I still very much enjoyed the game, though!

I’m not getting all that excited about this win, SA is a young, rebuilding team heading for the lottery and any decent team should beat them. Tonight is a better test. But seeing RJ and Randle hit shots is definitely nicer than the alternative.

Yeah, this game was more of a “It would be really bad if you didn’t win it” sort of thing, where yes, you are glad that they did win a game they had to win, but it doesn’t say as much as a nice win in Indy would. So let’s hope that they show up tonight!

Definitely thought Mitch looked a lot better with the bench crew. I don’t necessarily blame him for putting on weight/muscle given he couldn’t do much on an injured foot other than lift weights and eat, but clearly it was the wrong thing to do.

Nice to see RJ hit shots, but 4-12 from 2 point range remains worrisome. I am just not sure if you can teach / work on touch around the rim. He gets there without much of an issue, but just can’t put the ball in the basket except on actual right-at-the-rim layups.

I actually really enjoyed Randle’s game last night – he did sort of the LeBron thing where he spends most of the first half trying to get other players baskets, then turns it on in the second half when the defense is expecting him to pass. I’m not sure what was up with his sudden decrease in 3PA but happy to see him fire away last night.

RJ Barrett said he had been dealing with the stomach bug for a couple of weeks, which could explain recent performance. Said it started to get really bad (I’ll spare you all the details) after the ATL game Nov. 27. Got really sick during the BKN game, then missed the next one.

From Katz. Doesn’t cover nearly all of RJ’s slump, but it’s an excuse for at least the final stretch of it. Maybe.

We have the 15th best offense in spite of Randle & RJ, if they turn it around that ranking could skyrocket regardless of how inept Noel is offensively. If they don’t turn it around, then the lineups really don’t matter.

I think you could hide a center like Mitch or Noel better in a lineup where you have some speed to create scoring opportunities, but in this starting lineup with Burks-Fournier-RJ-Randle all being relatively slow-footed players, the 4-on-5 feel of the Knicks’ lineup just gets exacerbated. The pieces on this roster are not really a very good fit. Moving Kemba out and putting Burks in the starting lineup was almost certainly a net positive, but it’s still a fugly offensive lineup.