Knicks Clicking and Stinking Simultaneously

Jan 9

No other team in the NBA could tug the heart of their fandom all over the place the way the New York Knicks franchise does to their fans. As I talked about on my podcast, The Knicks Fix, over on the Relevnt App (this is a plug; go listen and join the conversation), I expected that the Knicks could have a slight re-emergence into the playoff race over their next 10 or so games, and while I technically have been right, the lows of this stretch have been very low.

Before we get into that, let’s talk about some of the positive takeaways from the last week.

The first of the last 3 games took place at the Garden against the Indiana Pacers, and this is where RJ Barrett had a game where he showed his potential as a slasher. RJ’s jumpshooting helped him early, which forced the defense to guard him tighter on the wing, allowing him to attack the basket at will. Finishing with 24 first half points, Barrett got the attention of the Pacers defense in the 2nd half, which allowed Randle to get going later in the 3rd quarter with a collection of tough pull-up 2’s, helping the Knicks keep competitive throughout the quarter.

The aggressive play of the Knicks worked in their favor on both ends as they got a lot of stops, and got Myles Turner in foul trouble by attacking him at the basket.

Throughout the 4th quarter, the Knicks seemed to maintain control, with the help of many late clutch shots from Randle, getting them the win.

Against Boston on Thursday night, things looked pretty grim early on, as the effort that Barrett and Randle had shown previously looked completely gone, but the man of the hour for New York was Evan Fournier. Fournier, who I’ve been critical all season of, has a knack for playing well against his former team, as he went off for a career high 41 points, which included plenty of difficult fadeaway and step back 3’s. Fournier was the biggest part in getting the Knicks back in the game in that 3rd quarter, and continued that hot streak in the 4th quarter as well.

And yes, RJ Barrett hit the first buzzer beating game winner of his career, and it was in dramatic fashion as it went off the backboard while he fell out of bounds. Barrett had struggled a lot in that first half, so to see him get a moment like that always feels reassuring.

However, most of that excitement feels stripped away after the 99-75 loss to the Celtics on Saturday night. The team played like there wasn’t a play in spot on the line, and this sort of inconsistent effort has been a killer all season. There are about 7-8 games that the Knicks should’ve won this season had they shown up, and losing a game like this where you get outplayed everywhere does not help. The team was not hitting their free throws, Randle turned the ball over a bunch in the first half, and a lot of the teams shots felt forced in a smothering Celtics defense.

While the Knicks are overall on the right track, these blows definitely send them back on their backs.