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2022-23 Game Thread: Knicks @ Trailblazers – The ‘Josh Hart Returns to Burn Portland’ Game

I know Portland actuality liked Josh Hart a lot and just couldn’t afford him, but I like my alternate theory of him just hating them and wanting revenge.

No Brunson, which sucks, but the Blazers are not very good, so the Knicks should hopefully return home with a split of this West Coast trip.

How’s 49 wins looking? Still very much in play!

Let’s go, Knicks!

213 replies on “2022-23 Game Thread: Knicks @ Trailblazers – The ‘Josh Hart Returns to Burn Portland’ Game”

Everyone not named Josh Hart on the Knicks is the worst transition player in the NBA

went to the kitchen for a couple minutes and we still haven’t scored against this bum defense?

Ok I’ll say it – you can’t stop Matisse Thybulle, you can only hope to contain him

Welp, initially i was rather conflicted about spending this evening with my wife snd mother-in-law watching The Bachelor instead of the Knicks game, but I see now that I made the right basketball decision.

It’s how you play in the fourth quarter that matters. First quarter points don’t really impact much.

Cam 2, JHart 2 with 1 more rebound and 1 less turnover than Cam.

Lillard has 3 points and we’re getting our asses kicked

Need a solid 2nd quarter

I am trying to limit my complaints about RJ

Hell of a block from Deuce. Really growing on me

I think shooting 12.5% from three isn’t likely to cut it.

the classic randle fade away with three guys on him and everyone open…gotta love that guy…he will never learn

We should not be this close… I feel like I say this once every other game

So many things that Barrett does that should qualify as turnovers, like that last non-shot…

The only way we lose this game is if Lillard goes nuclear, which is always a distinct possibility

Oh and our starting 5 has a total of 1 assist

Grimes has also been terrible on offense if we didn’t say it enough, other than the drive on the break

Why must teams with zero reason to win treat their matchup with us as game 7 of the finals? Why is Lillard even playing?

Started watching second half, surprised the comments were all about RJ when Julius’s numbers are terrible

Randle probably just didn’t want his 4th foul there, that’s why he didn’t play defense /s

RJ has 2 blocks tonight, which I believe increases his average per game by infinity %

RJ had 10 blocks on the season before tonight if anyone was wondering

Deuce is now over 30% from 3!!!!

(On the 1st three this quarter, up to .308 after the 2nd)

I must say I did not have “Deuce McBride shoots us back into the game” on my bingo card for tonight

During the 1st quarter it looked like I was gonna fall asleep soon but I’m wide awake now.

wow, i guess ‘ol deuce’s height ain’t all that much an issue – at least not lately…

so cool to see his confidence starting to soar…shoot he shot well enough in the g-league…

So what does Thibs do with Deuce when Brunson comes back?

Kind of a nice problem to have I guess

This went from the worst game of the year to the best.

Even if Deuce clanks his next five, I’m going to bed happy.

I also want to point out that he’s totally denying Lillard the ball. Which is really the only way to guard Dame.

RJ truly is the Otis Anderson of the NBA

now that’s a fun flashback, i loved watching him play ball…it was funny though, for some reason his uniform never looked like it fit him…everyone else on the field had tight gear, Otis’ stuff was always loose…

“Maybe the Trail Blazers remind Deuce of G league in some way.”

😂

We get a nice break after this game to get Brunson and Mitch healthy and Randle some well deserved rest.

The Portland announcer just literally squealed, “Randle just tried to go one on three!!!”

Using up the shot clock once in a while is not the worst thing in the world.

My interest in Cam was purely as a replacement for RJ. Not that he’d be better for sure, but he still has more upside. I’m glad RJ has been ok lately, but earlier in the season, not so much…

Cam has more theoretical upside than RJ. But betting on it would be incredibly dumb.

Somehow the Knicks got their 3PT% up to 43% for the game. Even with Randle going 0-5.

We should be healthy and rested by Saturday. Denver has been struggling a bit lately. That looks like a pretty good chance to get a win against a better team.

Great win! Playoffs getting closer and closer, and so does the 5th seat! The bad-Randle factor was a key to this game. The tide turned when Randle sat with three fouls in the first quarter, and then stopped shooting and started deferring to others in the third. Then Thibs put Deuce on Lilland who was burning Grimes all night. The ball started moving freely and, at some point, the shots started falling. Defense was tremendous for three quarters. Coming out party for Deuce, both Harts excelled, IQ very good. Great, great win!

>>>>But betting on it would be incredibly dumb.

I want betting on it; I just wanted him to get minutes while we had a free look and RJ was terrible. But I’m not surprised it didn’t work out, and not sorry he’s gone.

RJ is still negative on both sides, but he’s OK when he doesn’t jack up bad shots from outside, focuses on getting to the rim if we have a good matchup, and doesn’t jack up garbage and get blocked when we have a bad matchup. In other words he’s good every once in awhile.

Very fun second half. Glad I missed the first!

2-2 on the west coast without Brunson. Not too shabby.

Is this what it’s like to be a fan of a good team

I have a feeling one of these days Josh Hart is going to end up with a triple double, only needed 2 assists and a rebound today. 3 steals also, the guy just knows how to impact games in meaningful ways.

Great to see Deuce and Obi coming alive too, RJ shooting better and making some defensive plays here and there, the team really needed to end this road trip on a high note.

Grimes has been a bit disappointing on both sides lately. When he’s in the starting unit he’s 4th option. So he isn’t going to get many opportunities, but I think he has to be a bit more aggressive. It’s not like with Hart where if he’s not scoring he’s still having a huge impact on the game.

When we’re healthy and IQ goes back to the 2nd unit, I really can’t think of a team with a better bench than ours.

I’m really starting to worry that the Mavs are going into all out tank mode to save that pick. It looks like Doncic, Irving, Wood, and Hardaway will all be out for the next game. There’s no team left. There are a LOT of teams they can drop behind very quickly if they are willing to and determined to tank out the rest of the way and focus on adding depth to Doncic, Irving, Green for next year.

The best stretches tonight were when both Randle and The Slot were on the bench. I think we still need Randle, but I am done with The Sloth.

@strat it’s finally time for frank to put it all together during the stretch run

I think Deuce may work well with J-Hart when Quick is in the starting lineup. The problems with Deuce have been his efficiency and he isn’t even really a PG. But with J-Hart we have another decent playmaker in that unit. So it’s just a matter of hoping he can hit some shots. If he does, that unit is reasonably balanced and we get his valuable pestering defense on the court. I-Hart also had 4 assists. We need to use his passing skills. J-Hart had 8.

“@strat it’s finally time for frank to put it all together during the stretch run”

I went for a walk today and was thinking about a variety of things. At one point Frank popped in my head. I started wondering if there was a word that described his personality. Sometimes we describe people as alphas or betas, but I was unfamiliar with any word that describes the personality type one notch below beta. I decided if there is no word it should be a “Frank”. I feel sorry for him. He’s 24 years old now but when he makes a good play he still looks at the sideline for the coach’s approval, looks at the coach if he makes a bad play, and is more terrified to be aggressive now than ever. He’s capable of impacting games. He impacted a couple of games in Dallas’s playoff run last year with his defense on star players. But I don’t think he’s ever looked more lost than this year.

Even though I’ve long since given up on a miracle for Frank, that behavior kind of sounds coach induced.

Not a single team in the Western Conference has a winning record on the road.

I feel sorry for him.

after he finishes getting paid very well here in the states (22 million so far), he’ll go get paid and probably have even more fun playing overseas…

and, he’s clothes horse…yeah, not feeling sorry for mister frank one bit when it comes to his career…

My recent hospital adventures meant I was asleep before tipoff. (Have you guys heard about this sleep thing, btw? It’s great!) Great to look at that box score and see how well the bench did, Deuce especially. Amused to see the +/- contrast between Hart and Cam.

Meanwhile, there’s this weirdness from our mercurial starting center:

@NBA_NewYork
Mitchell Robinson on Snapchat:
“Tired asf of just being out there for cardio fam like I want to play basketball to really just wasting my time and energy 🤦🏾‍♂️”
“Disappearing for a while”

Followed by Mitch tweeting:

@23savage____
Life’s a climb but the views great 🫶🏾

Goodnight !

Wrong half of ball to sleep through. D-mar very confidently predicted victory so maybe he gets the game ball. Good win – the first 9 minutes were brutal but this team has been nothing if not resilient.

Great fucking win. That third quarter! Wow!

Thing is, I know we were going to win with the way the second quarter ended. We played horribly the first quarter but slowly chipped away that lead by attacking the paint and getting to the line. For this reason, I think RJ deserves a ton of credit. Yes the bench won the game for us but I really think it was RJ attacking and scoring and getting to the line in the second and start of the third that opened things up for us. Randle too. These are the type of games I like to see from Randle where he doesn’t have it and Portland was frustrating him with the doubles but he kept battling and getting points at the line.

But holy shit the bench tonight was nasty. With deuce playing this well is it finally time for a ten man rotation again once JB gets back? Probably not since most teams shrink down to 9 man for the playoffs anyways. But assuming we being this whole team back next year, we should totally roll with the 10 man rotation. McBride has gotten a lot better with the scoring recently and if he can chip in 8 a night off the bench? That makes him extremely valuable.

Also such an important win as far as saving the road trip and team morale. Plus now we got some days off for JB and Mitch to heal up and Randle to rest. 5th seed baby!

Wanted to wait for the bot, but the Mitch stuff seems less than ideal. It’s not the first time he’s complained on social media about his lack of minutes and/or role in the offense. It’s just been a while since he’s done it, and it seemed as if he’d turned a mental corner with all that stuff. If he’s unhappy again — as opposed to just venting on social and then getting back to business — it could mess with the immaculate vibes in the locker room.

Alan, I hope you are feeling better and good luck with everything. As to Mitch, I think he just sometimes vents his frustration as to his limited role on offense. It seems to happen every once in a while. Thibs loves him and will probably give him a parental type of talk. I also think that it is on Mitch to explore some easy shots-in the off-season! He is very athletic and could certainly develop that baby hook people have spoken about. Anyway, great WIN.

Games on the pacific coast are too late for me, but glad to wake up for a win. The game thread was a nice read, although less thrilling because we got the game earlier than usual. And even better with the Nets loss and us getting back on the 5th seed again. Now let’s defend this! 😀
The Heat seem very far given that there’s only 11 games left, but i’ll still root for the Grizz to upset them in Miami tonight. Nothing is sure until it is done. 😉

They don’t throw him many lobs lately.

This is the worst I have seen Mitch play in a long time. Ever. He is making Hartenstein look like the second coming of Wilt Russell.

His mobility is at about 75% on eye test. The natural springiness he has is absent. But when you put up a line like that not the time to complain.

Yeah, i don’t think Mitch is a big problem, that’s just his way of expressing his feelings but he doesn’t seem to bring it to the locker room. It’s on him, just play better and you’ll get the minutes.

Not a single team in the Western Conference has a winning record on the road.

Except the former lolKings, you mean?

Big ups to Z-Man for not mocking my irrational infatuation with Keon Johnson. We’ve really turned a corner. Who knows… the next time he invites me to the Pig & Whistle it might even be to have a drink!

Don’t celebrate just now, that’s sunny Z-Man out in Florida. 😎 You wait for the snowy Z-Man next week. 😛 Oh, btw, how’s the vacation going, Z-Man?

Then again, Keon did have a TS% of 1.00 to go along with a 2:0 ratio of assists to turnovers, all while holding Miles McBride to zero points on .000% shooting. So I guess I’m the one who could have gloated.

In the immortal words of two Knicks greats…

“I take my hat off to myself. And that’s factorial.”

Hey Alan, how’s the recovery going?
I hope you’re feeling better and BTW sleep is great, it’s easy to become addicted 🙂

“Hubert IV says:
March 15, 2023 at 08:48
Big ups to Z-Man for not mocking my irrational infatuation with Keon Johnson. We’ve really turned a corner. Who knows… the next time he invites me to the Pig & Whistle it might even be to have a drink!”

Just glad that the charred residue of the #19th pick was enough to swing the Hart deal. He is a true joy to watch. We’ll never know whether Keon would have done the job.

Pick a better bar and I’m game…

“cybersoze says:
March 15, 2023 at 08:52
Don’t celebrate just now, that’s sunny Z-Man out in Florida. 😎 You wait for the snowy Z-Man next week. 😛 Oh, btw, how’s the vacation going, Z-Man?”

Thanks, cyber, having a blast! After a glorious day at the beach my son and I hung out on Delray’s Atlantic Ave, got back to hotel in time to watch the second half on my laptop. Nice capper to the evening! PS this is a bad town for old men, the eye strain is debilitating! 😉

Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the Deuce McBride Game!

It would’ve been easy to pack the bags and let this game go after maybe the worst start of the year, but instead we roll to a nice end to the western trip with the Bench Mob (plus the temporary starter IQ) dominating again, first straightening the game and then delivering the decisive blows.

We started the game ice cold but were able to weather the storm and ended the first half only down 6, then IQ (14) and Barrett (10) ignited a 42 points 3rd quarter that swung the game and we rode Deuce’s offensive explosion in a scorching hot start of the 4th (the Knicks hit their first 7 shots of the quarter) and took the game home easily, as the Blazers never threatened.

Following the Lakers’ game script the Hart Foundation made all the little things, Deuce’s energy and defense stymied Dame and Obi was aggressive, while IQ was much more assertive on offense and RJ had another steady game.

Now we have 3 full days of rest before meeting the Joker and the wobbling Nuggets at MSG.

A couple of notes:

– A lot of Fox News/Fake News fuss about nothing on Hartenstein, while judging from his IG story the only Knicks’ center not happy with his role and playing time is the “mercurial” Mitch…

– After this “revenge” game, can we stop talking about the J-Hart-Reddish swap for a while? Or Reddish’s untapped potential? I’m not asking forever, just until the end of the season… 🙂

Plays Of The Game

4th 11:31 Miles McBride makes 2-foot two point shot (NY 93 POR 81)
4th 11:14 Matisse Thybulle misses 23-foot three point jumper
4th 11:13 Matisse Thybulle offensive rebound
4th 11:12 Matisse Thybulle bad pass (Miles McBride steals)
4th 11:07 Miles McBride makes 27-foot three point shot (Obi Toppin assists NY 96 POR 81)

First he broke Reddish’s ankle for the layup, then stole Thybulle’s pass after an offensive board and finally buried the three on the following possessions. DEUUUUUUCE!

Stats Of The Day

52-38. Knicks’ lead in rbounding.
50-34. Knicks’ lead in PiP.

When the threes weren’t falling we went for the paint… then the threes did start falling! 🙂

McBride A+
He completely changed the game, way to go kid!
Alas he missed 2 FTs and denied himself his first 20-points NBA game, he’ll probably saved it for the Nuggets.
His confidence is raising and in the last two games he’s been exactly what we need, a defensive pest that derail other teams offense and can help the scoring. I hope he doesn’t go back to the bench when JB returns.

Quickley A
Steady all game long, efficient, fantastic on the boards (10 Reb). With him leading we’ll have the best bench in the league.

Hart A
More missed shots than we’re accustomed, but 15-9-8 with 3 steals (and +26)? Unvaluable. 37 minutes, he and IQ are basically hidden starters…

Hartenstein A-
For the second consecutive game he didn’t score and for the second consecutive game he was magnificent (11 Reb, 4 Ast, +20, lot of deflections) and changed the game subbing for the “probably injured” Mitch.

Toppin A-
He’s back showing some moves we forgot. Unconscious when he took a fastbreak three, luckily he hit it and spare Thibs a heart attack…

Barrett B+
Very solid game, he was instrumental in the 3rd with his forays to the rim and also had 3 blocks (3 blocks? RJ ?!!?).
I’m not happy with his zero assists though and for a couple of napping moments when he just stared at the ball without moving, but this version of RJ is acceptable.

Randle B
Woeful start but his greatest merit was to understand it wasn’t his night, and when the three wasn’t falling he deferred to the hot players and start attacking the basket with mostly good results.

Grimes C
Lillard abused him all night and 3 turnovers are too much when you’re the 4th option on offense. Invisible.

Mitch C
No need to play him if he’s hurt with I-Hart and Sims on the wings. If he’s not hurt he’s better wake up, The Joker’s coming.

Thibs A
This team resilience is something and tonight he was very aggressive with his lineups, always going with the right combinations. Very good job.
He tried to sub for the “main” players at the end but the play never stopped 🙂

Macri, I think, was talking about whether we should just sit Brunson for the Nuggets game and let him get 10 days of rest before playing the Wolves. Denver’s lost a bunch in a row, which either means they’re in a bad place right now, or means they’ll come to MSG on Saturday more focused and determined to pick us apart with Joker passes.

Assuming Brunson is healthy enough to play Saturday, would you still sit him out of longer-term precaution?

I feel pretty confident that the first round pick we sent Portland comprised 99.99% of the cost for Josh Hart. But it’s not worth upsetting the apple cart or punching a 6’4″ Serb in the mouth.

If you’re still in Delray, I have a great friend down there who would be happy to show you around. As it typical in Delray, he is your age but the women he hangs out with are Noble’s.

Only thing is… he thinks I’m a great guy. Don’t tell him the truth.

“Alansays:
March 15, 2023 at 09:33
Macri, I think, was talking about whether we should just sit Brunson for the Nuggets game and let him get 10 days of rest before playing the Wolves. Denver’s lost a bunch in a row, which either means they’re in a bad place right now, or means they’ll come to MSG on Saturday more focused and determined to pick us apart with Joker passes.

Assuming Brunson is healthy enough to play Saturday, would you still sit him out of longer-term precaution?”

One thing that really bugs me is that we don’t really know what is wrong with Brunson’s foot beyond that it’s sore and no bones are broken. WTF is a sore foot? How about an actual diagnosis? Plantar Fasciaitis? Tendonitis? Contusion?

That’s what makes this a difficult question to answer. I would have to guess that they are not going to risk a re-aggravation of “whatever it is” by playing him vs. Denver. The 3 most important remaining games of the season are coming up: 3/22 @ MIA, 3/29 MIA, 3/31 @ CLE. The goal should be to get him completely healthy for those games and to trust that we can win enough without him to maintain seeding. I doubt that it makes enough difference between a 4 and 5 seed to risk a re-aggravation trying to catch CLE, just play +.500 ball from here on out and we should be good.

Nice wrap, Max.

First time in a long time (all season?) that our big three didn’t dominate the leader stats. IQ with 26 points, iHart with 11 rebounds, JHart with 8 assists. Love it.

Went to bed humming, woke up humming…

Wow, IQ had 26-10-3 with one turnover on 17.5 shots. That’ll do.

The Blazers bench mob got beaten as comprehensively as anyone can be beaten.

There was one play last night during the Knicks run where Hart came across the baseline and swiped the ball from a Portland player from behind.

Not to go all cliche, but those are winning plays. The guy is like prime Draymond-lite.

Thanks Hubert, I’ve been here enough times to know the lay of the land, my mom lived in WPB for many years. My brother still lives in Boyton.

If I had to live in FL it would be in this area, but my wife wants no part of living in a red state beyond short vacations. The irony is that once you get north of where we live in Westchester County, NY is redder than fuck.

But I could definitely handle 2-3 months a year around here. Beach, golf, fishing, drinking, and “sightseeing” are my favorite pastimes, and March in South FL is ideal for all of those things!

It’s been hard not to fall into cliches while discussing Josh Hart because we’re so used to watching other players do the stuff he does against us while rarely having that guy on our team, but at this point I’m just in love.

It was the perfect guy to add to a team that was already finding an identity of playing hard, with guys like Quickley, Grimes and Hartenstein, and he just fit like a glove. Feeling like we can actually trust role players to step up on any given night is an unfamiliar feeling.

It’s pretty cool that if we just go 6-5 in these last 11 games we will win 47 games. I mean, can we confidently say that with 11 games left, our floor is 45 wins? No way we go worse than 4-7, right?

Assuming Brunson is healthy enough to play Saturday, would you still sit him out of longer-term precaution?

Alan,
sometimes watching the starting lineup without Brunson is a real chore and that’s why to me his health is more important than a potential win against the Nuggets (a game that by the way we can win without him, Denver looks in shambles, or lose with him if the Joker wants to make a statement).

And Z-Man’s right, we don’t know what’s really hindering him, the real meaning of his injury.

I’d wait until he’s “really” healthy and trust our stellar bench, Thibs’ new penchant for the right lineups and the Garden faithful push to beat the Nuggets.

I didn’t get to see this one but it sure seems like Josh Hart played a hell of a game.

There was a stretch early in the season where our bench mob was looking kind of weak. Hartenstein and Quickley got off to rough starts and we didn’t have JHart. Now we’re getting great play nightly from all of those guys, and our bench is awesome again.

Yeah it’s great to have options when the starters have bad matchups or a bad night. I hope McBride gets a bit more playing time-Brunson is obviously a much better player, but McBride is a significantly better defender and would be tactically useful if he can help out on offense.

“It was the perfect guy to add to a team that was already finding an identity of playing hard, with guys like Quickley, Grimes and Hartenstein, and he just fit like a glove. Feeling like we can actually trust role players to step up on any given night is an unfamiliar feeling.”

I remember thinking back to when we first acquired him re: where his minutes would come from, knowing he would play a lot of minutes. It seems like Grimes has been the most impacted, but RJ’s minutes are a bit less as well. It’s nice to have some options at that small wing spot, and Hart has raised the bar for the younger players.

I mentioned this before, but I wonder if Deuce’s excellent play lately has been the result of the JHart acquisition, they seem so similar in mentality and maybe the role model effect is a thing.

I also think the Hart foundation is getting Obi out of his head by finding him on the kinds of transition plays that energize him. That Deuce-iHart-JHart-IQ-Obi lineup is a blast to watch, and if Thibs can just roll with that for 5-10 minutes a night after Brunson gets back I’d be very happy!

I also think the Hart foundation is getting Obi out of his head by finding him on the kinds of transition plays that energize him.

I agree Z-Man,
the pace is faster and the ball movement is better when the Hart Foundation is in, helping Obi’s finding his strides again and even attacking the rim a little more against set defenses.

When Brunson is back full-time, I expect Deuce to go back to the bench, but not the dungeon. i.e., the team simply does better with the 9-man rotation, but on nights when our energy level is flagging and/or a lead guard is just killing us, I have a feeling Thibs will be willing to throw Deuce in there. So, truly “situational,” as opposed to that nonsense with Grimes early in the year. Or, in other words, what some of us wanted him to do with Frank a couple of years ago — except involving a guy with a much more tangible defensive impact.

+/- stats for the LAL and POR wins:
JHart: +13, +26
iHart: +19, +20
Deuce: +15, +17
Obi: +5, +8

Thibs has alluded to +/- stats in the past, and these numbers are hard to ignore. To do this on the road against teams that really wanted to win (why else would Dame have played 39 minutes?) is pretty impressive, and would hard for a coach who pays attention to those things to ignore.

I wish the Daily News Thread had that relentless, never-quit Josh Hart energy.

One thing that has been notable lately is the way we are pushing the ball in transition but also off made buckets to an extent. Seems super smart to get the ball forward before the defense is set. It’s something I complained about during the whole Melo era. I felt like we went about 10 years without getting a bucket in transition. No more. I approve.

Overall, this is a good team that never quits. They have good players almost across the board and some whose flaws are manageable.

I think the long awaited moment where I can sit back and put some faith in the braintrust is closing in and I feel really good about it. Will be refreshing to not know I am less dumb than management.

the plus minus in the portland game is the bench playing well and the starters inexplicably not being able to make any shots at all for most of the first quarter.

“I think the long awaited moment where I can sit back and put some faith in the braintrust is closing in and I feel really good about it. Will be refreshing to not know I am less dumb than management.”

They clearly are better than past regimes, and while they are building a team of “Thibs-friendly” players, they are not doing it in a clunky merc-heavy way.

Still, the whole Spida chase bothered me…and the draft-day stuff is definitely not optimal (although I maintain not nearly as consequential as some here think)…but in any case, we are a team that is a blast to root for an that is being taken seriously by opponents and the media, which is a huge departure from the last 20 years. And we still have ample ways to get much better if we are patient and the cards break just a little bit in our favor.

Fell asleep at halftime expecting a loss, so naturally I missed all the good stuff. NBA.com has a pretty cool feature that lets you view any individual play from a game, so I will be catching up on the Deuceplosion and all the fun Hart chaos.

Congratulations to Raven above all else, and my most sincere condolences to the Cam Hive–it’s never fun to get so thoroughly humiliated.

I’m going to the game against Denver so selfishly I’d love for Brunson to be back, but objectively the case for giving him until the Minnesota game is strong even if he feels good. I wouldn’t mind seeing another Deuceining in any event.

The Spida thing worked out. It’s hard to judge the process but we didn’t make a franchise crippling trade. He’s a great player and absolutely perfect for the Cavs.

It’s kind of crazy but if you offered me Donovan Mitchell for IQ right now straight up, I don’t know what I would say. I might actually start a riot if Leon did that deal. (and yes, I know Mitchell is the better player., but maybe it’s kind of close?)

PS this is a bad town for old men, the eye strain is debilitating! 😉

LOL

I wish the Daily News Thread had that relentless, never-quit Josh Hart energy.

LOL

That Deuce-iHart-JHart-IQ-Obi lineup is a blast to watch, and if Thibs can just roll with that for 5-10 minutes a night after Brunson gets back I’d be very happy!

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Assuming Brunson is healthy enough to play Saturday, would you still sit him out of longer-term precaution?

Yes, i would. No need to rush him, we have to maximize the team for the playoffs. And maybe it’s because i don’t value the home court advantage in a 4th/5th series, but i’d rest some more players here and there in the next 11 games, to get them well rested for the playoffs. Of course this can change if the Nets keep winning and we slide on the games we rest 1 or 2 players.

I think we’d be way better with Spida instead of RJ, which is what Leon tried to do. The bench would suffer because Quick was going out too, but not Obi, we’d probably replace him easily with the vet min. Maybe Leon tried Jordan Clarkson to give Quick up. We’ll never know for sure what would be the final deal, but Spida in RJ’s place is a clear upgrade, so we had to try to get him. Once he was too pricey, we gave up and signed RJ to the extension. I would’ve done the same.

The Brunson thing is hard to solve because while I don’t care much about chasing Cleveland for the 4th spot, I do care a lot about keeping the 5th at least. I absolutely think it’s worth it to make sure we face the Cavs instead of the Sixers in the first round.

With that said, I think keeping Brunson out until he’s perfectly healthy is the best move and if we lose to the Nuggets because of that it’s fine, there’s no guarantee we beat them anyway with Brunson.

I feel like we lo-key been waiting for the Deuce McBride Game all year. Really happy we got it when we needed it most. Too bad I had to miss it while on baby duty: the little guy lately has had a habit of waking up from his evening nap around 8/8:30p and staying up until around 11p. Heck, I’m typing this now as he sleeps in my arms.

BTW: it’s going to be a holy war to get him to be a Knicks/Yankees fan around here. I’m ok with him being a Dodgers fan – i just can’t stomach him being a Laker fan tho 😉

When you look at a guy’s boxscore data and it screams “very good”, but then you look at his on/off and it’s negative, that’s usually telling you something about his defense (and vice versa).

If you want to understand it better, you can look at specific lineup data, who his replacement is off the bench, whether the overall bench unit just happens to be very strong, whether he’s just playing in some poorly constructed lineups for his skills etc… to see if you can explain it. But when a guy is negative practically every year and his team seems to not miss a beat when he’s out, something is amiss.

Statistically, Spida looks like a superstar, but I see no real evidence of him having a huge positive impact on the basketball court. Even with the year he’s having, he’s still mildly negative this year and over the last 4 years according to basketball reference.

I don’t think we have 5th or even 6th seed locked up yet.

If Brunson is pain free and cleared by the medical staff, he should play.

Anyone else watch last night’s game and in the second half when we were stomping them and the only one scoring for them was Dame, feel kind of bad for the guy?

Like Portland should do him a solid and trade him to a contender. Like I don’t know…maybe us for RJ, Obi and 5 picks LOL!

But seriously, dude is loyal AF and will never demand out of there. But Portland is far far away from even being able to pseudo contend. He’s still elite but he’s probably got like 2 seasons left before he really declines. They should just cash him in for some young players and picks and start a rebuild. He deserves better than this.

I definitely do feel bad for Lillard, having a team playing whoever is Trendon Watford and Matisse Thybulle 40 minutes is just depressing. I respect him for his loyalty bit unfortunately his career will be over due to the Blazers bad luck and sheer incompetence

Dame is awesome and all but a scoring PG is not what we need now that we have Brunson.

I think Kawhi would be ideal.

Thanks, Noble. Fingers crossed Deuce has finally crossed over to a better place.

I commented in the game thread about how he was locking down Dame, yet Lillard scored 38! The Portland announcers were waxing poetic about how much fun it was watching Deuce fight over screens, but there were a number of times Nurkic set death picks that left Deuce’s face looking like a pug’s, while giving Dame the one second he needed to shoot.

Lillard shot 47% from three, but only 33% from two.

“ It’s kind of crazy but if you offered me Donovan Mitchell for IQ right now straight up, I don’t know what I would say. I might actually start a riot if Leon did that deal. (and yes, I know Mitchell is the better player., but maybe it’s kind of close?)”

Quick is having a great year, but this is a Homer Hall of Fame comment, Owen.

Last night was a nice win, but we are still a 1A star away from even being considered a contender. Headed in the right direction? YES. Guaranteed that we’ll get that guy over the next 3 years (our best players’ window)? Definitely not.

I agree that the Blazers are wasting Dame’s good years. They traded CJ away to get better, but managed to get worse. Now they aren’t even a lock to be in the playoffs.

Yeah Dame would not be the best fit. Kind of like Spida being a bad fit too.

We need a SF who is legit 2 way. Maybe it can be RJ next season LOL?

Honestly, if RJ plays the way he did last night on the regular, I’d be happy to keep him.

If the Knicks force me to be a terrible homer for the next ten years, I am fine with that. IQ has been great since the ASB.

RJ has looked and played much better lately. His drives get all the way to the rim more often and he’s done a good job using the glass on a number of them. Still a lot of room for improvement, a lot on the passing side.

If Grimes keeps up his recent play, Deuce should start taking his minutes. Thibs won’t make that move unless he has to though. The league has adjusted to Grimes’s driving and Grimes will need to adjust to that, luckily adjusting is something Grimes has shown he can do.

I just rewatched all of Dame’s shots, I don’t know how you stop him.

He went 3-9 inside the arc but 8-17 from 3. Except for 1 shot, they were all pull-ups over screens or coming off motion.

He’d get maybe a step, the defender would get a hand up on the contest and he’d drill it anyway. Every single one.

The Knicks were excellent defending him, he’s just too quick with the pull-up… I don’t know how you could conceivably stop him.

Jesus, just saw that Middleton scored 31 points with 9 assists on Monday. I know who gets my vote for the championship this year…

Different topic, just want to give props to Obi. Second solid game in a row, showing moves to the basket and seemingly playing with a confidence that didn’t feel was there earlier.

Then again, if he’d missed that one-on-four step-back three, we’d probably be talking about how he’s insane. But he made it, so he’s just a big, tall, goofy Dame.

“I don’t know how you could conceivably stop him.”

Yes, especially with the whistle he gets. I loved it when IQ drew a foul with the defender on his hip after Dame did it a bunch of times. This team seems to adapt in real time.

As to deals for a “1A”. As a Knick fan, I’d rather beat them than join them. So, if Quick has upside, let’s develop that and get 90% of Mitchell’s offense with better defense and go into Cleveland and kick his ass. We have not given up on any of our recent draft picks just yet and it’s starting to pay off. We have two legit all star players and some guys who could get there. Obi and RJ both can score on three levels. Should we circumscribe their games or keep their minutes low? No, keep letting them get comfortable. Mitchell Robinson too. Get him some more lobs please. Most important thing. Because we don’t have two max deals screwing our cap (and playing 40-60 games a year) we have potentially the best depth in the league.

Ja suspended 8 games by the league, mainly because there’s no evidence the gun was his, and thus that he would have had it on team plane and/or in locker room.

Ja suspension seems fair enough, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was gong to miss 8 games in the clinic anyways.

A little devil’s advocate: this insane fucking country thinks it’s cool to legalize AK47s and the like, so why the uproar? To be clear, I am a proponent of gun control, background checks, etc, and was before my children were each separately caught in active shooter drills (neither resulted in any shootings, thankfully). I don’t own a gun, and as a Quaker am a recognized conscientious objector to war. But this deranged country is authorizing open carry etc etc, so if the general attitude is that guns are lawful, what’s the outrage? Because he’s black? Because he’s famous? Thing is, seems like legally the incident was a minimal issue, if any at all. So it kinda of seems like rank hypocrisy and image control more than anything else.

Rama, you both make a good point and open a Pandora’s box. I’m not going in as I don’t have a license, but I will only point out that over 50% of Americans are in favor of stricter gun control laws (over 80% of Dems).

So it is a fucking insane country, but here as with so many topics (all of them?) we’re also completely divided.

So with Mitch causing drama, do you take a defensive center (Lively) or offensive center (Edey) in the draft?

sorry to hear your kids were exposed to that…that seems like a really traumatic event…

tobacco, firearms and alcohol…add in sex and drugs – all bazillion dollar industries…

shit, Patron, the club and whoever manufactured the gun are probably happy as can be…

My kids just accepted it as a matter of course, which is a relief in that the trauma was minimal, and tragic in that the idea that they could be gunned down in their classroom is an acceptable part of going to school. Again, insane.

Not trying to stir things up; I just genuinely was surprised it was taken as such a problem when apparently at least half the country thinks everything is copacetic. In a way I thought the laser (implied weapon sight) aimed at Pacers and their fans was much more serious.

The NBA is a private organization and has stricter rules on gun ownership than the US.

The NBA doesn’t want players waving around guns at strip clubs, or anywhere. At minimum it’s a violation of the morality policy in his contract.

I assume the strip club has a no gun policy despite the name.

A person cannot be in possession of a firearm in Colorado while under the influence. He could serve several months jail time if they found evidence he was drinking before posting that video.

He’s not allowed to bring guns on the team plane. The suspension would have been much longer if the NBA found evidence he brought the gun on the plane. I heard 50 games thrown around.

He recently punched a minor and showed the minor the gun he was carrying. He’s already in legal trouble for that.

Got no thoughts about Ja other than thst I hope he has a long and successful career and a happy and healthy life. I’d rather be discussing how good he actually is, a topic about which I am very curious, rather than all this nonsense.

CLe- Philly looks like it will be a good one.

He’s not going to make All-NBA so bye bye to that hefty escalator you get for making it, bummer dude

Tbh the strip club thing looked fun, what with the big ass everywhere, but I’m not so much a fan of waving guns around in private or public so the guy hath reaped what was sown from my limited perspective.

Let’s not act like the NBA is in the David Stern era of racist clothing rules. Dude’s entourage was menacing with lasers and Ja himself is punching minors. Idiot is going to get hammered hard by the world if he doesn’t quit acting like he’s anything but a guy worth 9 figures.

My guess is the Pacers incident weighed as heavily as anything. There had to be players complaining to Silver to nip that shit in the bud. Meanwhile the NCAA/Alabama has no problem with Brandon Miller delivering murder weapons to his boys. I hope U of Alabama never wins another game in any sport.

Miami blowing out Memphis. Those two remaining games are going to be huge.

Apparently Ja is out of the clinic, and the suspension is retroactive. He’s eligible to play Monday. He’s missing 3 games.

Embiid is so freaking good. Just blocked Mobley on a second jump like he was playing a high schooler.

The Rockets defeated the Lakers. That feels like a mail in the Lakers’ coffin.

Deaaron fox, a guy who came into the league and couldn’t shoot or finish at the rim for a couple years has turned himself into a pretty good player at age 25

Edwin Diaz injured his knee tonight celebrating the victory over Dominican Republic, had to be taken off the field on a wheelchair.

Dallas won and a couple of the teams below them lost. I know we want the best pick we can possibly get, but with all their injuries we want to make sure we actually get the pick this year. They are so decimated they struggled with the tanking Spurs. Soon we can start being more confident and then hope to maximize the position.

Brooklyn has Sacramento tomorrow. It will be a back to back on the road for the Kings, but they are pretty young and on a roll. We could use some help there.

BBA, that is really a shame. I hope it’s not as bad as it seems.

It’s a knee injury, so best case is probably torn meniscus and 4-8 weeks recovery time. Worst case it’s an ACL tear or worse so he misses the season.

Apparently Ja is out of the clinic

Congrats, Ja! You spent a week in therapy and you have solved your apparent problem of toxic masculinity by clearing your psyche of all of your accumulated traumas since early childhood! You’re healed! One week, a new record!

Well, the WBC was totally awesome until it wasn’t.

Korea Japan most watched baseball game since 1980.

Kind of sad because it was really really fun last night

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