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2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Hawks – A Holiday Statement Game

The Knicks host the Atlanta Hawks on Martin Luther King Jr. day, something that the Knicks have been doing for many years (the Knicks have a proud history of Black players, including being the first team to have an all-Black roster).

Here is a reminder that when Martin Luther King Jr. died, a good deal of the American public were talking shit about him. Don’t let the world try to rewrite history and act like he was some universally beloved figure. He fought the good fight, and got tons of shit over it.

The Hawks have been playing some strong basketball lately, and recently made the Knicks look pretty bad in a loss, so it would be huge to defeat them today.

Let’s go, Knicks!

205 replies on “2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Hawks – A Holiday Statement Game”

““…after all the claims about me being attention-starved and narcissistic — I’m nothing close to either…”

Wait, did doobeedoobeedoo write this?”

There is no one on this forum with that screen name…….at least no one that I am familiar with.

Knicks have had some memorable MLK Day games, many not memorable in a good way. I’ll take a boring win today.

Please follow Clyde’s advice and show some pride, you guys in orange and blue.

Let’s Go Knicks! 🏀💙🧡💙🏀

Fuck Trae Young

No such thing as a January must win but I reaaaaaally want this one. Bad taste in our mouths after the last Hawks game. Seeing Dyson Daniels bother Brunson as much as he did admittedly shook me a bit.

KAT KAT.

Cyber, my kid just sent me something about Bifanas sandwiches…I suppose that’s a must?

ATL is another one of those teams that we’re better than on paper but they always own us with their youth and athleticism.

That ‘on paper’ part is fading fast btw. Now that we’re playing middling comp instead of G-League level (still 30th in strength of schedule), our SRS has plummeted to below last season’s.

Meanwhile:
-ATL has won 15 of their last 23
-IND has won 14 of their last 18
-MIL has won 22 of their last 31

All of these are good bets to overtake us along with ORL as they recover from losing their top 4 players, with whom they’ve played at about a 55-win pace. This is with us having generally good injury luck and playing the most win-now rotation of any NBA team in this decade.

In other words there is an extremely good chance of us ending the year as a play-in team, and it’s hard to have much confidence in us getting out of that round if teams like DET/PHI/MIA are the opposition. Play-in might even be our most likely outcome at this point. Yikes.

Knicks please give me something good today. Completely ignored the “other” event…

“ATL is another one of those teams that we’re better than on paper but they always own us with their youth and athleticism.

That ‘on paper’ part is fading fast btw. Now that we’re playing middling comp instead of G-League level (still 30th in strength of schedule), our SRS has plummeted to below last season’s.

Meanwhile:
-ATL has won 15 of their last 23
-IND has won 14 of their last 18
-MIL has won 22 of their last 31

All of these are good bets to overtake us along with ORL as they recover from losing their top 4 players, with whom they’ve played at about a 55-win pace. This is with us having generally good injury luck and playing the most win-now rotation of any NBA team in this decade.

In other words there is an extremely good chance of us ending the year as a play-in team, and it’s hard to have much confidence in us getting out of that round if teams like DET/PHI/MIA are the opposition. Play-in might even be our most likely outcome at this point. Yikes.”

I love how wrong you are most of the time (e.g., our game against the Sixers), because I don’t want any of that to end up being the case.

“Knicks please give me something good today. Completely ignored the “other” event…”

As you rightly should have done.

I love how wrong you are most of the time (e.g., our game against the Sixers), because I don’t want any of that to end up being the case.

Ok but my in-game predictions are 90% schtick. I’ve been broadly right about our long-term trajectory and prospects, e.g.:

-We never had a chance of retaining iHart
-The Bridges trade was a disaster
-We are not a real contender
-Mitch will never again be a useful NBA player
-We are a terrible defensive team and it’s not all due to Towns/JB

etc. etc.

I’d say game over but nothing about this start is in any way surprising.

Ok but my in-game predictions are 90% schtick.

Which not a single person on this board enjoys, so just stop ok?

Cyber, my kid just sent me something about Bifanas sandwiches…I suppose that’s a must?

Oh yeah, for sure, a must on food trucks around here. 😉

Which not a single person on this board enjoys, so just stop ok?

Not so! Several people have indicated mild amusement from time to time.

Not a good start, let’s hope this is just another slow start but then we’ll finish strong.

Am I in alone in having transitioned to hoping for as many additional disastrous losses as it takes for us to move on from Thibs?

Kinda hoping we continue as we started on this one and maybe someday we’ll get a defense that isn’t from 2008.

Pags, a disappointing season could lead to Timmy Thibs’ ousting, so maybe it’s a blessed in disguise situation? 😉

Pags, a disappointing season could lead to Timmy Thibs’ ousting, so maybe it’s a blessed in disguise situation? 😉

Mi leggi nella mente, Max. Speriamo che non ci vuole tutta la stagione.

This is a dwarfish team out there. 6’8″ center, 6’4″ power forward, three guards from 6’4″ down.

I find it peculiar that Shamet and Hart are the same height.

Edit: I guess Hart outweighs Shamet by 25 lbs!

You guys think Thibs is doing such a bad job that it’s better to root against the team? 😮

Thanks Brian, your history lessons are a must.

Just as a note Glen “Gondo” Gondrezick, the last man cut that season, was kind of a tragic figure, he ended his career in Italy’s second League in 83-84 (I remember him coming over with a lot of fanfare) and three years later he shot himself in the chest after an altercation with his wife, but he survived and died years later of complications after a heart transplant at age 53.

“Which not a single person on this board enjoys, so just stop ok?

Not so! Several people have indicated mild amusement from time to time.”

As they have done occasionally with me, as well…….including today.

You guys think Thibs is doing such a bad job that it’s better to root against the team? 😮

Don’t worry Cyber,
I’ll never root against the Knicks, not even for a better pick 😉
I’m just trying to find a sliver of light while the team looks in a slump… 🤓

You guys think Thibs is doing such a bad job that it’s better to root against the team? 😮

Most likely we’re just fatally flawed and nobody can make us a real contender in this window, but there’s at least some uncertainty in that.

Thibs’ track record + results so far this year have me convinced that if someone can do it, it ain’t him. May as well try something new instead of sticking with the guy who has run the team into the ground just to have us on track for the play-in anyway.

was about to post the my faith in this team is continuing to diminish – lo and behold though, some much needed life from the bench…

In my personal scouting of Shamet before the season I was surprised at how bouncy he was…great hops!

I know the team defense is struggling and the offense is erratic now but these refs have been awful all year. What a waste of a challenge when it was clearly off Trae.

This was the preseason lineup that looked pretty good, except KAT is in instead of TJ.

Trae Young has that weird multi-millionaire homeless chic thing going on. I find it a bit mysterious (as someone who struggles to avoid that look every day…).

i don’t know about all the gloom pags, starting to sound a bit like championship or bust – and even for a fan, that’s a wildly unreasonable expectation…

right now the team has about a 62% winning percentage, not that bad…

we’re playing like a .500 club right now, not up to this season’s expectations, but still – not really that bad…

Why is Cameron “I can get a shot off every four tenths of a second all game long” Payne inbounding on that play?

I’m with you, geo — a lot of game threads these days border on hysteria.

Raven, game threads ALWAYS border on hysteria, even up 30 we keep whining about Thibs’ minutes! 😁

And just to point out we’re winning by three now.

With fantastic defense, not counting the first five lackluster minutes. This is the defense I’ve been waiting for most of the season.

And Max, yeah. Speaking truth.

Refs obviously getting paid per foul call

And Trae turning a 5 on 4 into 3 points for us is especially enjoyable

every time I see jalen and KAT on the floor together – I now start immediately thinking: fatally flawed defense…

thanks to you all for sticking that thought in my head 😊

I really want to know what Payne was yelling.

I also want to know what Mikal and Trae were jawing.

i don’t know about all the gloom pags, starting to sound a bit like championship or bust – and even for a fan, that’s a wildly unreasonable expectation…

right now the team has about a 62% winning percentage, not that bad…

‘Championship or bust’ is exactly what management is going for as evidenced by them expending damn near every future asset we have for present value. If you push your chips all in, ‘win or bust’ is the situation you’ve put yourself in; it’s not a matter of interpretation.

We have a 62% winrate because we have stayed fairly healthy, played the softest schedule in the league and given our starters a workload typical of playoff Game 7 every night. When our schedule evens out the only thing keeping us above .500 is the wins we’ve banked up to now.

I predict that we lose more than half of our games for the balance of this season, ending around 42-45 wins.

I think that 3 by Payne on the fast break may have actually been a pretty good move. He sort of waited a second or two until the other Knicks were in decent position to get the OREB in case he missed. Either way, I’ll take it.

We’re an hour into the game and somehow only complete 1 quarter and 3 mins. These refs man.

Pags is literally doing a bit. It’s very annoying because he’s actually a good writer and his takes when he’s not doing it can be solid, but when he’s in bit-mode just ignore him.

i like her…denora rocks!!!

Me too. And Breen is right, the name is great… dosomething.org !

Feeling good about the way Knicks were playing then they blow a 6pt lead in less than a minute and I hate them again…

hahahahaha…

remember back in the old days, people would do weird shit and people would just get pissed and yell and cuss…

now we get a detailed breakdown of the aberrant behavior, along with a fairly specific psychological evaluation…

we’ve come a long way KB, a long way…

jalen has to know that pass is a terrible bet. even if it’s clean you get precious flat flooted in the dunker’s spot

Left to have a coffee we were up 6 now we are down 5.

I think Ill need another coffee

These refs are ruining this game for me. Completely unwatchable. And free throw disparity says all you need to say about who they want to win…

What an embarrassing ref performance. Thibs using two challenges in one half for pretty easy calls

Pags is literally doing a bit. It’s very annoying because he’s actually a good writer and his takes when he’s not doing it can be solid, but when he’s in bit-mode just ignore him.

Thank you TNFH, but it’s mostly not a bit! Those are my actual opinions based on the facts I laid out. If we’d completely dominated our cupcake schedule the way CLE has theirs, I’d be counting the future championship banners now. I’m as hungry as anyone for real reason for optimism — it just isn’t there.

We went all in for the next six years to become about the 10th best team in the league. It sucks.

Very frustrating game, partly because the Knicks keep doing really good things but are down by six when it feels they should be up by ten.

They have also done some dimwitted things. And playing five-on-eight is a problem.

Another opponent shooting 60% from 3. Thanks, Thibs! Those modern NBA shooters will start missing wide open looks any day now. Any day!

man, things just don’t seem to be flowing in our favor out on the court…

feels like a month of this…at least we seem to be playing harder and more desperate than normal…

Yeah Knicks have no chance in hell of winning this game…

If we can’t compete against fringe playoff teams like the Hawks now, at home, with all our starters healthy, what chance will we have against them in 2028 when Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Risacher, and Okongwu are in their primes?

Our window isn’t just opening, it’s front-loaded and will get narrower over time as other teams improve and we don’t. Why am I the only one who sees things like this?

I think we are playing ok. NBA is a game of runs, they had theirs to begin the game, then we had ours, and at the half it was them again. Now it’s our turn to begin the 2nd half.

I’m doing what BBA said, i’m enjoying this game not thinking about how a win or a loss will impact our season. We have the day after to talk about that. Let’s just enjoy THIS game.

There’s something serious going on with the starting lineup defense! The bench came in, brought energy, played some of the best pressure defense of the season, brought us back in the game, and also gave us the lead. I think they deserved a few more minutes today. Anyways, then the starters came back and screwed it up again. There’s something wrong here.

Atlanta is much better than their record. They have yet to lose to the top three teams in the East. They are 6-0.

“Atlanta is much better than their record. They have yet to lose to the top three teams in the East. They are 6-0.”

Exactly. Again, folks are sleeping on the EC but there are some teams that have room to grow…IND, ORL, ATL…we better get better than this.

I think KAT’s hand is bothering him a lot.

During halftime I’m watching the Cavs.

Do you think Atkinson shortened his rotation with Mobley and Okoro out?
No, he played seldom used rookie Jaylon Tyson and Tristan Thompson (only 33, he looks 55).
Just saying,

I thought he just threw it out of bounds…

Did better with that than with the logo basketball bounce game…

I love the way Josh wraps both arms around the ball and then just pulls the ball out on the side with the best look.

I’ve been all over the Knicks playing horrible defense on the perimeter but seriously Hawks should not be 12 for 21 from 3 with the looks they’re getting, Knicks deserve some luck in this game.

I was definitely worried that Dyson Daniels might be a true Brunson Stopper, glad I’m an idiot

note for jalen, rest of knicks, don’t spin in front of dyson daniels with the ball in your hand…

would be HUGE to win this game with a 9 player rotation…hopefully both shamet and cam get a little more time on court…

Good quarter, despite the last 90 seconds.

Side note: coaches have no challenges left, the refs are free to run wild even more.

Considering the circumstances might’ve been Knicks best 3rd quarter of the season, now let’s finish this.

If Thibs is smart, he will go with a mostly bench lineup with maybe KAT to play the first couple minutes of the 4th. B

I’ve been all over the Knicks playing horrible defense on the perimeter but seriously Hawks should not be 12 for 21 from 3 with the looks they’re getting, Knicks deserve some luck in this game.

If we gained an extra draft pick every time someone posted this we’d be OKC East by now

There’s a rule in Knicks land – when you get an 8 point lead you’re not allowed to build it to 10 or 12, you must immediately give it back.

On a side note, I started watching Breaking Bad last night…so far, so good.

Great show. SRS = +7

Enjoy

I can’t tell if the Atlanta coach’s head is shrinking or if he keeps buying bigger and bigger glasses. But they’re really clown-sized, now.

Don’t think it was taunting. Probably saying “Finally! A foul called!”

Ok now can we please keep this lead?

Sorry dmar, it’s up to 8 now so we need to give it all back. You know the rules!

What a difference when the opposing team’s quick catch and shoot 3s that aren’t really open looks don’t go in.

Thought Payne deserved an extra minute or two. He’s been playing with great energy lately but Thibs pulls him so quickly

That dude who brags and shows pics about being a competitive air drummer and chastises his first date for being too short seems like quite the catch.

I guess the coaches would’ve won a lot more challenges, if they were allowed to do it.

OG ball-watching and gave up the rebound, then stood around and gave up the layup. Bad OG.

They’re killing KAT on every drive and he got whistled for a technical… 🤦🏻‍♂️
Fuck this refs

We haven’t scored in forever. Hoping OG can at least hit the free throws…

Can Hart host some rebounding crash courses with OG? I’m mostly joking but it’s insane how much better Hart is at it, despite being 3-4 inches shorter.

“That dude who brags and shows pics about being a competitive air drummer and chastises his first date for being too short seems like quite the catch.”

But when you ask him he says all the claims about him being attention-starved and narcissistic — he’s nothing close to either…

“But when you ask him he says all the claims about him being attention-starved and narcissistic — he’s nothing close to either…”

Damn, E!!! LOL

With the way the 1st half ended and the vibes surrounding the Knicks recently I’m genuinely shocked but absolutely thrilled with their 2nd half performance today. Great win.

really really nice win…

expanding our rotation, more productivity from the bench, better defense on the perimeter – it would be nice to see our winning flow return…

nets tomorrow…let’s go – again…

FUCK TRAE YOUNG!

Good win and stretches of good defense.
We did a lot of good things in this game and we did some dumb things too, but the effort was there.

Turned it on on my phone in the fourth.

Ragged win. Some strange stuff including that sequence with Hart and Hunter that PT mentioned and the techs and missed fts.

Sticking it in Trae’s craw very satisfying though

Well, here’s hoping this one starts a trend of playing more like we did in December…

I really wanted to punch Mikal through the TV on that last pass. Why is he so reluctant to shoot that midrange jumper with the shot clock winding down or when he has Trae on him? That’s gotta stop.

I very much hope Thibs got onto those starters at halftime regarding their defensive grit. He has been giving them way to much leash, way too much! They were a lot better and consistent in the second half. Atlanta is a very good team so this is one of our better wins this season.

There was definitely more energy from the Knicks than I’ve seen in a while. And that Bridges sequence to start the 3rd totally turned the game around

Great win but it’s worth mentioning we had two days off and the legs looked fresh at the end. Need Thibs to expand on today’s rotations – 10+ minutes for 4 bench players.

One thing I noticed about ATL is that we back-doored their brains out. I wonder if Quin is sort of not a defensive mastermind and will get exposed again come playoff time…

Pidto said we’re 16-1 when we have 30+ assists (tonight 31) and I’m not surprised, we’re much better when we move the ball (and the players).

Woot. Loved that second half… gkhenman, my buddy of 20 years has gumbo stashed in his freezer. When I’m lucky and the weather is right he opens up something that someone from somewhere is making. This particular duck gumbo was of the darkest roux. The andouille was intense. Savory and salty. A little rice at the bottom and then some creamy potato salad on top with a liberal dose of scallions. The gumbo was dark and unctuous. Stuck to my lips all night. He didn’t offer up who made it, only that it has impressed all of his friends. It was impressive. Finished with a king cake with cream cheese icing just sliding off the top like a slutty cake being slutty.

I’m so hungry now…so hungry…

i literally just finished some soup and a sandwich…

totally inadequate…it’s like I have a hole in my soul now…

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