Knicks Spoil Wembanyama’s Madison Square Garden Debut
The most highly touted rookie since when Lebron James debuted in 2003, faced one of his toughest challenges. No, it isn’t the playoffs, or adjusting to the NBA level, it is playing in front of Madison Square Garden. MSG holds historical weight in basketball as any team that plays there will state it’s a special moment just to be there. Not only that but the crowd at MSG gets electric like never before, ask Trae Young. The 2023 #1 draft pick would be gearing up for quite a test.
As the game tipped off it wasn’t sure if it was rookie nerves or maybe the crowd at MSG was too loud but Wemby did not look like himself. In the first three quarters, Wemby did not make a single field goal, and not only that he had a couple of airballs which added fuel to the MSG fire. Soon Wemby was met with overrated chants by the MSG crowd, something he will have to get used to when playing in arenas such as antagonizing as MSG.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
However, there is one thing that we can note: the New York Knick’s defense on Wemby was phenomenal. It was led by the center Mitchell Robinson who before the game seemed very up to the task of guarding someone of Wemby’s skillset. When Robinson was guarding Wemby he shot 0-6 on field goal attempts. Guarding someone of that caliber skill-wise is not easy at all and Robinson was more than stellar.
On offense, the Knicks’ big 3 of Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson, and RJ Barett all had 20-plus points to finish the game, as well as accounting for most of the team’s assists. The Knicks would end up winning the game with a score of 126-105. The Knicks are now on a two-game streak, and they’re hoping to continue this high-level of play by facing the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
