The math checks out: subtract your best big, problems & points allowed multiply

The New York Knicks fell late and hard in Atlanta last night, losing to the Hawks 139-124. You have to go back a couple of months to find the last time New York gave up that many points in a regulation loss – you may remember the November night Oklahoma City went nuclear at MSG, responding to a 48-point Knick first quarter with 145 points and the win. Last night was similar: the Knicks shot about 80% in the first quarter, 70% in the first half, yet it had that same fever-dream feel the OKC game did. Shooting the lights out without building a lead is a specific level of hell. Imagine you’re going through life, doing everything you should, doing it all well, and yet the whole time you know it isn’t enough. You’re missing something, and that missing something is why whatever is always lurking just out of sight behind you is 100% gonna get you.

The Knicks responded to the Thunder debacle by opening a road trip of death, one expected to result in the firing of Tom Thibodeau, by winning games at Denver and Utah, jump-starting their season of surprises. The OKC loss came smack in the middle of a stretch where New York was absent its skyscraping man in the middle, Mitchell Robinson. Not coincidentally, last night was Robinson’s first game missed since having surgery to repair a broken right thumb. Not coincidentally, the Knicks hemorrhaged on the defensive end, giving up at least 33 points every quarter to an Atlanta team with the league’s 16th-rated offense.

The Hawks depth shone through, with six scoring 14+ points, led by 29 from Dejounte Murray. Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter each scored 20+, John Collins added 17 and Onyeka Okongwu and Bogdan Bogdanović combined for 28 off the bench – equaling the point total for the entire Knick bench. They’ve won five in a row and are only a half-game behind the Knicks and the Heat, who are tied for the sixth and final playoff spot.

Thibodeau’s job security is light years ahead of where it was after the OKC loss, but the pressure remains. From now until the All-Star break, the Knicks play eight games in a row and 12 of 13 against postseason contenders: two games vs. Philadelphia, another in Atlanta plus road games in Boston and Toronto, home games vs. Cleveland, Miami, Utah and both L.A. teams, and two derbys against their backyard blacktop bête noire in Brooklyn. They head into this season of royal rumbles without Robinson, who is arguably their most irreplaceable player. Wanna argue it?

Julius Randle may be the Knicks’ best player, but we saw last year a glimpse of what Obi Toppin can do with actual playing time; I’m not saying Obi would be an All-NBA or even All-Star performer, but there’s reason to hope he’d deliver. Jalen Brunson may be the Knicks’ most important player, but Immanuel Quickley has excelled in a starting role this year, and while Derrick Rose isn’t at Brunson’s level at this stage of his career, he’s a sagacious vet, the rare wily righty and someone who you know Thibs would trust taking the wheel. But when Mitch is absent, then what?

Isaiah Hartenstein and Jericho Sims combined for 14 and 14, with Sims scoring a career-high 12. 14 and 14 looks like a Robinson stat line; you have to look closer to see the fault lines that prove that’s not an original Mitch. Hartenstein and Sims combined for five offensive rebounds in 48 minutes, three fewer than Robinson’s rate. As for shot blocks, Mitch is one of the league’s best. The only Knick to block a shot last night was Brunson.

A Knicks loss to the Hawks without Mitch? Looks familiar. Blowing a winnable game late because the defense can’t clot a paper cut does, too, taking us back to November and OKC, as does a winnable-game-turned-late-L being followed up with a monster run of games. To change their results, the Knicks are going to have to change something in their process. Is it Hartenstein starting instead of Sims? More Randle and Obi minutes? More Randle and RJ Barrett minutes? Start IQ and let RJ cook with the bench? You tell me. All I know is a promising season must once again assert its right to exist while its literal biggest supporter is sidelined at least a month. Think Toronto and its mid-sized menagerie are chomping at the bit to face the Knicks without the man in the middle? Find out Sunday at 6 p.m.