Official Game Thread: Hawks at Knicks

[lethalweapon3]

“STARRING: Julius Randle (left) and Tom Thibodeau, in THE ODD COUPLE. Wednesdays, 8 Eastern/7 Pacific, on ABC”

 

We all understand, this isn’t supposed to actually be working, right?

A former top-10 pick dumped by the Lakers after struggling to develop into a superstar, and a past-his-heyday head coach getting passed around the NBA, come together in a New city. Add in a top-fight Dookie, plus a gaggle of misfit veterans and youthful ne’er-do-wells, and just sit back and watch the sparks fly. Get your laugh track ready!

That’s the story of the New Orleans Pelicans, with Brandon Ingram filling in occasionally for either of Zion’s or Lonzo’s roles alongside SVG. That’s the tale that was supposed to have fun, frolic, and surprising victories along the way. Not the one about the New York Knickerbockers Basketball Club.

Consider, also, that the Manhattan flat Julius Randle and Tom Thibodeau share, with R.J. Barrett, some Cats, and a few Tar Heels, has a notoriously maniacal superintendent. This was supposed to be an unmitigated disaster! Funny, yes. But, disastrously funny!

Well, the Super has finally relented, giving up oversight of his run-down, overpriced digs to professional management, led by former mega-agent Leon Rose and Steve Mills-era holdover GM Scott Perry. Under Rose and Perry’s watch, the Knicks drafted Obi Toppin, then took a draft-and-stash foreign import and traded him for rookie Immanuel Quickley. They brought in Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel, then cut and re-signed Elfrid Payton in the offseason. Early in the season, they reeled in Thibs disciples Taj Gibson and Derrick Rose. The team’s only Trade Deadline move was collecting a pair of second rounders for Austin Rivers’ contract.

On its face, this is all well and good. But from a team that checked out of 2020’s pandemic-shortened season at 21-45, this does not a 32-27 team make! The transformation is clearly about the two leads, who go together, like, ramma lamma lamma, ka ding a da dinga a dong. It’s a Broadway smash! Who needs to see some Damn Yankees? (Good luck to Ian Anderson tonight, btw.)

It’s hard to imagine Thibodeau walking in the door, staring at his marquee-by-default forward and declaring, “You’re The One That I Want”. Oh, yes indeed, the Post’s Yaron Weitzman reports Thibs was “hardly sold” on Randle, maybe as an Alton Lister, but not as his A-Lister. Yet after tenures with the Bulls and Timberwolves went sour, in the new Knicks coach’s mind, “there’s no rebuilding or long term with Thibs,” a colleague relayed to Weitzman. His commitment to dance with whatever Rose and Perry can bring through the door gives him job security. Meanwhile, Randle’s commitment to stepping up his skills at both ends of the floor gave him a worthy All-Star nod.

Julius is shooting from the floor at about the same clip as he did in 2020’s lost season, only instead of 27.7 3FG% on under four attempts per game, he’s nailing 40.1 3FG% on over five shots. He’s upped his free throw shooting from 73.3 FT% to 80.2 FT%. Dusting off hints of what he could be back in his primitive Laker years, Randle’s become a nifty passer (career-high and team-high 6.1 APG).

Even despite the injury absence, and then season-ending loss, of center Mitchell Robinson, Randle has been more of a force on the interior, doing a better job of forcing turnovers while cutting down on his inclination to foul anything in his vicinity. With Noel stepping up to offer more rim protection, Randle can focus on securing boards and getting down the floor to help Payton, Rose and Quickley set up plays. The ne’er-do-wells are still here, folks like Kevin Knox and Frank Ntilikina. But Thibs’ ability to rely on Quickley and the veterans around Randle limits the necessity of giving those guys major floortime.

Coming out of the end of last month and heading into this one, things weren’t exactly clicking. After beating the starter-less Bucks in Milwaukee, New York dropped five of six games, sinking the team back into the 7-through-10 morass of the NBA East. Letting a late lead slip away in Boston just two Wednesdays ago, the Knicks and their division-rival Celtics looked like two ships passing in the night. But now, New York has turned their little a H.M.S. Pinafore around, and it’s been full speed ahead ever since.

After crop-dusting the Hornets last night at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks are awaiting the arrival of the Atlanta Hawks (8 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, MSG Network in NYC) and hoping tonight will make it eight victories in a row, their longest streak since Melo, Junior Hardaway and coach Mike Woodson won eight-straight back in March 2014.

The Knicks (1.5 games ahead of 7-seed Miami) are not only seeking to surpass the 38 wins, combined, they collected over the prior two seasons, nor are they simply out to finish this 72-game season with more wins than when Thibs assistant-turned-Hoosier recruiter Woody guided this team to a 37-45 record in 2013-14, his final season in charge.

The flagship franchise of the NBA’s largest sports market, New York has never gone eight seasons without a postseason appearance, the current drought being the longest since sitting out of the Eastern playoffs from 1960 through 1966. The only way to avoid this fate, for certain, is to eliminate the risk of rolling a gutter ball on this season’s 7-10 split.

The Hawks, also playing a back-to-back after fending off Orlando last night, are near ideally positioned to be the team that can slow the Knicks’ roll. New York has the second-toughest remaining schedule in the NBA East, but you wouldn’t know it until you peek at the road trip that awaits that team in May.

The West Coast swing starts quietly enough, in Houston, but then things slowly get amped all the way up to 11. Playoff-hungry Memphis, the next night, then Denver, then Phoenix, then the Clippers, then a Lakers team whose stars are currently healing up. It would be useful for Atlanta (32-26) if they and, say, the Suns, can serve up a couple defeats during this six-game MSG homestand and get the doubts seeping back in, before the Knicks have to put their 13-17 road record to the test.

It has been a couple years since I’ve had to worry about it, but you all know how I feel about first-round opponents for the Hawks whenever playoff time nears. No smaller-market, low-hype teams allowed. Don’t give me the Hornets, the Pacers, or the P.K. Raptors, with games shoved over to truTV or NBATV+ or something. Now, the Knicks, or the Celtics, or the heat, as a first-round challenge to force outside eyes to take the Hawks seriously? Bring it on!

Before tipping off tonight at the so-called Mecca, the Hawks have to decide whether they want this to be Game 1, Game 5 and Game 7 Practice, or Game 3 and Game 6 Practice. This is shaping up to be a tasty prospect for a 4/5 matchup. That is… UNLESS… Atlanta wants to get greedy, commit to sound basketball over the next couple weeks, and make Hawks-Knicks a possible 3/6.

As a theoretical and stunning three-seed, maybe it’s Clint Capela (NBA-high 14.5 RPG) who steals precious votes away from Randle at Most Improved Player and All-NBA voting time. Perhaps, it’s Nate McMillan (NBA-best 18-6 since March 1) who ekes ahead of Thibs in the final Coach of the Year tallies. Overcoming the heightened praise of the NYC media would be quite a feat, but a 3-seed is about what it would take.

The reconfigured Randle is capable of feasting both inside, as demonstrated in the Knicks’ successful 113-108 visit to Atlanta on January 4 (11-for-14 2FGs, 17 rebounds, 9 assists), and outside, as shown in New York’s 123-112 win on February 15 (44 points, 7-for-13 3FGs, 9 rebounds, 5 assists). Coming off an assertive mutual performance yesterday against the Magic, the C+C Muscle Factory (combined 25 points and 34 boards for John Collins and Clint Capela vs. ORL, each under 27 minutes logged) will have a better gameplan for assessing what kind of game Randle is aiming for tonight.

The Knicks have grown accustomed to Thibs’ orders, forcing ballhandlers into insane shots, and grabbing lots of misses to control possessions. Knick opponents shoot an NBA-low 33.6 3FG%, and even their 75.6 FT% is the second-lowest. The rebounders and the wing defenders keep the second-chance and transition opportunities low (NBA-best 12.5 April opponent points-per-48 off TOs), and the defensive efficiency high (105.9 April D-Rating, 3^rd-best in NBA).

A repeat of Tuesday’s season-high 65 team rebounds is a bit too much to ask of Atlanta, especially given the Knicks (38.0 team 3FG%, 6^th in NBA), unlike the watered-down Magic, are capable of hitting the side of a barn. When Randle gets bottled up, he can look to some killer B’s – Barrett (39.1 3FG%, up from 32.0% his rookie season), Reggie Bullock (40.1 3FG%), and aside from today, bench man Burks (40.8 3FG%, but out due to Health ‘n Safety Protocols) to provide a little sting.

The Hawks’ swingmen will have to do more than merely counter. Anderson’s Shen alum Kevin Huerter is in a New York State of Mind, seeking to make amends after going 1-for-9 from deep during his last visit here. Unavailable for that game, and mostly a non-factor in January, Bogdan Bogdanovic (47.3 3FG% in last 8 games) seeks to build from an understated outing yesterday. Trae Young (9.8 APG in last 6 games, 22 assists in 2 games vs. NYK) can find these shooters in their spots even as he’s being hounded. But Atlanta’s guards and wings must be impactful with their perimeter defense and rebounding, not just with their shooting.

Fighting for loose balls and long caroms, and serving up some New York strip when the bigs hesitate and bring the ball below their waists, can defuse what can be, despite Randle and the Knick wings’ prolific shooting skills, a sluggish and selfish offense (NBA-low 96.4 Pace, 95.8 this month; 53.9 assist%, 2^nd-lowest in NBA). The Hawks under MacMillan have shown the ability to play, and excel, at slower tempos (9-4 in March despite the league’s second-slowest Pace in that stretch). Controlling the ball (via rebounding and turnover margins) and the pace to suit the talent on the floor can help Atlanta overcome this month’s most efficient team (NBA-best 8.9 April Net Rating by NYK).

The Knicks would love moving up a few spots in the East and being considered a serious championship contender like their cousins across the East River. But as far as their long-suffering fans are concerned, this season, thanks to the Thibs-Randle comedy duo, is already a box-office boffo. If this collective simply makes the playoffs and survives the first round for only the second time in 21 years, in this town, they’ll be remembered forever, as shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom-de-boom.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[NBASupes]

Let's go! 

[lethalweapon3]

Yes, Virginia, the Knickfan Photoshopping has already begun.

https://fadeawayworld.net/2021/04/09/the-perfect-plan-for-the-new-york-knicks-this-summer-a-big-three-with-russell-westbrook-demar-derozan-and-john-collins/

 

~lw3

[NBASupes]

4th seed. We in this

[lethalweapon3]

An ounce of rebounding is worth a pound of cure.

~lw3

[thecampster]

had to throw lethal a like...he doesn't have enough

 

[JTB]

This is a BIG game for us! Many of the nba analysts who are known nationwide are Knick fans and they’ve been talking about this game all day across all platforms. If really is probably the knicks most important game since 2013 when they made the playoffs with melo 

this is huge and I hope Trae and the rest are ready to show face and turn it up! 
 

there’s only a few more weeks left in the season so all these games are very important until we create some distance OR if all these teams records end up in ties then these games matter even more.

 

GO HAWKS! ....this is a somewhat big stage game in my opinion.

[hawkman]

1 minute ago, JTB said:

This is a BIG game for us! Many of the nba analysts who are known nationwide are Knick fans and they’ve been talking about this game all day across all platforms. If really is probably the knicks most important game since 2013 when they made the playoffs with melo 

this is huge and I hope Trae and the rest are ready to show face and turn it up! 
 

there’s only a few more weeks left in the season so all these games are very important until we create some distance OR if all these teams records end up in ties then these games matter even more.

 

GO HAWKS! ....this is a somewhat big stage game in my opinion.

Man I hope the Hawks come out and punch these guys in the mouth from the jump. The Knicks always try to be physical with the Hawks, and so far it's worked. They should take that personally.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

An ounce of rebounding is worth a pound of cure.

~lw3

 

My biggest pet peeve of LP was expecting guys who weren't physical, to all of a sudden play with physicality. That ain't gonna happen.

This means you cannot expect guys like Huerter to play physical against a guy like RJ Barrett.  And you can't expect Solo to keep Julius Randle and Taj Gibson off the boards.

Don't expect tough guy play against soft players.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

37 minutes ago, JTB said:

This is a BIG game for us! Many of the nba analysts who are known nationwide are Knick fans and they’ve been talking about this game all day across all platforms. If really is probably the knicks most important game since 2013 when they made the playoffs with melo 

this is huge and I hope Trae and the rest are ready to show face and turn it up! 
 

there’s only a few more weeks left in the season so all these games are very important until we create some distance OR if all these teams records end up in ties then these games matter even more.

 

GO HAWKS! ....this is a somewhat big stage game in my opinion.

 

I just want the team to play well.  The Knicks are supposed to hold home court.  Hawks are a ( -1 ) to ( -1.5 ) favorite.

Vegas knows something.

[JeffS17]

Let's gooooo!!!!  Haven't been able to sit down and watch a game for the past week but I'm here for this one.  Hope we have a good showing.  Capela has a chance to take this game over.

[JeffS17]

Wow okay, no way they can stay this hot from three

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Knicks are 4 - 4 from 3.   That won't last.

Just trade blows with them for now, before we slowly take control of the game.

[NBASupes]

Knicks making a shit load of contested threes 

[marco102]

Will the Knicks stay this hot?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Utility knife for 3.

[JeffS17]

Hawks offense is flowing really nicely -- I know we're losing as I type this but I feel good about this game

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Shake it off Bogi.  That's an old playground move to see how tough you are.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The energy by Capela and Trae is good for this game.

I need Bogi and Huerter to get tough.  Don't let them punk you.

There you go Huerter.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Superstar rising to the occasion.