2017-18 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Celtics

If ever there was a game that the Knicks should be able to steal, this it. The Knicks will be underdogs, but they are rested while the Celtics played last night, when they were beat by the Heat.

Porzingis is back and he has something to prove against the Celtics.

Plus, perhaps most importantly, they’re at home!!!

Let’s go, Knicks!

128 replies on “2017-18 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Celtics”

When I see Baker on the court I’m amazed at how big he looks when standing next to other players. I.e. he looks he could break McDermott in half. He gets my vote for Knick I would least like to fight.

As for the melo / Phil thing, I’ll always blame Phil for that mess. It was obvious that a sign and trade to the Bulls was the way to go there. Can’t blame melo for taking the money and the NTC.

Nice start by the Knicks. They need to run the tired Celtics into the ground, them coming off of a back-to-back on the road.

I miss Marv as the Knicks announcer 🙁
But I do like the current team, especially Breen and Frazier.

Tank, no-tank, hybrid tank, whatever. I always want to beat these fuckin’ guys. Keep it up.

Imagine if KP was hot?
Not enough arc on his shot. Not feeling it.
Kanter 6 Rebounds and he’s running the floor like a 2-guard.

Look at that last possession-Kyrie couldn’t get what he wanted and had to give up the ball. When was the last time you saw the Knicks stop an elite PG from penetrating?

Frank and Baker are an excellent defensive backcourt but it’s tough at times watching them trying to dribble against pressure and make some awful passes for turnovers. But they’re fun to watch and have earned extended minutes with each other.

i’m gonna go out on a limb and guess if we can keep the Celtics to 60 or less – we should have a decent chance to probably win this game…

KP looks awful tonight, can’t imagine they’ll let him play tomorrow so would be really nice if the Knicks can pull this one out tonight.

Celtics are just executing the book on KP. I really want to love him, but man he needs to get tougher and meaner.

Little known fact. In the Ewing 44/22/7 game when the Knicks beat the clippers Gerald Wilkins went 0-13. That’s still the team record for most fga without a make in a full game.

seriously though do we get cap relief if the Turks kidnap Kanter?

I would imagine we would be at war.

seriously though do we get cap relief if the Turks kidnap Kanter?

Yeah, what happens if an NBA player is summarily executed while under contract?

Jack Bauer, do you know?

Yeah I know they’re beefing over the Jerusalem thing. I was just joking and really we should keep politics, even if we’re joking, out of Knickerblogger. Although it’s hilarious thinking about cap implications if Kanter is kidnapped.

Considering how well the Knicks played in the 1st quarter this would be a pretty awful loss even if the Celtics are very good.

Just sit KP for the rest of the game, please, and rest him tomorrow if he needs it. This is pathetic, Beasley is outplaying him hard.

If Kristaps is grimacing and walking around the tunnel don’t put him back in the game. It’s okay to be hurt. Just take your time.

Frank does that “get skinny through screens” thing so well, and moves so well laterally. He’s a PnR killer.

The Knicks just need to stop giving up so many threes, every thing else defensively has been truly great.

And feed the Beas!

Are we SURE this is KPs squad and not Beas’? Cause he’s, like, ril good at scoring and stuff…

This offensive system is legit. Beasley has looked really fooking good in it taking KP’s place. Its amazing how good a team can look if everyone buys into a smart motion offense.

This lineup the Knicks have out there right now is a good “switch everything” lineup.

it seems like not so long ago when the knicks switching on defense used to make me start grinding my teeth…

The thing is, Beasley takes it inside every time. He’s barely settling for bad jumpers, he always makes at least one move towards the rim. I know he’s mega hot and all but that’s real good, fundamental offense.

Baker is doing a shitty job of staying in front of Irving. Frank Nitti needs to be guarding Irving.

This is not how I pictured this game to be played.

Beasley cannot be stopped. Second unit dominating.

It would be smart for Jeff to have KP sit. His message: “Look, we don’t have to rely on KP to win.”

We’re going to win. Celtics have panicked and reverted to Kyrie Hero ball to bail them out. Knicks are playing well and smart together.

I don’t care how unsustainable the “give it to Beasley and get out the way” strategy is, I will always be happy when it works.

Baker and Frank make some awful basic passes at times.

Yeah, they folded as ball handlers with the increased pressure in a tense situation.

Frank and Baker not too impressive against pressure defense… where is jack!
I never thought I’d say that

Always nice to beat Boston. What was the combined salary of the Beas-OQ-Frank-Ron-McD lineup that played most of the 4th quarter?

Great win.
I loved hearing McHale having to praise the Knicks in a win over the Celtics. That made it somewhat special 🙂

Imagine being thought of as a genius head coach and not knowing how to stop Michael Beasley

Love the love for the Beas. Does seem like a tight knit team that roots for each other.

The best feeling of the NBA Regular season is still defeating the Celtics, in any circumstance.

I hated the Beasley signing, for all the reasons others have talked about, including that he’s going to be 29 in a few weeks and so best case is we’d be getting wins from a player who wasn’t going to be part of the core. But is there any reason we wouldn’t want him on the mid-level for a few years to come?

Beasley is a really talented guy, but he’s been good for like 4 games, and he showed up for an interview wearing a watch on his ankle. If he keeps attacking the basket I think he can be useful but he’s got a long track record of looking good in spurts and then doing dumb shit

Beasley really balled out tonight. Like someone said earlier, he makes it looks easy when he’s on.

Nice defense by French Frank and Baby Oak had a nice game as well.

Good win and against a very good team.

Let’s go Knicks!

when you’re the best player in nba history you want to let ppl know what time it was when you stepped on their throat

He’s been good for More than 4 games, he literally won 4 games for us… I think he has turned a corner So to speak, playing defense on horford, rebounding strong and attacking the rim. If he keeps Doing that it would be hard not To give Him starters minutes

I think that’s the only knick since data is available to score 32 or more points in 25 or fewer minutes. Bernard, Pearl and Amar’e had 31.

Let the record stand that Mike Beasley has been good at scoring the basketball since he got back from China. His eFG’s the last three seasons have all been above a .520.

He scored like 20 in 14 min against…someone good in a game we got crushed in…vs. Houston maybe?…that’s not nothing.

Guys it’s still Mike Beasley. He came into the game tonight with a .022 WAS/48. That’s terrible. Enjoy it when he goes off, it’s fun as hell, just don’t start writing his next contract.

Beasley is a nice bench player but that’s all he is. He is a Jamal Crawford type player. When he’s on you ride him and he wins you games, when he’s off or making bad decisions you sit him. If you have to rely on him bad things happen. Still fantastic game by Beas and I’ve come around on his usefulness and glad we have him as an option when the offense isn’t working.

Also, let it be known that the 2nd youngest player in the league, Frank Ntilikina, was locking down Kyrie Irving, the best crossover dribbler in the game. Frank will be a future 1st team All-NBA defender.

Imagine being thought of as a genius head coach and not knowing how to stop Michael Beasley

I can see it now: “Nick Young Named Finals MVP as Dubs Defeat C’s in 7; Brad Stevens announces his retirement ‘to consider a different career'”

Kyrie Irving on Frank Ntilikina: “He’s a great on ball defender, man. Very long. Very active. Not afraid of the big moments. Just a developing young player. Can’t wait to play against him more times throughout this league.”— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) December 22, 2017

Here’s the thing – how many games have we watched over the past five years or so when, like, I dunno, freakin’ Marco Belinelli had a career game? Or Brandon Knight? A ton, right? So fuck it, we deserve Michael Beasley having the game of his life. What a freakin’ win. And you have to love how useful Frank was in this game. It was really nice to see.

Just think about last year, and how Derrick Rose would just die on every screen, and how the opposition would just get such an easy look at the basket every time that happened. This Knick team might not be an elite defensive team, but they don’t let you simply waltz into the paint and get easy buckets every possession either. The Celtics got very few easy looks in that fourth quarter.

Totally. If Frank did ONLY that, he’d have a clear cut rotation spot on this team for years to come. But obviously, we still have hope he can do more than that. But obviously, his defense was what I loved about him from the get go. He just seemed like a special sort of defender and this team has had, what, one special sort of defender in the past decade? Maybe three total?

Yes RIP Dick Enberg, a class act.

@118 that is some great film, thanks for sharing. Frank’s defense was ON tonight – very impressive.

Beasley is balling out, let’s enjoy it while it lasts. I am as surprised as most of the rest on this board that he’s been this good. He’s won about 4 games for the Knicks recently, truly incredible.

Part of Kyrie having such positive things to say about Key is that LeBron was so negative about him.

The defense is real, tho.

can we have Beasley play the role of KP tonight…?

Thank you, og_nyc for this prescient request in message 24.

I guess the answer is yes.

No question that Frank is an exceptional defensive guard. As is Ron.

BIG question still as to whether Frank is a PG. Same with Ron.

This is not a diss. Kawhi Leonard is an all-time great defender who can lock down opposing 1’s, 2’s and 3’s. He’s not a PG.

But nice that Kyrie had nice things to say about his D. Let’s just keep it in perspective. The fact is that Frank had 1 assist and 4 turnovers, including 2 that could have cost us the game were it not for Beasley’s heroics. But yes, his D is exceptional, that is obvious.

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