Categories
Game Thread

Game Thread 2023-24 Knicks @ Magic (First Half Ender Opener, which is inherently not a thing)

The walking wounded Knicks head to Orlando to take on the mediocre Orlando Magic.

The problem is that with the Knicks having so many injuries, even a mediocre team like the Magic could be a difficult assignment.

The Knicks have three star players out for the game (Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson). They also have an amazing three players “questionable” to play – Donte DiVincenzo, Isaiah Hartenstein and new acquisition (brought in specifically to help address the need for players with all of the injuries), Bojan Bogdanović.

The questionable players could play, but if they’re out, this could be a very difficult game to win without playing Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Alec Burks and Precious Achiuwa some crazy minutes. Since that probably is what is going to happen, I don’t think you can count the Knicks out in this one, but boy, it’s going to be a weird game to watch. Hopefully they can pull out a win without getting anyone else hurt!

Meanwhile, since it is Valentine’s Day, here’s my annual Valentine’s Day card for Mark Cuban….

Let’s go, Knicks!

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

104 replies on “Game Thread 2023-24 Knicks @ Magic (First Half Ender Opener, which is inherently not a thing)”

Taj as your second player off the bench means a very long night.

At least Suggs is off. He would pester Brunson.

Never been less excited for a Knicks game and that’s saying something. Is Bojan even playing?
A Brunson injury feels almost inevitable at this point.

Taj did a thing!

Brunson is so damn good and also so damn physical I basically have a heart attack watching him go to work right now.

Every other game there’s a moment when I can’t believe the Knicks have Brunson as their PG.

dirty play by anthony….scumbag

that is why hockey is great…someone would make him pay for that later in the game….

Okay, I mean, if we can get a win and get our guy 70, I will accept the decision not to punt

Anthony Green with a bad case of Balding Lebron Headband. That thing is pushed back almost to the crown of his head. It looks like a medieval bandage.

Now if Jalen Brunson sits for 5 minutes with a 9 pt lead, it’s not punting it’s normal.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Mike Breen express even mild discontent until Wally repeated, almost verbatim, something he said 10 seconds ago

“Glad Deuce played football.”

I was thinking the same thing…

“…someone would make him pay for that later in the game….”

I was thinking ’90s Knicks

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Mike Breen express even mild discontent until Wally repeated, almost verbatim, something he said 10 seconds ago

LMAO Wally caught redhanded waiting for his turn to talk instead of listening

Breen exasperated with Wally when he said Mo Wagner cheap shots people, and then Mo levels Taj with an elbow when Taj tried to make a move.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Mike Breen express even mild discontent until Wally repeated, almost verbatim, something he said 10 seconds ago

Can someone quote or paraphrase this? I’m still at work and this sounds like comedy/Wally schadenfreude gold

Of all the people Taj could run into the grounds, Sims seems to be the one for this game. Keep Taj on the bench. Give him a breather with Precious.

Can someone quote or paraphrase this? I’m still at work and this sounds like comedy/Wally schadenfreude gold

Hard foul on McBride, refs reviewing it for a flagrant, eventually called common.

Breen: “Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten up so quickly!

Wally, ten seconds or so later: “Maybe he should’ve stayed down longer!”

Breen: “That’s…what I just said.”

Paraphrasing, but something like that.

There’s something missing for the Knicks during this 15-0 Magic run and I can’t quite put my finger on it…..

Oh yeah, Brunson.

Now if Jalen Brunson sits for 5 minutes with a 9 pt lead, it’s not punting

Lol it’s 17-0 since this! 🤦🏻‍♂️

I think I know why Thibs doesn’t play Toppin…

Bites on a Jonathan Isaac pump fake from 3, giving up a drive and two points

Doesn’t shoot when open

Botches dribble handoff with Burks, called for travel

Taj Gibson, Jacob Toppin, and Miles McBride is not exactly a bench mob. A bench blob, maybe

Brunson really is Thibs’ spirit animal. Dude just pathologically cannot half ass a single game.

Burks can still shoot, but his flappy, Scarecrow play overall isn’t really cutting it.

Bites on a Jonathan Isaac pump fake from 3, giving up a drive and two points

Doesn’t shoot when open

Botches dribble handoff with Burks, called for travel

I just turned it on and only saw the weird underhand pop-up throw to himself, no idea how Burks was supposed to get that. One of the weirdest, rookie-est moves I’ve seen in a while

The end of our bench is just inexcusably bad. There has to be guys on waivers better than this.

Where’s our Caleb Martin, Max Strus, and the rest of the scrubs the Heat used to beat us last summer?

This game will turn me into the joker. Orlando has a 47% field goal percentage for the season. 72.5% tonight. It’s not just the defense, every bad shot goes in.

Shit, did something happen to. Brunson? (I’m not in a position to watch)

He landed on someone’s foot but seems fine

Is Sims good at anything? Been watching him more closely than usual tonight and he just seems bad, even for a third string center.

Also I’m glad I finally remembered my password lol, I check this site every day and it would be shameful not to comment at least once this season

Should we start calling Thibs Gollum with the way he’s been relying on his Precious?

Please comment more than once this season

For all the fun this season has been, these last two weeks have been truly tough to watch.

There’s that SNL skit from a while back about LeBron’s lack of help on the Cavs. Feels relevant tonight for Brunson.

Taking a quick break from vday dinner and oh god, Thibs needs to end this. Take the L and empty the bench. [insert The Simpsons Stop, he’s already dead gif]

Is Sims good at anything?

He was pretty good against Sengun the other night (and I think other Cs who go 1-on-1), he moves his feet well on the perimeter, but mostly he jumps high. So, nothing useful against 90% of the league.

He was pretty good against Sengun the other night (and I think other Cs who go 1-on-1), he moves his feet well on the perimeter, but mostly he jumps high. So, nothing useful against 90% of the league.

Yeah I suppose in all fairness he would have been a cromulent backup in 2008 but I just can’t bring myself to believe there isn’t a better option on the waiver wire or G-league or whatever

Where’s our Caleb Martin, Max Strus, and the rest of the scrubs the Heat used to beat us last summer?

Our 10th man has 18 pts, 12 rebounds, and our 3rd string center is performing reasonably well as a starter.

Kudos to Thibs for the reasonable approach tonight. I bet it took incredible self control not to put Brunson back in during that 17-0 run.

When the Magic shoot 66% from the floor it just ain’t your night.

Precious does seem like a legit piece if we can keep him on a reasonable contract, I’d love to see where he’s at after a couple more years of Thib’s molding him as a defensive player

Jacob Toppin terrible, godawful play in meaningful minutes but had a couple nice garbage time plays.

Took too long to line up his 3 but hit it, had a nice baseline jumper off the dribble, and finished an alley-oop

I get the appeal but wow was it bad early. Hopefully jitters as it’s his first real minutes.

What surprised me the most tonight was the kindergarten level defense. The effort was there, but the Knicks looked lost and disconnected defensively all night long. They didn’t look like a Thibs team. The Magic are not a top offensive team, yet they were easily picking the Knicks defense apart every trip down.

Our offense was ok when Brunson was on the floor, but when he sat in the second quarter everything fell apart and we never found a way to put together a few stops and make a comeback. It’s sad but it is what it is. Let’s hope for some health after the break, and that the new acquisitions will mesh with the team, the same way OG and Precious did. Neither Burks nor Bogdanovic have convinced me so far.

Neither Burks nor Bogdanovic have convinced me so far.

I think it’s harder as both need the ball a lot more than Precious or OG to be effective.

They also might need Mitch/iHart behind them to work defensively.

Also, in other news, Obi, RJ, and IQ are all having a good time playing against each other, although I’m deeply impressed that despite the decent box line RJ is minus 9 in a game they’re leading by 2.

I think it’s harder as both need the ball a lot more than Precious or OG to be effective.

They also might need Mitch/iHart behind them to work defensively.

The truth is that they both came to help, not to lead this team. We should wait to see how they operate within a healthy roster before we judge them.

I deserve some type of refund for my League Pass subscription after having to watch this bullshit for the past week. Although I guess the Dallas game was on TNT so technically that game doesn’t count towards my refund lol

Comments are closed.