The Knicks head to Brooklyn to take on the very disappointingly bad Brooklyn Nets. I didn’t think the Nets would be good, per se, this season, but I didn’t think they’d be so actively bad. One of the biggest problems has been Mikal Bridges, to the point where I wonder if the dude is hurt or something, as he’s been berry berry bad.
Speaking of hurt, the Knicks will be without iHart tonight, dealing with some sort of Achilles issue (that is scary AF, but I won’t speak anything into existence by talking about it any further), but it’s the Nets, so Precious should be fine as the starting center tonight.
The Knicks have had some fun recently picking on all of the little kids in their conference, and let’s hope that fun continues tonight. I need a swirly game, consarnit!
The 53-win watch is almost ready to return. Almost. Don’t want to risk it just yet.
Let’s go, Knicks!
151 replies on “Game Thread 2023-24 Knicks @ Nets (Precious starting center opener, which is maybe a thing)”
I thought Sims was starting… now it’s Achoowah?
Unprotected vs lottery protected is really apples to oranges
Yup. That’s a late addition to the trade details. I originally read protected in 2027 but Unprotected in 2028 makes it a totally different cost, so I’m wrong.
Sims’ rim protection really sucks
To be fair that was really impressive transition D on Sims’ part against Bridges
tell a joke, tell a joke, tell a joke doogie…
i remember as a kid memorizing jokes…pretty hard pressed to remember any these days…
Sims seems to be a rweener in an odd way. He defends like a power forward but he scores like a center.
Damnit, why isn’t this game on Fubo?
Thibs said Sims was ready and I’m seeing it tonight on D
Maybe I spoke too soon about Sims
Mandatory Randle last shot which never, ever goes in.
Games on TNT.
Deuce looking silky
Cam Thomas looks for real
I’ll tell you what else looks for real-our need for an offensive creator off the bench
When you recall the Knickerblogger wars of yesteryear it is really funny that the 2019-2020 New York Knick point guard who became a game changing defender was Dennis Smith Jr.
Looks can be deceiving.
“Achoowah” is just beyond dumb.
Good for Dennis, btw.
Brunson’s touch is otherworldly.
Brunson comes in and rights the ship
I am going to give that Claxton dunk a quiet 9.8
with bundle of cuteness Stephanie Ready on the sidelines…
i enjoy when she gets to anchor the nbatv desk…
hopefully the nets fall away in the fourth…
Preshus Atchuwah can set a screen
The craziest thing about the OG plus minus numbers is that he gets to play with that awful second unit every game!
Dumb on purpose is even worse. LOL 🙂
I really want Grimes to succeed.
I also want him to be Mikal Bridges
Not sure I see it but that was a nice three
This is an embarrassing effort on the defensive boards…
Game is also on MAX. Because “It’s not HBO. It’s TV.”
u-g-l-y
Twice Bridges gave up trying to drive on OG and just said fuck this I’m passing it up.
Hopefully Brunson and Randle can pretty much do this on their own because all of our suspicions about how valuable Hartenstein is have been confirmed
watching julius pass the ball reminds me of jokic and how it seems he is simply “handing” the ball off to his teammates…
julius’ passing is nothing like that – it is wild and violent…
Ugly game but we’re not losing. Need to have a strong 3rd quarter.
Ben Simmons alert. Wonder what the record of most random injuries in a career to avoid playing is. Hopefully espn will get onto that.
Knicks with only 12 3PTAs. Not nearly enough.
If I were Ben Simmons I would not wear super elaborate fits. It just draws attention to the fact that he doesn’t play the games.
It’s obvious we need a PG/scorer on the bench. I-Hart will probably be back after a few games. Then Thibs can work on breaking him down again.
Lacks moxie
We should just double down on Brunson. Get rid of our other creators, just Brunson & 8 defenders
Brunson is gonna have to play 40 minutes and get 40 points minimum for us to win. The rest of team looks like hot garbage.
I keep thinking Stan Van Gundy is Doris Burke
Divo can stay too. Them two, 7 defenders.
well, at least we’re not down double digits, yet…
anytime now the nets should be rolling over…we are in trouble if they do not…
This is the laziest I’ve ever seen Randle play, absolutely no effort or intensity. Very annoying, because if he was awake we would be blowing out this scrub team.
We look like dogshit tonight.
That Brunson 3 pointer that Randle cost us could haunt us tonight. Even Brunson appeared to give him an annoyed look.
Can we add another Villanova player please?
i thought the nets were a poor 3 point shooting team…
Randle had two moving screens called on him that were just pure laziness, moving his arms instead of his feet.
We could really use iHart tonight. Mikal on fire right now, not much you can do about. We need to match them on 3pas
Not sure why the drum beat hasn’t been louder to have the big move be for Bridges. He’s a perfect fit. Sell it all. Grimes, 3 1sts, swaps etc. He’s the final piece.
Painful to watch
Playing down to the competition again I see. Frustrating.
Bridges actually hasn’t been playing great lately…until tonight of course
A lot of us want Mikal, we just don’t think the Nets trade him to us. I don’t think trading him to any team is a thought on the Nets’s mind right now.
Mikal making a good case for a nova reunion
That was a horrible quarter.
I wish deuce had hit that
deuce needs to get loose, fast…
ley’s not let precious shoot from from 3 anymore…
This lineup is Thibs’ way of demanding a bench scorer or two
Achiuwa from three eh?
deuce!!!!!
Maybe this is Thibs’ way of protesting to Leon by playing these God awful bench lineups without Brunson or Randle.
Great minds think alike TNFH!
The Nets are so bad they’re making our bench look good.
Didn’t hate the three attempt from precious, hope Hart starts taking them as well
Since they don’t own their picks, the Nets will not trade their talent and get worse. Sean Marks is also scared of giving Houston top picks and then be reminded in the same vein as Billy King.
Thibs playing 4D lineups?
OG doing a lil creation is fun, but man, Deuce really has Ntilikinian ball skills
Did the front office tell Thibs to stop playing those crazy minutes? He has been very disciplined with Brunson and OG.
Going with this lineup for the first 5 mins of the 4th quarter is basically tanking.
In Achiuwa’s defense, I had no idea Lonnie was such a good shooter either
Loving OGs alpha energy
sit everyone good next game and just take an ass kicking it’s okay
So the Walker family really really loves the name Lonnie?
Nets are an awful 4th quarter team, we got this
I love that little man
BANG
shoot, the nets are taking out dorian finney smith…he needs to shoot more for them…
Good board and fast break from Randle there. Pretty great
Randle out of the crypt
Previous Aloha has brought some much needed energy tonight.
I’m pretty out on Grimes at this point. Sad.
It’s weird how Vaughn doesn’t play Cam Thomas down the stretch. Is his defense that bad?
nice noble 🙂
Setting up for a really agonizing loss. Someone pull the plug on Brian’s router.
These guys hit so many damn key 3s.
Why the fuck is OG not in the game right now.
I was furious when that Randle shot went up
The Julius Randle experience.
Oh God Julius
Bench Randle!
the full julius experience…
The Knicks crowd noise is embarrassing
My goodness that defense!
that was CRAZY!!!
That was insane defense
Also Knicks fans are the besr
JOSH FUCKING HART
hell yeah josh
Hart has come up big this Q despite a pretty terrible line overall
That was the best minute of the season
Incredible stuff. Just close it out now please.
I am at peace with trading the 23rd pick for this guy
What an incredible defensive sequence on that fast break, unbelievable!!
They’re showing they want it but they’re also getting real lucky
These last two minutes have been insane! What an amazing defensive sequence to set up that Randle slam!
That was Josh Hart’s first basket. 🙂
I questioned why Thibs took DDV out and not Hart but I guess he knew what he was doing.
Brunson and 4th quarter FTs are annoying…
This is the time they chose to miss their first free through of the evening? Damn.
one of the reasons i don’t watch a lot of this stuff live – it is waaaay too strrrrresssssssfullllll 🙂
i’m gonna need to get outside and go walk the dog after this – either way…
I’m shocked OG gambled so hard there…all’s well that ends well
Hitting your fts turns out to be useful
Great win
Great game. Would watch again.
Hope Hart is telling Mikal to ask out.
Precious finally contested a 3pter!
I’m with you on the stress, Brother. I turn it off a lot. Keeps me awake.
Let’s go Ju
Josh Hart makes winning plays
OG not much on offense, but 4 steals and a block. +11
Precious is playing with some energy.
Knicks win and the bench played a decent amount of minutes, there is nothing to complain about tomorrow!
Ju gave it away once and tried to give it away two more times. But he won that game in the fourth. True Jekyll and Hyde.
i think we may be watching the jalen brunson story as he works his way towards an nba championship…
he’s gonna need help…
i’ll tell ya – one thing that really sticks out to me about julius – is authenticity…
early on with us he had that fake tough guy thing going on, big sign of insecurity…he’s just what he is now…hopefully someone whom can get better rest in his off days…
maybe eat a little better or something…
i get he’s 6’8″ and 245 or so…that’s a lot of size and weight to go for 36 minutes a night…
i can not remember another player though who so visibly turned it off and on during games as much as julius randle…
mickey rivers maybe…
by the way – mickey rivers is one of my very favorite players ever…i had his pigeon toed running/gliding style down, along with that quick flick of the bat…
i loved me some mickey rivers as a kid…
Thibs should have let Deuce play the whole 4th quarter and concede the loss
January wins are meaningless.
Not sure this is the best game for this kind of argument. For once Thibs deliberately managed the minutes (keeping Brunson on the bench in the beginning of Q4, sitting OG for a couple of minutes at the end of Q4). Nobody played more than 36.
spent the game yelling ‘julius what the fuck are you doing’ at my tv and he lead the team in points, rebounds and assists
10-2 last 12 games. 38 games left. Win 23 to get 50. Seems…doable.
Crazy ending. I’ll take the W. But they gotta stop making everything so hard on themselves.
I think d-mar is being facetious.
That was nice. Inching closer to the 53 win tracker returning!
Goddamn it. I was ready to rant about how Josh Hart was useless all game and wondered why Thibs left him in the game. Then he makes the play of the game with the hustle block and pass that lead to Randle slam. Then the tough bucket to go ahead 4. Cue famous Michael Corleone quote from The Godfather Part III…
it was mentioned during the game, but – biggest thing right now tempering my enthusiasm moving forward is the fact that we are 8 and 17 against plus .500 clubs…
there’s a reason for that other than we played the bucks a bunch…
giving off the eddie mush vibes there a bit BC…just a little…
Next 2 games should be very interesting and hopefully fun.
They won the game! They win most games I say they’ll win!
Gritty win, we had bad Randle for 3 quarters then good Randle shows up and turns it around! I’m glad the defense showed up too.
It’s still so embarrassing for the Nets that on the fast break Randle dunk the place exploded with Knicks fans…
1-7, 2 pts, 1 assist in 28 minutes and Noble runs a Josh Hart victory lap.
You couldn’t get the 53rd pick for this guy today.
Hubs, give it a rest dude.
It’s kinda crazy how many mood swings Randle generates for me during a game. I truly wonder whether he has some form of ADHD. It’s like he goes in and out of fogs.
He does do a lot of good things that go unnoticed, especially on the boards. But the blatantly stupid and/or selfish and/or lazy stuff is so, so very hard to watch.
I was positively surprised that the Knicks had a 107 defensive rating playing without their centers. I know it’s the Nets but they shot a ton of 3s.
you seem a little unwilling there to accept those two unique things be somewhat incongruent…
now you have me wondering – read any good comics lately?
i keep thinking i’m going to start in on some of the star wars graphic novels, haven’t yet though…
i am though starting to check youtube now more and more for read throughs of stuff i haven’t yet read (old man logan)…
watching this now, it’s Hulk: The End
quality of narration varies…had to look thru several versions to find one that was good…
4 TOs feels like a good night for Randle.
OG with 6 stocks… not sure our guys deserve him.
Maybe give the victory laps a rest. The guy has a couple good games a month, a couple good plays a game.
He may not think so but I actually like Hubert, problem is at times it seems like when dj and E take their usual sabbaticals during Knicks win streaks that Hubert tries to take up the mantle from them lol
https://nypost.com/2024/01/23/sports/espns-doc-rivers-gamble-could-blow-up-in-their-face/
Wouldn’t have said anything, BBA, if Noble didn’t choose to spike the football in my face, acting as if one good play in an otherwise abjectly terrible game refutes my comment from earlier in the day about the exorbitant cost of acquiring our backup forward.
Bench didn’t seem atrocious today
1-7, 2 pts, 1 assist in 28 minutes and Noble runs a Josh Hart victory lap.
You couldn’t get the 53rd pick for this guy today.
What a ridiculous comment
Hart is awesome. He makes our team better. Shooting is one aspect of basketball. Our two time COTY plays him heavy minutes off the bench bc hart’s position is winner. Loose balls? Defense? Fast breaks? Rebounds? Hart gives you all of that even when his shot isn’t falling. We gave up a late first round pick to get him when we have plenty of picks in our treasure trove. It’s not a victory lap. It’s you obsessing over picks.
Like we’re trying to win a title here now develop late first round picks that might be good in three or four years! But what about the second apron at some point? Who the fuck cares? We’re good and we can get better. Oh no Leon maybe gave up too much to get a good player! So what? He still got a good player that made us better.
Guess you hated winning a playoff series last year?
Our best player LOVES playing with him too.
Hart in the last 3:30:
2 pts
1-1
4 rebs
1 stl
1 blk
The other ~25min:
0 pts
0-6
1 reb
1 ast
1 stl
1 TO
“Bench didn’t seem atrocious today”
Not atrocious, but definitely not comforting either. Precious is more of a tall wing than a C, so he does some stuff that look kind of cool compared to our other 5’s. And Deuce did a couple of nice things between dribbles to nowhere. But they always feel like a time bomb out there, I find myself begging for them to hang on for just a couple more minutes so that the starters can catch their breath.
If only we had Kris Murray to lock up some of McBride’s garbage time minutes!
I really think Precious could be a decent 4 off the bench, but he really doesn’t seem to be a center. Every game he does some nice things that give me hope, but it’s clear that he has never been able to put it all together.
Stan Van Gundy seemed to really like Sims’ game at center. I wasn’t thrilled at first, but he grew on me and overall was ok.