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2023-24 Game Thread – Knicks @ Pelicans – SECOND GAME ON THE ROAD (Also not a thing)

The Knicks continue their back-to-back road weekend with a date in New Orleans against the Pelicans with an actually healthy Zion Williamson (for now), so it will not be an easy game, but at the time, the Pelicans are incredibly thin, depth-wise, and the Knicks are, you know, not thin, depth-wise, so I think the Knicks should be able to pull this one out and have a winning record for the first time in this short season.

Come on, RJ, make it seem like passing on you was a big mistake by New Orleans!

On to 53 wins!

Let’s go, Knicks!

131 replies on “2023-24 Game Thread – Knicks @ Pelicans – SECOND GAME ON THE ROAD (Also not a thing)”

They looked tired at the end of yesterday’s game, and a lot of shots came up short. I wonder if they’ll be able to sustain a good level of play today or if they’ll become tired even sooner.
Gooooo Knicks! 🏀

“They looked tired at the end of yesterday’s game, and a lot of shots came up short.”

I think Thibs extended IQ and DDV a bit too long in their last long shift, but other than that I thought they were just fine.

if you’re going to spend 150mm dollars in one summer for guys that are playing 20mpg… if anything these back2backs are where you should be getting at least some return on that investment….

Not much to like with that start. Sloppy and stupid plays abounding.

B2B on the road looks like it took a toll.

3s not falling

Maybe the bench will be better.

I don’t like Grimes playing “lamp post in the corner” 90% of the plays…

I know they’re on a B2B, but usually the effects are seen in the 2nd half…

Let’s go Knicks. Find the rhythm. We are deeeeep, so, even with b2b fatigue, we have a chance.

8 turnovers (Randle 4)
28% shooting
0-8 from three.
12 points.

One of the worst quarters I can remember…

“Good: Clyde’s suit, Mitch” – Thanks! 😉

Bad: 8 turnovers 12 pts 😳

That pass from IQ to cutting iHart did not exist last year (or the previous years). I like.

So many of our guys look bad, it’s hard to focus on any one. RJ is by far our best player so far.

But honestly, they are hitting open shots and we aren’t hitting anything, yet it still isn’t a blowout. But if the Pels play like this they are going to give a lot of teams trouble.

The Pelicans keep having the chance to put them away, but they don’t want to take the chance. So this bodes well for the rest of the game! If they can get within 10 by the half, that would be huge.

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The official scorers took away one of Julius’ first half turnover, now he has 3.

Solid game for RJ so far…

Edit: Here come the 4th 🙁

They seriously just did a “Who has the most career points of Zion, Ja and RJ?” as if that was something anyone should give a shit about.

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Imagine if the Pelicans had a smart point guard. They’d be really trouble then. As it is, it’s just a bunch of guys trying to get theirs on offense. They have enough good players that it works, but boy, it’s embarrassing. Like, have they run a single play all night?

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Mitch says, “You gotta believe.”

Gonna be interesting to see if/when Thibs rests his guys if it stays ugly.

That really was an amazing move by Mitch. I don’t recall seeing a guy block another dude from a complete reverse position like that before.

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They did not get within 10 by the half. That is a bit concerning.

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I am not enjoying the Knick game tonight. The Pelicans are playing tough D and hustling after the ball. The Knicks are a step slow.

Geo — wait for the next game.

Hot take — the player we’d miss the most if he were no longer here is Mitchell Robinson. I think he’s the unsung hero and absolute anchor of this team. Even if he’s not multi-dimensional, nobody is more important.

grimes and randle showcasing the car that doesn’t start vs car that doesn’t steer exhibit

RJ’s been doing great so far this season… but no matter how good RJ is.. if Randle’s really gonna be doing this all season… then we’re gonna be fighting for the play-in….

Just saw the schedule for today and so many back to back games amongst teams playing tonight.

The back to back is what it is but when it’s a back to back at an opponent who’s had 2 days off it’s really a problem. Amazing that the NBA regardless of how much they tweak it still has so many schedule issues.

Randle: 4 points on 9 shots, 5 turnovers.
Brunson: 2 points on 5 shots
Grimes: 0-0-0
Team: 2-17 from 3
How are we not down 30?

RJ scored a bit, but 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers, no FTs. He’s our best non-Mitch player so far tonight but not really all that good…

Road B2Bs are hard and this year’s schedule looks weird (not only for the Knicks).

Anyway our stars are 2-13 combined with 6 turnovers and Grimes’ boxscore is a string of zeroes (except for 2 missed shots and a foul).

RJ and Mitch (and DDV, IQ and I-Hart) are doing their part but it’s not enough against a team with a lot of talent (but no PG as Brian said).

Imagine if the Pelicans had a smart point guard. They’d be really trouble then.

dyson daniels probably not there yet but he might come online over the next couple of seasons….

Jimmy Butler is resting tonight in the 3rd game of the season, a big Fuck You to the NBA by the Heat.

Cavs missing both Garland and Mitchell tonight in their 2nd of a back to back too.

And our next two games are a home-and-home B2B with the Cavs…

I can’t get this scheduling,
maybe after the “NBA Cup” mister Silver wants to add the Red Bull Endurance Series…

How are we not down 30?

Yeah, it really is almost encouraging that they’re as close as they are. And then Brunson missed the free throw that would have cut it to 14…

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The pelicans are relatively easy to come back on, though, because, again, they have no point guard, and you can easily rattle them into bad offensive sets. RJ cuts it to 11!

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He needs to start putting the ball in the basket, but I really like how Randle’s been passing so far.

I still think we help too much off shooters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Do the Pelicans have a coach? Who watched the last few minutes and thought, “Eh, this is fine”?

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The Pelicans are a bit taller and longer than us.

RJ is legitimately looking better.

Keep hope alive. 😉

That successful right hand layup (with confidence) from RJ is … new. I like.

Zion is gonna get his. Can’t hang our heads when he does.

Would love a quick ten from IQ when he comes in. That’s the job.

Zion is something else. His second jump is unreal. So is his ability to finish through contact.

If Randle and Grimes don’t play another minute in this game it would be fine with me.

Grimes has had two great steals but otherwise….

Yeah I keep typing, “I just don’t get Grimes,” but then he makes a steal.

Honestly, I still don’t get him unless that shot starts to fall.

One thing I do like about DV: he just *expects our guys to be in the right place and he makes the pass, like that last one to Randle before he travelled. I hope that’s contagious. Not the travel, of course 😉

What does Willie Green do on the off days? Does he teach them any plays?

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A feature of the Thibs era is at least making a contest of games we used to mail in after the first quarter

They are so lucky that the Pellies don’t have any end of the quarter plays in their book.

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To be fair, those were two clutch shots by Ingram…even considering the karate chop to Hart’s neck…

Yeah, so: When does Thibs quit/rest the team?

Starters + DV. How long before that is permanent to open the game.

I think the way we ended that quarter took some wind out of our sails. I’m surprised that Thibs didn’t challenge that Hart foul on Ingram.

We had 26 assists at the end of the third quarter yesterday. Today, 14 so far.

Although it does help to actually make a shot here or there.

We can’t put together 2 offensive sequences in a row,
the comical level of our turnovers deserve a SNL special…

Thibs wants Randle and RJ to get their 20?

Right? Breen noted, “Thibs has already emptied his bench.” Uhm, dude, you get that Randle and RJ are still out there, right?

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Just got in. Ugh. Randle going for a double-double, though (rebounds and turnovers).

I have to go somewhere and was forced to stop watching (not such a bad thing for this game though). Before I get involved in something else I want to comment on the game overall. I want to write this one off as a schedule loss, but I can’t quite bring myself to do it. The Pels are a bigger team than we are and I think we are having trouble with that. We have a hard time guarding Zion, Ingram and Valanciunas at the same time and with our bench in, we have a hard time guarding two of the three. People talk about how our small guys are good rebounders, and we are out rebounding them, but we are letting them shoot 49% overall because they often shoot over us. Getting rebounds doesn’t compensate for that. Not getting another decent big has really hurt us.

The Knicks held the Pellies scoreless for the last few minutes, at least! New Orleans couldn’t even score 100!

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The Knicks held the Pellies scoreless for the last few minutes, at least! New Orleans couldn’t even score 100!

That’s because Thibs cunningly went defense over offense in garbage time and kept Fournier glued to the bench 🙂

(I really hope Evan will punch him in the face more than once while going out the door at the trade deadline,,,)

Scheduled to play a B2B against a team that has only played one game and had two days off. That is a head scratcher.

Our lack of length is going to be an issue some nights, but that was ugly.

That was a bad version of bad Randle.

The game never seemed as close as the score. One reason was that the Pels were 7-16 from the FT line. Another is that we had 16 offensive rebounds and it balanced our some of our horrendous shooting. But this was an ass-whoopin’, no doubt about it. The lack of size was a problem.

If Thibs had played Jeffries and McBride early and often we’d have won going away.

Seriously, this was not a schedule loss. It was not even a matchup loss (and they’re a horrific matchup for us on many levels). We just threw the game away. Repeatedly.

“The Pels are a bigger team than we are and I think we are having trouble with that. We have a hard time guarding Zion, Ingram and Valanciunas at the same time and with our bench in, we have a hard time guarding two of the three.”

I think a lot of teams are going to have trouble with that. The Pels have elite size in their starting lineup. They also have a healthy, in shape Zion, you know, the guy that everyone thought was the next generational player when he was drafted.

If they stay healthy they are going to win a lot of games the same way they just beat us, especially if they keep the defense dialed up.

“Pelicans do have good size but the Knicks still outrebounded them 59-43.”

Mitch, Randle, and Hart can rebound with anyone. But the size issue was evident in the play between the rebounds. And I thought Brunson’s defensive issues were really exposed. There really wasn’t anyone out there for him to guard. They tried hiding him on 6’7″ Herb Jones but it didn’t really work. Zion and Ingram got whatever they wanted all night. Their length was also a problem for us defensively. They bottled up drivers and played the passing lanes really well.

Obi started but only played 18 minutes and had 4 points on 5 shots. He better step it up.

BBA, Z-man said what I would have said. Getting rebounds is good, but defending a player one on one or getting switched onto him is another.

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