[news.google.com] — Monday, April 17, 2023 6:10:58 AM
NBA playoff openers winners, losers: Kings, Knicks, Lakers shine USA TODAY
[news.google.com] — Monday, April 17, 2023 3:01:00 AM
NY’s Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders, and NJ’s Devils in playoffs for … Gothamist
[news.google.com] — Monday, April 17, 2023 2:03:00 AM
Knicks take 1-0 lead into game 2 against the Cavaliers Yahoo Canada Sports
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 10:30:00 PM
Knicks keeping Josh Hart for years to come needs to be priority New York Post
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 8:58:00 PM
Knicks bench’s domination of Cavaliers in Game 1 is edge that has chance to grow New York Post Cavs’ flaws exposed by tougher Knicks in Game 1: ‘We have to be more physical. It’s that simple’ cleveland.comBrunson, Knicks’ depth prove too much for Cavaliers in Game 1 Yahoo Sports
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 5:14:00 PM
Why the Knicks expect to be even better after Game 1 win over Cavs cleveland.com
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 1:29:41 PM
New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Playoffs Game 2 picks The Arizona Republic
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 1:18:40 PM
Jalen Brunson after defeating the Cavs: “Our only game plan today was just win” Posting and Toasting
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 12:05:16 PM
A Conversation with Josh Hart | New York Legacies with Ahmad … NBA.com
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 11:33:50 AM
Cavs: Jarrett Allen reveals what Cleveland learned in Game 1 Knicks loss Cavs Nation
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 11:09:00 AM
Cavs’ flaws exposed by tougher Knicks in Game 1: ‘We have to be more physical. It’s that simple’ cleveland.comNBA playoffs: Knicks star Julius Randle (ankle) returning in Game 1 vs. Cavaliers Yahoo SportsJosh Hart’s late heroics help Knicks close out impressive Game 1 win New York Post
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 10:23:00 AM
Why Josh Hart might ‘burn’ his Jalen Brunson shirt after Knicks’ Game 1 win New York Post
[news.google.com] — Sunday, April 16, 2023 10:00:00 AM
Knicks fans need to thank their lucky stars for Villanova, Jay Wright Daily Knicks
59 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2023.04.17)”
What a weird opening weekend. Nuggets, Sixers, and Celtics were the only Game 1s where the clearly favored team won. (Everybody seemed to go into the playoffs with the assumption that Golden State would get past the Kings, despite being a lower seed.) In our case, a 5 beating a 4 doesn’t seem like a big deal. But the hobbled Clippers handing the Suns their first defeat with KD? Man.
Thoughts on the opening games in the first round:
East:
-NY vs. CLE: WE ARE DOOMED! (in spite of the fact that we have CLE in a stat of panicked despair because they have no answer for our depth and toughness…have to love what we’ve seen thus far)
-ATL vs. BOS: Boston got whatever it wanted, were almost mocking ATL with how easily they could score at will. Looking like a sweep.
-MIA vs. MIL: Two major injuries clouded things up, I can’t imagine that MIA can sustain the shooting they showed in game 1, let’s see what the deal is with Giannis and what kinds of adjustments Budz makes. Looking like a long series, but I still think the Bucks will prevail.
-BKN vs. PHI: BKN might be the worst team in the playoffs. This won’t go beyond 5. Looking ahead, a throwback PHI vs. BOS series should be fun!
West:
-LAL vs. MEM: Did anyone really think that a team missing its starting and backup Cs was going to beat King James and his court? And now Ja has a damaged shooting hand? Looking like Lakers in 5.
-GS vs. SAC: I know the Kings had an answer for everything the Dubs threw at them, but come on, is Fox really that good? Look for a more determined effort from the defending champs in Game 2. My guess is that the winner of that game takes the series in 6.
-LAC vs. PHX: this is an intriguing series. Did PHX give up too much for Durant? Sure looked that way last night. CP3 doesn’t seem like the same player he was and seems like the Suns are as top-heavy as the Cavs. But no PG13 compromises the Clips too. Hard to read.
-MIN vs. DEN: Seemed like an easy walkover for the Nuggets, who look pretty determined vs. a team in a bit of disarray with the whole Gobert debacle. Can’t imagine it going beyond 5 games with a sweep possible.
I think he might be? His clutch numbers this season are cartoonishly great.
Alan, I know most people picked the Warriors, and they could still win. But I didn’t.
I mean seriously, did it make sense for PHX to trade the entire farm for Durant? The only guy on their bench to play more than 8 minutes was Shamet, and he sucks. Meanwhile, Mikal Bridges by himself is playing like an all-NBA stud. And what happens if they don’t make the finals? You then have to deal with the corpse of CP3, a perpetually disgruntled Ayton, a wierdo aging all-world player in KD, and a Kardashianite one-way superstar in Booker.
I sure as hell hope that Leon doesn’t pull something like that.
“I think he might be? His clutch numbers this season are cartoonishly great.”
Well I saw it up close and personal when they beat us via his heroics. But I’m not completely believing it until I see how the Warriors respond to the way they defended him and Monk in Game 1. Was it a wake-up call? Or are the Kings just better? I don’t think we can answer that until the Kings face some adversity, and until Wiggins is fully integrated.
BTW I hated that Curry and Klay deferred to Wiggins on that end-of-game shot…guy is playing his first game in a million years and you put him in that position? Weird.
We’ve all been watching the NBA playoffs for a long time (some longer than others) and should remember how quickly the tone of these series can change. The Cavs could come out and kick our ass tomorrow and all of a sudden it’s advantage Cleveland.
The first game tells you very little about how a series will end up.
***What a weird opening weekend. Nuggets, Sixers, and Celtics were the only Game 1s where the clearly favored team won.***
The NBA playoffs used to be pretty unambiguous in that the better team would win the game/series. But nowadays, because of 3 point shooting variance, good teams lose more games in the playoffs. It’s more like baseball (used to be at least, back when I watched baseball) in that a bad team with a hot pitcher could make a lot of noise in the playoffs. I think we are probably going to see less and less sweeps going forward, and the viability of the old iron-clad The Best Team Wins In A Seven Game Series may start to get questioned.
“The first game tells you very little about how a series will end up.”
Yeah, overreacting to Game 1 of an NBA playoff series is some rube-ass shit.
In other RJ-related news:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uki4lrLzRaU
I’ve watched a lot of Kings basketball because I stay up late in general and they were the most interesting western team to follow, and I have to say I’m a De’Aaron Fox believer. It really seems Mike Brown unlocked something in his game that resulted in a pretty major leap, he looks much more confident and under control and he understands he can get to the rim at will against most teams (and GSW doesn’t have anyone to stay in front of him outside of Gary Payton II, who’s not good enough to play more than 20 minutes or so).
It’s hard for me to predict Sacramento will win a series against the defending champions, but they won even with Sabonis, Huerter and Murray having pretty bad shooting numbers. I like their chances.
Very entertaining first round so far, a lot of parity around the league.
Winning one of the first 2 games on the road is usually the goal in these 7 game series, so I believe it is a big deal although not definitive. A long tough series between Mil and Mia, can only help the Knicks, except for the fact that they are doomed. I’m loving the increased parity in these playoffs.
The Cavs and Suns gutted some of the depth of their respective teams for an upgrade at one position. Both “may” have the better starting 5 in their respective series right now, but still lose. Both also gave up picks and weakened their ability to add quality depth quickly. I still can’t figure out why the Cavs bought out Love. His defense is an issue, but he wasn’t a starter for them. He just wanted to play. I think they could have used his playoff experience and ability to stretch the floor in that last game and going forward.
I wasn’t surprised the Clippers beat the Suns, the Suns have barely played together and Ty Lue is a very good coach. Or I thought he was until he let Russell Westbrook take 19 shots in a playoff game.
And overreacting to a series of games 2 years ago is what?
winning game 1 is actually a big deal in isolation… i think it’s >70% to win the series after winning game 1…
once you contextualize it can be misleading since that includes a ton of 1 vs 8 and other lobsided matchups where winning game 1 is a precursor to a sweep … which probably isn’t happening here… but winning any games is important in the playoffs as that gets you one win closer to advancing… but the more important thing to be worrying about is winning the future games….
Hart is nominally questionable for game 2, but I’d be shocked if he didn’t give it a go. Just hope it doesn’t limit him too much–lord knows we need a locked and loaded Hart to win.
Completely random and not Knicks or even basketball related..
Has anyone noticed that the outgoing Commanders owner and the incoming Commanders owner are practically the same person! LITCHERALLY!
Both guys are 58, Jewish, and from Montgomery County MD. They lived in towns maybe 15 minutes apart growing up- if that. I jest of course, because the personalities are different. But it still gets the “wow” kind of chuckle out of me.
Nevertheless, I’m glad that saga is nearing it’s conclusion. Good luck to Josh Harris though. That organization has been quite the dumpster fire.
I vote that they change the name to the Washington Torch, slightly change the burgundy to the same shade and mumbo sauce, create a mascot named Moe, and have a gogo band play during halftime. That’d be jih like vicious slim
Stamp!
BTW, in my original post I did not say game 1’s don’t matter. My point was how quickly the tenor of a series can change one game to the next. Winning game 1 in Cleveland was huge, but they could easily win the next 2 and all of sudden we’re on our heels.
So, we threw the first punch and it landed nicely for a first round win.
In the secound round, you can bet they will come out swinging and get off to an early lead…if Knicks can finish the 1st half within 5 points, – then this could be a very short series, – as the pressure will continue to mount. Youth and lack of experience always shows up in the crunch. We’re better overall closers and the physicality will pay a toll mentally in the last 6 minutes of the game.
Also, in the attempt to play more physical, – expect Mobley and/or Allen to be in foul trouble. Has there been any modern day study with respect to the rule to sit every player regardles of position, value over replacement or propensity to foul with two 1st quarter fouls and/or 3 first half fouls???
It just feels like one of those old schools rules that coaches follow blindly.
Well, shit. Katz: “Josh Hart is DOUBTFUL for Game 2 with a sprained left ankle, Knicks say”
Josh Hart listed as doubtful. No bueno
Edit: Dammit Alan!
Knicks now favored to win the series on Fanduel: Knicks -158; Cavs +134.
Knicks down to 21-1 to win the East, 32-1 to win the championship.
Hart is undoubtedly a key player for us, but one advantage we have is depth. Give Deuce 10 minutes and fill in the other 20 Hart minutes with RJ, IQ, Obi and Grimes.
One or both of IQ and Grimes are going to need to play much better on both ends (though Grimes wasn’t bad on D) to compensate for Hart’s absence. And/or Good RJ will have to make one of his increasingly rare appearances.
The Deuce McBride Game would also be nice.
Hart’s status would be a killer if we hadn’t won game 1. Game 2 was a house money game to begin with, hopefully he’ll be 100% by game 3 Friday.
It bugs me that he’s doubtful though, sounds like more than a tweak…
I wish guys would go back to wearing high tops. I think it would cut down on injuries.
I love Deuce but the playoffs are not where I want to break him out, should be useful against Cleveland’s guards though. I think it was against Cleveland he did an excellent job denying the ball to a star (Garland?).
I could see Thibs just shortening the rotation too.
We’ll also answer the eternal question—is our 10th man better than the Cavs 5th?
Yeah, I had ankle sprain problems and seems that high tops helped prevent them a lot. But these guys get their ankles taped by trainers so maybe it’s not as essential. Just seems like there are tons of sprains.
List of tiebreaks for draft position if anyone cares—nothing affects us:
https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1648073635553329154?t=IlEKxCxsYc6AX8LwjHwmSw&s=19
Missing Hart is gutting because unlike a lot of his teammates he basically takes nothing off the table. He just unambiguously makes us better in a number of important areas. There is no silver lining whatsoever to him being out, whereas you could talk yourself into some with Randle and others.
Hopefully he feels a lot better tomorrow?
I’m confident that with rest and treatment, Hart will play tomorrow. He turned his ankle and never left the game. So that tells me that he will will his way to game 2 if he has to. Maybe adrenaline got him through game one, or maybe we should rest him since we wrestled home court advantage. Who knows? I would love to be able to keep the momentum and close the Cavs out as quick as possible, but if resting Hart for one game means we get him at his best for the rest of the series- I can’t argue with that. He is as important as Brunson and Randle right now
We already won game 1. Wouldn’t it be better to let Hart rest game 2 and come back hopefully totally healthy for game 3?
It makes sense to rest Hart if he’s not feeling well, but at the same time if he’s good enough to play and we manage to go up 2-0, well, that’s much better.
I think he’s an absolutely key player specially for this series because the Cavs have no one at guard or small forward who can match his intensity. Allen and Mobley on their best days are going to give Randle and Mitch a hard time, but everyone knows Mitchell and Garland are not the type of players to bang inside, box out and try to match what Hart brings to the table. Okoro and Osman can do it to a certain extent but they’re not good enough to see more minutes. He’s a big X-Factor for me. It’s different if we’re facing Boston or Milwaukee for example because Smart and Holiday will match him every step of the way, but against the Cavs it’s a huge deal.
My feeling is that if it’s purely a pain tolerance thing, let him play because there’s another 3 days of rest after the game. Maybe cut his minutes back somewhat.
If there is a significant risk of re-aggravation, then 100% sit him.
That they are calling him doubtful means one of two things: 1) it’s more of the latter; 2) they’re fucking with the Cavs and pulling a rope-a-dope.
My guess is that it’s more than just a mild tweak and that he sits.
So it seems that JHart really *did* give us a Willis Reed-esque moment by hitting that very important three-pointer immediately after getting hurt. I’m thinking adrenaline.
“I’ve watched a lot of Kings basketball because I stay up late in general and they were the most interesting western team to follow, and I have to say I’m a De’Aaron Fox believer.”
I understand that, but he shot 32.4% from 3 on over 5 attempts a game during the season, yet he wen 4-8 from 3 in game 1 including some monster makes in the 4th. I’ll need to see more of that to really believe in him.
OTOH, something seems wrong with the Warriors. Edit: on the offensive end. Their D looks much better!
Malik Monk is feelin’ it!
Eh we went on a 9 game winning streak without hart. I’d rest him. I think we can beat the Cavs without him. IQ played horribly so you gotta figure he can bounce back. Grimes and RJ gave very little on offense. McBride played minutes with the second unit for much of the season and also brings defensive intensity. Hartenstein is healthy and locked in. I think we can win without Josh hart. Not long term but one game? Sure.
He’s got until Friday to heal up with the W in game 1 there is no reason at all to risk him hurting it worse
“I understand that, but he shot 32.4% from 3 on over 5 attempts a game during the season, yet he wen 4-8 from 3 in game 1 including some monster makes in the 4th. I’ll need to see more of that to really believe in him.”
That was an outlier because he’s really not a great shooter, but on the other hand Huerter and Sabonis shot badly in game 1 and they’re much better at being efficient, so it’ll probably balance out during the series.
(And as we discuss this Fox is currently 1-6 on 3s as is Huerter, and they’re still beating the Warriors by 6).
It is crazy though just how similar the Kings and the Knicks are in terms of team composition, 2 fringe stars leading the way (all lefties to make the comparison work even better), a bunch of pretty good guards and nice depth.
“It is crazy though just how similar the Kings and the Knicks are in terms of team composition, 2 fringe stars leading the way (all lefties to make the comparison work even better), a bunch of pretty good guards and nice depth.”
Agreed, and two fan bases similarly desperate for playoff success!
Good lord the Warriors simply can’t stop fouling, they’re gifting Sacramento the game right now.
It’s official: Z-Man has cursed De’Aaron Fox, he’s not even hitting the rim on his 3s today lol.
Have they just stopped calling 3 seconds altogether these days? It’s a pretty obsolete rule given the modern NBA, and there’s basically no point to enforcing it, but I couldn’t help but notice that Sabonis was in the paint for like 5 or 6 seconds there.
Did anyone happen to see what the line was for the Knicks/Cavs game 1?
It looks like it’s 5 1/2 for game 2.
I can’t fucking stand Draymond, dirtiest player in the damn league.
Hart has been downgraded to doubtful.
I think that’s a huge blow to our chances in game 2. Not only are we losing what he gives us, it’s likely that RJ will get more minutes. Hopefully Thibs has seen enough of RJ to give the minutes to Grimes and Quick and one of those guys really steps it up.
Thank goodness they called it a Flagrant 2. That was a hugely dirty play. Draymond is such a dick.
Draymond is one of the least likable players in the entire league. He’s a scumb@g.
I can’t wait for the moment this Warriors team disappears, least likeable great team ever. I can’t stand them.
I love the Warriors and I love Draymond. But I guess it’s all a matter of perspective, cause if I was rooting against them I’d probably hate Draymond too:)
Let’s fucking go Kings!!!!!! Fuck Draymond Green.
SAC has been very impressive down the stretch. OTOH steph has been awful. Nice to see a likely changing of the guard.
Davion Mitchell is doing a nice job on steph…
The Kings fans are on another level. Wow
Still think it goes 7…warriors ain’t losing at home….
Kings. Knicks. It’s inevitable (except for the fact that the Knicks are doomed).