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2022-23 Game Thread: Knicks Guaranteed Win vs. Cavaliers

Whenever it looks like the Knicks might finally be rid of Thibs, he inevitably pulls out a big win to keep his job for another few weeks, so I’m assuming that this will be a big home win against former Knicks trade target, Donovan Mitchell, who probably was sour, anyways.

Let’s go, inevitable winning Knicks!

141 replies on “2022-23 Game Thread: Knicks Guaranteed Win vs. Cavaliers”

After we win the championship, we will look back on this game as the one where it all began (or not).

Even Clyde makes a foreboding comment ( referring to Knick’s defense) that if they don’t come out with tenacity ” changes will have to be made”.

hahaha. a film session on 3pt D. “run faster at those wide open shooters but don’t run into them”

RJ Barrett off to a fast start with a travel and bonked three in two possessions.

… and the dropped pass out of bounds.

Bo, I also heard Clyde’s comment. Interesting coming from him.

“RJ Barrett off to a fast start with a travel and bonked three in two possessions.”

And since you posted, he kicked it out of bounds and clunked another 3 pointer

…are we back?

Love the way Obi is playing, even was the ball handler in the short PNR with Hartenstein! More of this, less Novak.

Deuce’s defense really looks as advertised, shame he gets to the NBA and forgets how to hit wide open threes.

I was making a comment slightly negative about RJ and the site immediately went down. Don’t criticize RJ please. 😀

Looks like the site is shutting down. Just want to say before we all disappear that putting in IQ and Deuce early against a short but hugely dangerous backcourt was smart as hell. Especially after watching Barrett chasing Garland from behind.

Site freezing randomly. I’m not sure why. Trying to monitor what is going on. I see slow queries when it accesses the comments, so I’ve deleted all comments older than 5 years (but backed it up – so I have the data).

Fingers crossed.

RJ is so bad at this point, I’d trade for him for Frank straight up and I’m not trolling. He’s playing like crap on both sides. At least Frank would defend well, keep the balling moving, and not take many shots. He might not add anything on a net basis, but he’d subtract less.

Fight the good fight, Mike!

RJ…I think the mercy rule applies. Or maybe Strat can tell us what the process is for putting a horse down when it comes up lame…

Barrett 1-4 with 5 turnovers halfway through the second quarter and guess who is leading the team in minutes?

I would also trade RJ Barrett for Frank Ntilikina because then we wouldn’t have RJ Barrett’s contract and we could just cut Frank Ntilikina and let him get an early start on his career overseas

Thanks Mike for all the trouble trying to keep the site alive. And also super cool that you played at CBGB’s, i’m a new yorker from afar because of the Ramones, CBGB’s and the punk movement.

2 hard truths – we will blow this lead and Donavan Mitchell will go off in the 4th quarter

Thibs gonna die on the RJ hill….how he thinks we’re better with that guy on the court is baffling

The Cavs have barely hit a shot and yet we might be tied at the half. Incredible.

Mobley is really something else. Feels like there’s an explosion in there down the line.

And finally i know what we’re good at this season, we’re very good at squandering leads in a short period of time.

The Cavs are one million times better positioned than us for the next 10 years, but I have their broadcast tonight and my god they are terrible. So we’ve got that going for us.

Wow is Barrett bad in this game. It’s like that stretch for Cam that seems to have gotten him seated behind Evan on the bench.

Thank god Thibs has a long leash with him. Super fair.

Only 17 more points to reach that all-star 20…

Cavs have picked up their defense and the Knicks are making a lot of mistakes.

“I would also trade RJ Barrett for Frank Ntilikina because then we wouldn’t have RJ Barrett’s contract and we could just cut Frank Ntilikina and let him get an early start on his career overseas”

Well, you know nothing about valuing players. So I’ll take that with a grain of salt even though I agree with you about getting RJ off the team ASAP as a strategy. 😜

Barrett’s playing like someone who had his brain removed and his head stuffed with sawdust, but I’m happy Thibs is using him so much…

I was extremely vocal this summer that we NEEDED to trade RJ – not that we should be “open to it,” but we needed to find any trade that would bring back some value before the extension became a question.

Instead we extended him without reason, and he loses us game after game.

We could live with Julius, but not Julius and RJ. Toxic brew.

“Wow is Barrett bad in this game. It’s like that stretch for Cam that seems to have gotten him seated behind Evan on the bench.”

Cam has 4-5 minute stretches where he’s lost. RJ has 4-5 game stretches where he’s in a coma. It’s mind boggling to me that he isn’t playing better with Brunson taking on a bigger load on offense and running the team better. Could you imagine what it would look like without Brunson helping?

It’s hard to know what to do at this point because benching him might make things worse and ruin any trade value he has left.

Thibs will be relieved of his command shortly and have to jump out of his tank…he sucks as bad as his pet rj

Does RJ have a newborn we don’t know about? Is he night feeding like Randle last year?

Also, is it just me, or is it too easy to drive on Mitch in this game?

A dour James Dolan watches as RJ Barrett shoots an almost wedgie to end the half and plays more minutes than anyone else. Wonder what Thibs will say to JD if he visits the owner’s office after the game

Mitch has caused two missed shots here already.

I am going to focus on the positives. Why the fuck doesn’t IQ play more?

Mobley is very good on defense

“I am going to focus on the positives. Why the fuck doesn’t IQ play more?”

That made me laugh.

RJ with the crap defense to go with his manu turnovers…on one play leaves Mitchell to double someone else, gives up a 3; on another he bites on the most basic fake and MRob picks up a foul when RJ’s man penetrates

Haha. No doubt. Mitch going strong to start this half.

And *this* Randle I can watch (so far).

That’s better.

Mitch has changed 6 shots in this half. Also looked completely spent there when the whistle blew.

RJ mean reversion in full effect

RJ with the crap defense to go with his manu turnovers…on one play leaves Mitchell to double someone else, gives up a 3; on another he bites on the most basic fake and MRob picks up a foul when RJ’s man penetrates

RJ guarding point guards is crazy- is Brunson really that bad on the ball?

Thing is, Julius can play. He needs mental grounding, but he’s at the very least a neutral player. Will make 2-3 boneheaded plays and at least one spin into nowhere, but he’s not the problem. If RJ weren’t on the team, there Knicks would look so much better.

Brunson
IQ
Grimes
Julius
Mitch

A solid if not great crew that could be the core of a good team.

You would think spot up 3PT shooting would be one of the most translatable skills from both college and the NBA, and yet I have no idea what it looks like when Miles McBride hits one

You would think spot up 3PT shooting would be one of the most translatable skills from both college and the NBA, and yet I have no idea what it looks like when Miles McBride hits one

So sad, so true

I watched tge first half, then had to go to work. Why did Thibs call a timeout right after a Cavs turnover?

“RJ guarding point guards is crazy- is Brunson really that bad on the ball?”

Been thinking that since the game started. Are they hunting Barrett for his bad D?

“You would think spot up 3PT shooting would be one of the most translatable skills from both college and the NBA”

From G-League to the NBA. Apparently it’s a different-sized ball down there or something…

D-mar – can’t make up my mind how I feel about it. It’s a tough one. There are some travels I would like gone but I don’t want it to become disruptive.

Guess Cam Reddish is out of the rotation again. Was fun when it looked like he might not be terrible.

….all their games are hard to watch…it’s like the opposite of “the beautiful game” the way we play…

I’m not able to find a solid stream so I’m following the box score. Why is Rose not playing? Is it a true DNP-CD possibility or is he in streets for rest?

Oh Geo, how can you say that? Very entertaining game, loads of Barrett hate, plus minutes to Deuce even though he’s missed as many threes as Barrett has so far.

IQ and Grimes have played really well, at least.

At some point this year I predict Clyde will say “the steady and heady Grimes”

Great cut and Hart found him

I’m not sure Reddish is totally out of the rotation. Using McBride might be situational because the Cavs have both Garland and Mitchell to guard. In a game where big wings are a threat we might see more of Reddish.

Yeah, the new wrinkle seems to be back court tandems of Brunson & RJ and IQ & Deuce. Although I miss the fortune cookie game of Cam Reddish, I like the idea of running Deuce out there for enough time to check on him.

Also, maybe Thibs thinks this is the all pass lineup out there currently. IQ, Deuce, Grimes, Hart, Obi.

EDIT: @ Pepper. Haha yup.

Agree Knicks Fan, although after that astonishingly horrendous stretch last game, Thibs might want Cam to spend some time contemplating the error of his ways.

Rose is on the bench, look dour alongside Cam.

Hard to fault the team for the travels when the officiating on them is so much ridiculously tighter than normal.

Dammit I should have put a big Cronin bet on the “ Thibs saving his job again” game

Well, a lot of comments went into the can. Good win. Mitch was quietly great again. Lot of guys chipped in.

Jalen is a really good player. Came up big there

In other news, AD had an absolutely insane night

Funny, I thought Randle played really well, turns out he shot for shit. But only one turnover and defensive hustle for the most part, so it was bearable to watch him.

I will probably be accused of being a hater or whatever but a little hard to be impressed by that win. Just felt like the Cavs missed a ridiculous number of decent shots.

Quickley perking up is of course good news, let’s hope it holds.

Seems like Thibs went all defense in his choice of minutes and it worked. The Cavs only scored 81 points. We only scored 92, but it was enough.

Quality win where everyone did something to help, even RJ with his good 3rd.
Cavs with a bad shooting night and Allen’s absence showed in the boxscore (Rebounds Knicks 54-39).

DNP-CD for Rose and Cam, Siberia’s becoming very crowded.

You know, I think the perimeter defense was a lot better tonight. But hard to know if they just missed shots. Grimes and IQ were very active.

I think Grimes is rounding into form. I am a believer in him being a nice average performer with above average defense.

I thought Randle played really well, turns out he shot for shit. But only one turnover and defensive hustle for the most part, so it was bearable to watch him.

that’s the frustrating part, he only really needs to rebound and defend well to help the team, 12 or so shots a game should be it for him…

saw after the game he had the youngest with him…he did not look very mobile at times during the game…like he was too exhausted to move…

Mitchell missed a few open looks but Grimes was in his jersey all night. Still, Grimes has to make some shots- I love the passing and the timely cuts but he’s gotta be able to hit threes.

And I get that they want to crack down on travels but that was ugly- the refs completely destroyed the flow of the game. Glad it worked out in our favor but not pleasant to watch.

Cavs shot poorly from 3, but did not seem to have as many open looks as
Mavs had. Likely due to better perimeter D. Interesting the RJ played on 11 2nd half minutes and sat out much of the 4th. I’m sure Thibs will maintain that the team on the floor was playing well, but also telling about RJ’s D.

You know, I think the perimeter defense was a lot better tonight.

looked that way, pretty cool to see two recent draft picks out on the perimeter helping out…

mostly though, it looked to me like cleveland played a bad game…

The fact that Thibs went with my lineup for a good portion of the fourth makes me think he does know the score…Grimes and Quick are both better than RJ.

“I will probably be accused of being a hater or whatever but a little hard to be impressed by that win. Just felt like the Cavs missed a ridiculous number of decent shots.”

Not a hater, just wrong.

Site died on me while I was typing, “Don’t let Kevin Love beat us; Don’t let Kevin Love beat us!”

Best news for me was IQ’s game, Mitch’s game, and the minutes allocation. RJ down to 30 minutes is correct. Randle down to 35 minutes is correct. Look to it, Thibs, I charge you.

If Grimes and Obi can (please) shoot just a *little* bit better ….

EDIT:
3s
Cavs 8-35
Knicks 5-29

Was this an NBA game 😉

If you want a positive spin on the recent run of games, we played 3 excellent teams well enough to win for 47 minutes, and beat a good team tonight. The only clunker was the Mavs game, and tonight was a good bounceback.

“ so fascinating to see how long will anthony davis keep this up…”

More importantly, did everyone see that Mr November had 27 points (on 25 shots)?

Thibs was very (very) diplomatic fielding questions about not playing Cam. Question ~ “Did Cam sit out b/c his poor D in Dallas?” Thibs ~ “Had nothing to do with one guy. We thought sticking with nine tonight was good. We played nine at the front of the road trip, and he was in there, and we played well. It’s all situational.” Thibs had even more very nice pro-player patter. Admirable.

Listening to Thibs postgame it sounds like he’s going back to a nine man rotation w/o Cam. He said he went with Deuce over Rose because it was a back to back- it’ll be interesting to see if Deuce can claim that spot.

good to see:

1. Effort on defense
2. IQ looking legit…he needs to run off a few of these in a row
3. Grimes getting some opportunity (but if he can’t hit a jumper…he’s is just deuce with a better drive game)

bad
1. RJ
2. Obi’s deteriotating confidence in his J…it looks like his early daze
3. Grimes shooting bricks as well
4. i know there is limited minutes but Sims should get some run..

Beating the Cavs without Allen isn’t incredible or anything but we desperately needed this one. And we played decent defense!

at times it looked like julius was saving his “coasting” time for the offensive side of the court, which is different than what he normally does…

jalen is averaging 5 fta per game, julius almost 6…RJ is over 5 also…

Based on today I’m wondering if Thibs knows who is good and feels obligated to play RJ et al. Pressured, maybe he breaks out IQ & Deuce more. (But maybe it’s just IQ shooting well tonight).

* iHart looked pretty good to me. I this board is underestimating him

* Grimes is everywhere you want him to be

* MITCH

* Deuce is worth keeping in the lineup at least situationally

[Randle] only really needs to rebound and defend well to help the team, 12 or so shots a game should be it for him…

The problem is Grimes and Mitch are so low usage that any shots Randle gives up are likely to go to RJ as I don’t think Brunson can up his usage much more without his legs falling off.

I also noted RJ didn’t return until very late in the fourth with interest.

Mitch’s hustle on the play where they used the challenge in vain because it nicked off Randle’s heel was so incredible. He is really playing like he means to earn that contract. Was much more judicious on blocks too tonight.

I feel like someone will post a recap of this game that will help me process it because having real correlation/causation issues

“* Deuce is worth keeping in the lineup at least situationally”

Right on. If Elfrid Payton is worth ~20 min per game b/c of his “defense,” we can definitely run Deuce out there a bit longer to see what happens (Thibs, that’s the only reason we are playing these games; to get this data!!!)

To his credit, Thibs ran a nice trick tonight in that he put in Deuce and IQ for RJ and Brunson at the substitution mark. Then later he brought Brunson back first to stagger the lineup, and it kept IQ out there longer with Jalen. I’d like to see that “normalize” for a few games. It’s a stealth way of keeping RJ off the floor without making too big a deal out of it, and it (maybe) gives Jalen some help on D while also getting IQ some off the ball shots. Strangely, IQ didn’t attempt one 3 tonight (which is maybe bad) but he shot 6-8 (which is good). Let’s repeat this sub pattern and see how it goes ….

was gonna comment on turnovers, but noticed we’re averaging 15.1 in wins and 13.2 in losses…what?

despite our consistent atrocious defense, it looks like wins and losses come down to three point attempts and make percentage…

that’s probably about the same for most of teams in the nba…

RJ was absolutely brutal in the first half with his shooting and turnovers. Has to be one of the worst halves he has ever played. In the third he repaired a lot of the damage with no apparent hint of shame or regret.

Honestly, when you draw up player comps for him you have to leave the NBA. I am going to invent one – it’s a Spanish bullfighter I call El Goldfish.

opponent turnovers seem to be a big thing for us…probably because we shoot so poorly…

wins/losses…points off turnovers: 20.6/13.7, 2nd chance points: 18.2/15.9…

a shame obi doesn’t seem to be getting too many easy baskets lately…sims has a knack for easy buckets too…

jalen brunson though works his ass off for every single point out there 🙂

Geo, actually I think our wins correlate pretty well with our rebounding. When we out rebound our opponent, good things happen

This one was a lead pipe cinch. They always win these games so that Thibs will never be fired.

There’s a great Brian Regan bit about how he doesn’t understand the I before E rule. “I before E except after C, and when sounding as A as in Neighbor and Weigh, and on weekends and holidays an all throughout May, and you’ll ALWAYS be wrong no matter WHAT you say!!!”

That’s what I think of whenever I think about how Thibs will always win just enough to not get fired. We’ll never be rid of him. He’ll always survive, no matter what we say.

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Makes ya wonder if you had $26 million in the bank and $207 million coming in over the next five years, would you do and say whatever the fuck you wanted?

Funny enough, i endure games that are late here, and yesterday i fell asleep at the end of the 3rd quarter. Maybe this is the lucky charm and i have to do it more. Hahaha, just kiddin. 😀
But since i didn’t watch the 4th quarter, and “zombied” through the 3rd, i’m waiting patiently for the game grades to know more about this game.

donovan had 23 points on 22 shots…glad all his people in the stands got to watch him lose…

Yeah, that was great to put all the talk about the missed trade behind us. Just for that, it was a great win.

I meant to say at some point that this was the Donovan Mitchell on an off night that I was more used to. Always a threat but missed a ton of shots. He is coming back to Earth a little after a hot start.

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