It may have taken a while to work into a good routine with the Knicks but Joakim Noah is playing his best basketball of the season, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Over the course of the last 11 contests, the 31-year-old is averaging 8.0 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
Helping to light a fire under Noah, it seems, have been match ups with his former team. The Knicks center has posted averages of 14.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per in two games against the Bulls, most recently on Thursday night.
Though Noah continues to nurse a sore shoulder, his ability to contribute will play a factor in whether the Knicks decide to be buyers or sellers at the deadline.
That’s not it out of the Atlantic Division:
- It was easy for Raptors fans to get excited about the news that Jared Sullinger has been cleared to practice, but general manager Masai Ujiri has reiterated that he has plenty of work to do yet. Sullinger will have a tough time working back into game shape this time of year, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN, and could even spend some time in the D-League working on his conditioning.
- After a bumpy return to the lineup, 22-year-old Nerlens Noel is “definitely satisfied” with his role in Brett Brown‘s Sixers‘ rotation, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Of course Noel’s minutes didn’t come from thin air, earlier this week we wrote about Jahlil Okafor‘s demotion and the DNP-CDs that have come with it. Worth noting, writes Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Inquirer, is that Philly has managed to hit its stride defensively. “If this program is going to go anywhere close to where we want it, it’s going to have to start with the defense,” Brown told Cooney. “There is no way around that.“
- The Celtics made it their mission to get Al Horford a win in his first game against the Hawks team with which he played nine seasons, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN. While the C’s would ultimately accomplish their goal thanks to an Isaiah Thomas buzzer beater, the veteran Horford was surprised to hear so many boos in his return to Philips Arena.
Noah is only playing better b/c it coincides with Porzingis being out, so there is only 1 big on the floor more often, as it should be. It’s amazing how much better they are in 1 big lineups, yet phil jackson won’t let them play those lineups more often, or let Hornacek move Noah to the bench
Your theory is just wrong, period. Noah playing better has nothing to do with Porzingis been out, Noah is not a 100% healthy, but maybe he’s starting to feel better…
Both are better without the other. It’s especially important to have space on the floor for Melo, Rose, and Porzingis. Knicks bench could use some help defensively, and Noah also provides some play making for that unit. Not only would it improve the offense in the starting lineup as well, it would also improve them defensively. Move Melo to the 4, and let Porzingis be a really good modern day 5 in that spot. He plays good pick and roll defense and can protect the rim. Then you have Lee, and Thomas defending on the wing, and you have more quickness that should allow them to switch more, and use their length to be more disruptive and get more transition opportunities