past Grimes, who stifled him relatively easily, but Robinson, perhaps submitting to his natural instincts, took a step inside anyway, allowing Mann to kick the ball to Bazley in the corner with an advantage. Robinson attempted to correct his mistake, but the damage was done and Bazley scooted past him rather easily for the layup.
Overtime was more straightforward. Despite the best efforts of Fournier, who scored six of the Knicks’ 11 overtime points, the Thunder were ahead the entire period. While the Knicks certainly brought energy and synergy for much of the game on offense, the defense was an entirely different story. Oklahoma City, once again missing two of its best players, entered this game averaging a putrid 102.5 points per 100 possessions, last in the NBA. They ended this game with 127. They hit 100 with just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Knicks, thanks to more Thunder incompetence, did get one last chance to extend the game. Down three with five seconds left, the Thunder missed two free throws. Head Coach Tom Thibodeau sent out his 3-point shooting lineup, with Toppin curiously in the game for Reddish, and drew up a play that created a relatively fantastic look for the struggling Quickley in the short corner. His shot attempt sailed inches long, colliding with the back rim like a car against a wall, and the Thunder closed out the upset.
A lost coach
This was Thibodeau’s worst game as head coach of the Knicks. I’m really not sure it’s close. The game was chock-full of errors by him. Let’s put his predictable rotation blunders on the back burner for a moment and focus on a few of the more unique, glaring issues. Thibodeau challenged a foul call on a play where it was apparent Fournier hacked the offensive player, and then used the teams’ final timeout trying to challenge a second play, either unaware he was out of challenges or that he is only limited to one challenge at all. This was horrendous.
Speaking of horrendous, for a second straight game, the Knicks, who are clearly making a concerted effort to up the pace, were ground to a halt in the final minutes of the game. Once again, it was Burks leading the charge here. Every time the Knicks got a stop, Burks would scamper over to get the ball and slowly meander the ball up the court. All effort to get a head start on the defense, disallowing them to set, was gone. Is it Thibodeau’s fault that Burks is a methodical player? Absolutely not. Some players are who they are. But it is Thibodeau’s job to recognize that Point Burks correlates heavily with a slower pace, and make an adjustment.
Having your cake: Treehouse of Horrors edition
What’s the opposite of having your cake and eating it too? Because that’s what the Knicks are doing right now. A few weeks ago, when the season seemed to be slipping away and the schedule was certain to be getting tougher, I mentioned, on multiple occasions, that this could actually be a blessing in disguise for the Knicks. The team was consistently playing better with young players like Quickley, Toppin, and Grimes on the court; the Knicks could begin featuring them more. In the short-term it could have possibly netted more success, satiating Thibodeau’s hunger for wins, while simultaneously bringing the overwhelming long-term positive of seeing the Knicks’ younger players develop and develop chemistry with one another. We would be having our cake and eating it too, I argued.
Whatever this is is the exact opposite. And that falls on Thibodeau. The losses are piling up, and we’re not learning anything we don’t already know. We know the backcourt of Fournier and Kemba Walker offers absolutely nothing at the point of attack defensively. We know Burks is not a point guard and should not be running the offense down the stretch. We know Taj Gibson is a solid, yet limited, back-up big man option who is going to give you his best effort each night. What good is re-discovering these things night after night if they don’t even lead to wins? If the Knicks are going to lose, is it not better to do so while discovering new, potentially sustainable, things about the team? What if Toppin is actually best as a small-ball center? What if Reddish or RJ Barrett, who missed yet another game with an avoidable foot injury, can play small-ball power forward? What if Quickley, who is mired in a slump that doesn’t appear to have an end, is actually best suited as the nominal point guard next to Fournier, Barrett, and Randle? Or maybe it’s the rarely-used Deuce McBride? There are so many questions about this team that Thibodeau has no interest in finding answers to. So many lineup combinations that will simply fade away like tears in the rain.
It’s fitting that the confirmation of this revelation, one that has been floating around in most Knick fans’ minds, happened against this Oklahoma City Thunder team. The Thunder and their head coach, 36-year-old Mark Daigneault, are completely antithetical to the Knicks, and in some ways, exactly what they should be. The Thunder ran out a nine-man rotation last night that combined for an average age of under 24 years old. Seven of the nine players who got run were under 24. And they beat the Knicks, in Madison Square Garden, as the Knicks almost completely (save Quentin Grimes’ 40 minutes) bypassed any attempt at development or trying something new. Thirteen months ago, as the Knicks headed into another ill-fated home matchup against the Thunder, one they would also lose, I wrote this:
I was wrong about that Knicks team. Led by an all-world effort by Julius Randle last season, the Knicks defied all expectations and captured home court advantage in the postseason. Like this team, they chose to hand-wave most development in favor of a veteran-led team Thibodeau found more dependable. So yes, I was wrong. But, in some ways, I was also right. Because the seeds of many of the issues the Knicks face today were planted last season. The Knicks signed Walker because they knew we needed an upgrade at point guard over Elfrid Payton. Would they have felt that way if Quickley was given the reins last season when it was clear how awful Payton was? Probably not. We still, somehow, do not know if Toppin and Randle can share the court together. Will the Knicks make trades or free agent signings in this upcoming summer without that knowledge?
So not only was this a frustrating loss when viewed through the microscope of this game, it was also a completely useless loss on a macro level. You really only have two options in an NBA season: win games, or build something that could help you win games in the future. The Knicks are doing neither. And the sad thing is, they could be doing both. When Grimes stole that inbounds pass and gave the Knicks a 2-point lead with 15 seconds left, the MSG feed cut to the Thunder bench. The team, despite the large swing in the game that had just occurred, was mostly smiles and jubilant. I couldn’t help but put myself in the shoes of a Thunder fan, if only for a moment. How would they feel if they lost the game in that brutal fashion? I realized they likely wouldn’t care. If anything, they would share the jubilance of their players. They got something to hold onto in the performances by Mann and Giddey. They have a superstar who didn’t even play. And there are more lotto balls to come this offseason. There is hope. They’re having their cake and eating it too.
Here’s to hoping the Knicks can find themselves a baker.
