2020-21 Game Thread: Knicks @ Grizzlies: The Road Trip Continues!

The Knicks’ recent stunning string of success really started with their amazing comeback against the Memphis Grizzlies, where the Grizzlies choked like crazy in the fourth quarter and the Knicks capitalized with some amazing clutch shots. That set them on an amazing hot streak that pretty much continues to this day.

Since then, the Grizzlies have sputtered a bit, coming into tonight’s game just a game over .500. Repeating their success against them would be a big boon for the Knick in locking up the #4 seed.

Let’s go, get that #4 seed, Knicks!

183 replies on “2020-21 Game Thread: Knicks @ Grizzlies: The Road Trip Continues!”

Peyton already garbage. RJ, his box score always has him with 4-5 assists when I look, but damn if he doesn’t drive with his head down into traffic and throw up (as in upchuck) aimless shots more than anyone I’ve seen since… last year’s Randle?

Don’t look now but Iggy B is having a great game for the Magic…

LMAO HAHAHAHA ELF what the hell did you think you were doing there challenging Valanciunis on that wack-ass drive!?!?!?!

I’m glad the Knicks put that 7-0 run together. Defense wasn’t the reason they were down 6-0 to start.

I’m glad Julius likes to pass but he had the size advantage down in the paint there.

I think Westbrook has more assists tonight than Noel has passes over the course of the season

Z-man:
Taj is holding his own vs. the big Lithuanian…

He’s clearly the early-game MVP.

clyde giving elf some props…and now breen is blowing smoke up his butt

Randle forcing a lot but they’re not doubling him so he should be able to score

Randle is off right now.
But if they can keep Ja from going off and continue to mitigate Valanciunas down low, we can win this.

d-mar:
Randle forcing a lot but they’re not doubling him so he should be able to score

And it looks like he’s mostly being guarded by smaller dudes.

Burks! I missed him.

And Pelle with a Norvellous move to the hoop…

Winning the first two games on this brutal road trip is so critical.

Sharpshooter Derrick Rose, that’s a development I didn’t expect.

Pelle is really the replacement to Noel, at least when it comes to having stone hands

Thibs is such an amazing coach he’s turned Rose from a career 30% three point shooter into a 39% three point shooter this season

I’m telling you, Rose is playing 40 minutes come playoff time.

Quickley always positions himself unnecessarily far from the 3PT line. It’s a testament to his talent that he tends to go ahead and hit the shot anyway.

The Knicks are doing to the opposition what the opposition has done to the Knicks for almost a decade.

I really liked Bane at draft time, but I didn’t realize how put together he was, he has massive biceps…

Obi Toppin’s defensive rebounding is highly improved over the last four weeks. He is grabbing contested rebounds and wrapping them with both arms.

“There’s hope for you yet, Obi Toppin”

(Almost Famous reference)

thenoblefacehumper:
Quickley always positions himself unnecessarily far from the 3PT line. It’s a testament to his talent that he tends to go ahead and hit the shot anyway.

Read a quote from Thibs the other day saying the Knicks have a 4pt line on their practice court and IQ routinely makes shots from there so he doesn’t mind when IQ takes the longer 3pters.

Z-man:
I really liked Bane at draft time, but I didn’t realize how put together he was, he has massive biceps…

Really strong and smooth with the ball, he looks like a real talent

ephus:
Obi Toppin’s defensive rebounding is highly improved over the last four weeks.He isgrabbing contested rebounds and wrapping them with both arms.

When he is aggressive he seems like a really powerful guy. Like he could rip rebounds out of people’s hands … gotta work him out of those timid spells …

Valanciunas is the type of player that the Knicks bigs struggle with.

Trivia guess: JR Smith, John Starks, Melo, Novak

Alan Houston should be in that trivia answer so I have too many.

Randle playing like 20% of LeAntiVaxxer tonight

Randle has become a 3pt assassin.

I’m running out of adjectives to describe my shock at how well Derrick Rose is playing

So did we talk about Westbrook’s line. Imagine he is finally realizing that he’s just better doing everything but shooting… I know the Wizards have been rolling but that just tells me they will continue to roll with some relative ease? Interesting development…

Z-man:
Looks like they re-enacted the all-star game in DC tonite…

Westbrook says I’m just gonna rebound and distribute … sorta dangerous

KJG:
So did we talk about Westbrook’s line. Imagine he is finally realizing that he’s just better doing everything but shooting… I know the Wizards have been rolling but that just tells me they will continue to roll with some relative ease? Interesting development…

Apparently it’s the first 20/20 game ever that didn’t include 20 points, just insane.

the possibility of being in the playoffs while rooting for steph to win two play-in games including knocking dallas out in the second is tantalizing

ptmilo:
the possibility of being in the playoffs while rooting for steph to win two play-in games including knocking dallas out in the second is tantalizing

that thought gave me the viagra effect…

RJ is driving trying to draw contact but the refs are only sending Memphis to the FT line so the Knicks need to just fire up 3pters cause they ain’t gonna get to the FT line with this crew.

rj hardly ever looks tired but he might be tired. he played 40 last night.

You know what it is about Payton – it seems to take extraordinary effort for him to make good plays, where the bad ones are like “ugh there he goes again”

I never screamed louder in my life than when Houston hit that shot.

BigBlueAL:
I never screamed louder in my life than when Houston hit that shot.

BigBlueAL:
I never screamed louder in my life than when Houston hit that shot.

I jumped in the air and broke a ceiling lamp. My kids were little at the time and freaked out a bit haha

As a quartet, we have to have the best four centers in the league.

Good D
Good three.
Tough combo

Can’t believe this run, nine of 10, 11 of 12.
Crazy

This team is incredible, up 17 after 3 quarters in Memphis on the 2nd night of a back to back.

I dunno if the Grizz has another flurry left in them but I like the way the Knicks weathered the Dillon Brooks mini-show and extended the lead.

BTW: I’m glad that cybersoze, JK47, geo et al help me hold it down amongst the land of Lakers. JK I’m so glad you pointed out that we have an identical records with the Lake Show: this morning’s text to my coworkers went like this:

ME: “Good morning. Today I have wonderful news”
DEPT SECRETARY: “Gd morning…wassup”
ME: posts screenshot of Knicks/Lakers records FTW!

I’d let Ja prove he can hit 3s the rest of the way and focus perimeter D on Brooks, Bane and SloMo

They’re still competing on defense but it looks like to back-to-back is catching up with them on offense. A lot of sluggishness and bad/lazy decisions.

sheesh… i was just about to say that I didn’t mind that the Knicks were bogging things down, but the Grizz has found some daylight.

Need to go back to offensive execution.

Is it time for me to say this would be the most demoralizing loss of the season?

That 3 by Randle… we go on to win this game, you circle that one.

BigBlueAL:
Is it time for me to say this would be the most demoralizing loss of the season?

notttt just yet…

Before the season we all might have predicted Randle and Rose would end up chucking at the end of games.. The surprise is that they keep going in.

Wow… talk about timing of getting ejected.

Thanks, coach!

Man, it’s too bad we gave up a crappy 2nd round pick for this Rose guy.

I plead with all of you please don’t dredge up my posts where I trashed the Derrick Rose trade

What the hell is happening, why is Memphis self destructing? We’ll take it I guess

Teams imploding at the end of games and it’s not the Knicks.

Wow… Grizzlies literally imploding! Wow

I don’t know if I’ve seen anything like that before: Head coach and starting PG both ejected late with the game somewhat still in balance.

This win has Rose’s fingertips all over it, amazing performance, even playing defense. Fantastic game for him again.

The Grizzlies imploded but the trigger was tough, gritty basketball by the Knicks

Getting a double tech in the last two minutes of a close game when you’re in a tight seeding race is…certainly a decision.

Gritty win.

d-mar:
I plead with all of you please don’t dredge up my posts where I trashed the Derrick Rose trade

You weren’t even close to the worst offender. People were UP IN ARMS.

Nice meltdown, Grizz.

And yeah – Derrick freakin’ Rose turning back the clock esp in the 4th quarter. How about that, man…

Maybe we don’t need a PG or another star scorer? lol

Derrick “MVP” Rose

He may not be the athlete he once was but he’s playing as well as he ever has all around. Amazing! What a steal.

ess-dog: You weren’t even close to the worst offender. People were UP IN ARMS.

Nice meltdown, Grizz.

I felt like I was on an island praising it. You weren’t alone.

Deeefense:
Maybe we don’t need a PG or another star scorer? lol

Derrick “MVP” Rose

He may not be the athlete he once was but he’s playing as well as he ever has all around.Amazing!What a steal.

Right? It’s crazy.

I still can’t believe Julius Randle is the best 3 point shooter in the world. But he is.

DRed:
I still can’t believe Julius Randle is the best 3 point shooter in the world.But he is.

Insane. And they keep saying it, but it bears repeating. He’s on track to have more made threes this year than in all his previous seasons combined. I mean, What?

Man there are some tough sons of bitches on this team. NYK could have easily wilted in that fourth quarter, momentum was all with the Grizz, but they just wouldn’t let it happen.

The defense has been very good all season, but sometimes you have to make shots and score. They seem have taken the offense to another level, especially with Rose playing like this. This isn’t just a fun good team on the way up. It’s a very good team! This whole season has been miraculous. But what makes it even better is that it’s easy to love all the players. I haven’t liked a team this much since the Gallo, Amare, Chandler, Felton etc.. Knicks.

The thing I didn’t expect from Rose isn’t even the good shooting, it’s more how he’s seemingly learned to change speeds to go into the paint under control. The Rose we watched before with the Knicks would never do that little jump hook floater he did at the end of this game, he would go full speed to the rim with blinders on, ignoring shooters. Now he can still get layups, but he also has the change of pace when he gets there. Really impressive game.

Rose praising Thibs for letting him play his game. Smart coach. Trade for a former MVP and let him do what he did to win that award.

Taj is the unsung hero, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, great job on Valencunis

d-mar:
Taj is the unsung hero, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, great job on Valencunis

He gets the Charles Oakley as Emergency Center Award tonight. What a tough, savvy veteran professional basketball player.

If you look at the dictionary under “professional”, there’s a Taj Gibson picture

This team is so well prepared and when somebody needs to step up and fill in because of an injury it seems like whoever is asked to step up always gets the job done.

I had really forgotten what good coaching looks like. The Knicks have not had a coach this good since at least Van Gundy and maybe even Riley.

When Derrick Rose said it all starts with Ju, did he mean Leon or Randle?

All kidding aside, Leon Rose doesn’t utter a word, yet he has worked miracles as a first-year POBO. It really does all start with him.

JK47:
This team is so well prepared and when somebody needs to step up and fill in because of an injury it seems like whoever is asked to step up always gets the job done.

I had really forgotten what good coaching looks like. The Knicks have not had a coach this good since at least Van Gundy and maybe even Riley.

The more I think about it, the more I believe this is the one factor that all the Teams (Optimist, Pessimist, Tank, etc) never truly accounted for because we hadn’t seen the effect of such level of coaching since Riley/Van Gundy.

We are FOURTH in the NBA in three-point %. FOURTH… FUCKING FOURTH!!! Let that sink in for a moment.

guys on the team call julius: ju…

what an unbelievable player transformation…not only did he make huge leaps with his play, turns out he’a also a very good team leader…a leader for both the young guys and the vets…a leader with a really good work ethic and now an unbelievable 3 point shot…

it’s weird, it’s like we lucked into a number one lotto pick ready to dominate right away…

Started listening to KFTV via youtube for Knicks post-game chat. Folks are calling Norvelle “Pelle Pelle”. I like it!

I looked at some Memphis blogs. Seems like their impression is that we are Grit & Grind now, not them

The Infamous Cdiggy: The more I think about it, the more I believe this is the one factor that all the Teams (Optimist, Pessimist, Tank, etc) never truly accounted for because we hadn’t seen the effect of such level of coaching since Riley/Van Gundy.

We are FOURTH in the NBA in three-point %. FOURTH… FUCKING FOURTH!!! Let that sink in for a moment.

I think it was also difficult to ascertain how much of the bad play from some of our players had to do with coaching, preparation, on court X and Os etc. We could reasonably expect a guy like Bullock, a career 38% shooter from 3, to get better than the 33% he had last season, we could expect Burks to score well because he did that last season, but Randle and Barrett outright learning how to shoot? Of course there might be some noise to the numbers still, it’s a shortened season with weird schedules, but those would generally be expected to affect performance negatively, not positively like this.

It really does seem to be about Thibs and his coaching staff changing things around, encouraging guys to make extra passes, find open men, etc. It’s still a relatively weak team on talent level but those little things are having a big impact.

Comments are closed.