The Knicks trailed by as many as 30 against the Thunder on Friday and were booed heading into the locker room at halftime, Andrew Crane of the New York Post writes. After winning nine games in a row, the Knicks have now lost four of their last five, including three by double figures.
As Ian Begley of SNY points out, the Knicks are 0-5 this season against the top two teams in each conference, 4-7 against the eight best teams in the league, and 9-11 against teams over .500. Still, at 25-14 and third in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks are confident they have plenty of time to sort things out.
“Yeah, I think we do,” Josh Hart said. “I think at the end of the day we have to go out there and execute at a high level; we have to go out there with energy, we have to go out there with no egos. We have to go out there with no individual agendas. We have to go out there and sacrifice. I think that’s the biggest thing.
“We’re a new group. We’re still learning, figuring it out, but we can’t expect to just have talent and go out there and win games. We’ve got to lock in and compete.”
We have more from New York:
- Karl-Anthony Towns and Hart both suffered minor injuries against the Raptors and were both able to play through them, but it served as a reminder as to how pivotal health is for the contender hopefuls, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post writes. New York. The Knicks lost several members of their rotation to injuries near the end of a 50-win season in 2023/24 and were defeated in the second round of the playoffs.
- After dealing with an injury early in the season, Nets center Nic Claxton appears to be mostly healthy, but he’s still aiming to improve on what’s proven to be a difficult season, Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily writes. Claxton’s averages of 9.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game are below his career rates and he’s averaging fewer than half the blocks he did two years ago. “Yeah. Just trying to keep our morale up, keep my morale up, and try to be as vocal as I can be,” Claxton said of how he’s trying to impact the team.
- Second-year Nets forward Noah Clowney has showcased a three-point shot in recent weeks, making 10 across a pair of outings on Dec. 23 and 26 and knocking down five more on Wednesday. As Bridget Reilly of the New York Post notes, Clowney has taken over the starting forward position in the wake of Dorian Finney-Smith being traded away and is seizing the opportunity. “What I like to call it is I like to keep teams honest,” Clowney said. “I don’t like where teams have the ability to sag off of me because I’m a weak shooter. I feel like that hurts my team in general. So if I’m able to shoot the ball and I can keep somebody honest and keep the floor spaced for my guys to get in the lane, then that’s always been the goal. So after ‘Bama, I think I shot 29 percent at Alabama, something like that, but I knew I could shoot. I think other people knew I could shoot. Somebody took a chance, and here we are.” Clowney is shooting 37.8% from deep this year on 5.3 attempts per game.
The Nets have to be thrilled with the development from Clowney, Ziaire Williams, and Day’Ron Sharpe. Might not have a starter in that group but all have flashed some rotation worthy talent. Finding young, cost controlled role players is going to be important as the Nets try to build a contender. It’s tough because he’s still young but the Nets really rely on him to provide leadership and help direct the younger kids on the defensive end. Don’t think it’s time to panic, but the Nets need Claxton to be better.
Sharpe has that Reggie Evans sixth sense for cleaning up boards but he’s more well-rounded than Evans was. Averaging 9 pts/7.4 boards in 20.8 minutes this month while working on a 3 point shot.
Claxton is a little concerning. He got the big pay day but hasn’t been the same guy. The early injury has probably been a factor but there’s also been mental lapses. Claxton and Fernandez have mentioned being active,vocal, and engaged multiple times this year
Knicks have I not talked with you about what this article said. You have been trying to figure it out for over 2 seasons now.
Stop living off the high the fans are giving you because of your record and start beating these above 500 teams like you should be.
Now.
Get a clue lol please. You want to be taken serious. Have real facts !!!!!
OG, Towns, Bridges >>>>> all …… all new this yr. Three of their starters are new to team. Yes they stunk it up. Yes Bridges Blissed up !!!!
Thunder owned them. One game. Just don’t forget this is all they need.
Knicks wanted to make statement at home against Thunder. After getting beat in OKC ……
Well. they did. EMBARRASSING
Knicks not ready yet. GM and Thibs better wake up. I know we are still building. With TD here. They have to add a scorer now. If this year is to contend. Not beating Celtics or Cavs. Might now beat Orlando. Now that they are getting healthy.
Thunder were ready after getting beat by Cavs. Knicks didn’t answer back. Then got rocked. SGA told everyone. I’m Best in Game NOW …… embarrassing that Knicks didn’t shop up. Knicks should have been more ready than Thunder. Unacceptable ……..
I’m a big Bridges guy. IMO he’s going to next level. Well he totally got bounced. He played scared. He really disappointed me. He’s the one guy who can still be better. Well we are waiting Mikal ……
link to nypost.com
Bridges ———. ZERO pts …. 0-9. Should of stayed home lols.
Al, obviously Bridges and OG were especially awful last night, and they are better than what they showed.
I’m curious if you, as a knowledgeable Knicks fan, don’t see a larger problem with those 2 guys: neither of them has much of a bag. When they’re not shooting the ball well, they provide very little. We’ve seen it the entire season. You can play one of these guys at once, but not both of them. And the combination of Hart, Bridges, and OG is not enough to relieve the defensive pressure on Brunson.
More generally, it looks like the Knicks starting lineup is not as good as we all expected it to be this past summer. Anunoby’s $44M contract looks like a huge overpay. Bridges is a fine all-around player, but he’s a complementary piece, not a #3 offensive option on a Top 8 team. Hart is a great 6th man, not a starter. Of course, getting KAT has worked out very well.
The Knicks badly need a dynamic, playmaking wing that can apply pressure to the rim. Otherwise, they are probably the 5th, maybe even 6th, best team in the East, behind Cavs, Celtics, a (healthy) Orlando, and a (healthy) Milwaukee. As constructed, this Knicks team wouldn’t win a 7 game series against those teams.
OG is a 2Way guy. With limited offense. And first team D player. That’s all we need from him. He’s more than capable of doing this and impact winning. Bridges just got here, not making excuses. He’s been fine, still adjusting. You can’t rush this. Of course we need consistency by end of season. Going into playoffs. No reason to give up here. OG is great just a bad gm. Bridges I am starting to worry about him. But no way close to giving up. Thibs job to see this. And do something about it. Still a long ways to go. One gm. Unfortunately they lost to them twice this yr. I’ve said many times how to help Brudges. Start Precious sit Hart. Now Bridges HAS to take a scorers responsibility. It forces him to look for his shot more. Only way you get confidence and better. Is by playing and being aggressive. Even if you can’t get a shot to drop. He should be money for 24 when we need it. This lineup helps him imo. Bridges is one who needs to be more a playmaker. Knicks need a scorer off bench more than anything.
Dude this game was over in 2nd Q. They all played bad. Bridges was the worst. If this happens after 60-65 gms. That would be depressing. Got plenty time to fix this. Even with a trade.
NYK have no significant problems on the offensive end beyond the need to develop chemistry among what is essentially a new best 5. Even with these chemistry issues, they’re still the 3rd best offensive team in the league (which is MUCH better than I would have anticipated) and better than most championship teams. Absent injury, it should improve from here to the end of the year.
Defense is another issue, and its a giant one, that may not be susceptible of a solution. They’re lower middle in terms of team defense. I can’t remember any team winning a championship or seriously competing for one with a defensive rating that low. DEN would be the closest one (another team built around an offensive C and PG). Generally, championship teams have at least a top 10 rated defense. If the NYK continue to play the same level of defense they have, then they certainly won’t make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs (and will be lucky to win a game or 2 against BOS or CLE in a playoff series). It’s not principally a chemistry issue, it’s personnel related. Mitch “could” make a difference (but who knows if he can get and then stay heatlhy). Trades are unlikely to be very impactful, unless they break up the group. NYK have no room under the hard cap, and very little in trade assets.
I never expected the NYK to compete for a title this year. New groups rarely do. The FO, I think (hope) was aware of this history (in fairness, they did put the group together for a 4-5 year run). But I did expect a complete team to emerge as the season went on, one which might foretell a championship run over the next couple of seasons. That’s not what’s happened so far. Instead, we’re an emerging offensive juggernaut, that can’t hold the fort on the other end of the floor.
Al,
I asked you about the thrust of the article, which is that the Knicks were surprisingly terrible against the better team in this, now past, first 1/2 of the season. I’ve only seen a few Knicks games this year (the nationally televised one) but they indicated exactly what Breen and Clyde said during last night’s game : the Knicks currently lack the pieces to compete with OKC and the rest of the top tier. The question is, what pieces exactly?
It sounds like we disagree on whether Hart, OG, and Bridges can, together, be part of a Championship starting lineup. I say no, not together (although each is a winner). None of the three can get to the rim, which makes it easier to defend Brunson. That’s the book on the Knicks this season, which the good teams are executing with success.
We disagree that Bridges can be a better player in this role. IMO, he’s playing how he did in Phoenix, as the 4th offensive option. If he doesn’t get to handle the ball, he becomes a limited offensive player. He’s a beta.
IMO, the 5 year, $45/yr deal to Anunoby was a massive mistake. It’s about $15M more than he’s worth. Bridges currently makes $25M yr, KCP just signed for $22M, McDaniel $26M, Caruso $35M, etc. That $45M should have gone to a Top 20 player with an all-around game that gives them a 3rd option on offense. That contract will be unmovable.
The Anunoby deal is a massive overpay when it was reported that the Knick may have outbid itself on it. Coupled with the “nice deal” they have for Brunson, the overpaid part of Anunoby deal and the savings from Brunsons could have afforded the Knicks another piece that could have improved their roster, maybe not now but maybe through a trade or FA in ghe future.
TallBaller, and add this regarding the overpay: Anunoby has missed about 35-40% of games over the past 5 seasons. His body has broken down near the end of every season. It’s ultimately why Toronto couldn’t justify holding on to him.