Knicks Progress Continues to Cha-Cha Slide

Nov 18

After Monday nights game, there was almost good reason to believe the Knicks season was back on track. After 3 very mediocre quarters of basketball, that were filled with plenty of Julius Randle going 1-on-5 while everyone stands around, Kemba and Fournier underperforming, the defense turned on and led to a big win.

Obi Toppin, Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, and Immanuel Quickley continued their great play off the bench from the last 2 games, again leading the Knicks back into the game. To close it out, Derrick Rose went right to put up one of those push shots that he’s mastered in the last 12 years, which dropped right in. RJ then hit a 3 in the quarter and Madison Square Garden went nuts. After a major struggle through almost 3 games, things finally looked back on track

The Knicks won that 4th quarter because of a showcase of effort. However, that effort was only partial on Wednesday night.

I don’t know what spells the Magic put on the Knicks, but if they did that to every team in the league, they’d be going to the playoffs. Julius Randle continued to look like his 2019-self. RJ Barrett couldn’t shoot the ball into the Hudson River. Lastly, Derrick Rose wasn’t able to be the superhero, and that shouldn’t be expected every night from him.

Randle wasn’t even on the floor for most of the 4th quarter until Mitchell Robinson got hurt going after the ball on the floor, and the Knicks looked alive without him out there. I’d love for him to get back to what he was doing last season, and he seemed to own up to the fact that he’s been less than expected this year during the postgame interview. RJ Barrett’s effort can be really frustrating at times, where it seems that he is trying, but he’s making bonehead mistakes like driving at 3 people and putting up a wild shot instead of backing it out to the arc or driving and kicking. Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier both had the type of games that Celtics fans dreaded last night, combing for 11 points on fairly horrendous shooting.

Obi Toppin, however, looked amazing out there on offense. Towards the end, there was still some defensive plays that stood out such as his failure to recover on the screen that led to a Franz Wagner layup. And then, he fouled Cole Anthony on a layup. Quickley and Alec Burks both had some big plays in the 4th quarter, continuing their great play off the bench.

Things got real bad at the end, when Wagner blew past Quickley and then dunked on both him and Barrett, taking the lead with a little less than 2 minutes left. Burks missed a 3. Hometown kid Cole Anthony got a floater on the right side, then Jalen Suggs threw an alley oop off of a Rose telegraphed pass. Game over.

Knicks have a chance to work on things Saturday against the Rockets at 5 pm EST.