The Knicks head into Atlanta to hopefully play their final game without their star point guard, Jalen Brunson.
This game is fairly meaningless, but, well, hey, why not win this one, too, right?
Let’s go, Knicks!
The Dylan song is “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking,” from his first religious album (and the only good one, although there are a couple of worthwhile tracks off of Saved), Slow Train Coming.
88 replies on “2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks @ Hawks – Do the Georgia Crawl”
Brunson and Mitch are game time decisions. Payne will play.
If I was Thibs, I’d play one of either Mitch or Brunson today and other tomorrow. If he plays both today, we may not have either tomorrow.
I think I’d go with Mitch today and Brunson tomorrow. That gives Brunson one more day to get fitter and we have Payne back today anyway.
Edwards: “Jalen and Mitch are OUT”
Both tomorrow is fine also, but it could cost us a game today. Maybe he thinks he’d rather have Mitch for tomorrow’s matchup and Brunson just needs another day.
It would have been madness to play Jalen today.
Cam is back but Delon is still starting. Interesting.
Makes sense to play Mitch & Brunson together to build chemistry.
The Playoff Delon Movement is gaining steam.
I’m just excited about seeing Brunson tomorrow night, a win today would just be icing on the cake.
Two missed layups so far… neither from OG
Og with the fore arm shiver on the layup…nooiice
OG coast to coast with a finish. Pinch me.
Can’t believe we used to make fun of OG’s finishing ability…
Damn, OG
I had my doubts, but “turn OG into Kawhi Leonard” was a good trade deadline move in hindsight
If OG is going to be able to handle and finish (a big if) on top of making 3s and defending at an elite level he may be underpaid. 🙂
That “move” by Precious was…interesting
The hawks announcer called Dyson Daniel’s “the great barrier thief”
Precious picking up the blown layup slack for OG
There’s not a scarier sight for Knicks fans than Precious dribbling the ball.
Wow, OG is on another planet right now.
This version of OG could be a game changer come playoff time
Thibs must hold his nose when he calls achoowa to get in the game…
My love/hate relationship with Hart keeps moving in the wrong direction.
Hart and kat are competing for laziest/dumbest passes crown
Shamet laying eggs all over the place
Put Towns in bubble wrap until the playoffs.
He needs Kolek
KAT got hurt cause Shamet bricked another 3pter.
Young leads the NBA in turnovers with 4.8 per game
That’s a pretty damning stat for Ice Trae
Things were going too well
This isn’t embarrassing
Ha yeah as much as we’ve complained about this Knicks team they’re still pretty fucking good.
I guess OG is underpaid and we screwed the Nets in the Bridges trade. 🙂
Seriously though, if OG can legitimately improve his handle and ability to finish he’s getting very close to a superstar level player given his defense is a big plus and not a liability. If he can maybe eventually improve his shot off the dribble too, he’s unstoppable. There’s a lot of wishful thinking in there. I’ll take whatever we can get, but his aggressiveness and balance around the rim seems somewhat legit.
Just your friendly reminder that the Knicks are playing again tomorrow. So if this blow out continues into the 4th, it might make some sense to rest the starters and empty the bench so we are rested and no one gets hurt. Even money Towns is still playing with just a few minutes left.
We sure we need Brunson back? Let him rest till round 2.
Delon’s been learning how to pass from the baseline from Kolek
I’m as grumpy as anyone about the injuries to Brunson and KAT (and Deuce and Payne and and)
But I must say that the last 3 weeks have made me feel that both Bridges and OG are what they were hyped up to be. And that’s saying a lot.
Well that is a welcome scoreline
It’s weird to feel like we could have been up by more than twenty-five. I loved the flow of our offense but, again, Hawks defense is an oxymoron. Our defense was overall good, switches, closeouts etc. If not for some dumb turnovers or paint protection issues, the Hawks would have barely made it to forty points in this first half.
I love when KAT does that Jokic move holding the ball high over his head with one hand looking for cutters
Good things usually happen
Dyson Daniels ruined what would’ve been the best assist of OG’s career 🙁
This is why I’m not hoping for any reactionary trades this offseason that would involve Bridges or OG.
Hart is easily the best shooter of all time among shooters who are 100% convinced they cannot shoot
Let’s go for 150!
He seems less hesitant when we are up 30. 😉
Nice lob by shamet
Clean block
Shamet no longer shooting bricks.
KAT shooting better after the finger injury scare earlier.
I only got home about 10 minutes ago-the Hawks were theoretially trying to win this game, right? They’re not tanking
So whatever illness thibs had that led to him using his bench is cured now?
Tanking or not, the Hawks didn’t come out to compete today. Can’t take much from this game as the Knicks didn’t face resistance.
If Thibs brings back starters after this timeout, I swear. I hate even saying this but maybe an injury in garbage time is the only thing to convince that idiot to stop taking unnecessary risks.
Nope, prob not
Calling the coach an idiot when your team blows out the Hawks in Atlanta. Nice.
Knicks net rating always takes a beating in garbage time.
Thibs passes Pat Riley and is now 4th all time in wins by a Knicks head coach. Will pass JVG early next season to become 3rd all time.
We really blew our SRS in the 4th
Idiot. Irresponsible. Non-sensical. All apply to Thibs. No reason to leave starters at that moment or any other moment he’s done that.
We’re gonna win 50 games this year and I’ve never had less confidence in a coach. Actually think it’s been one of his poorest coaching seasons with us. The talent and Brunson clutch brilliance has masked a lot of poor decision making.
Can call me being hard on him but I’m telling it like I see it. Thibs needs to prove he can actually still coach come playoff time against the good teams or we need find someone who does.
Thibs and Hahn are both out of their minds if they think OG is going to continue scoring as much when Brunson returns. He’s obviously finishing and/or getting to the FT line better lately. Hopefully those are legitimate improvements that we’ve been hoping for since the beginning of the season. But he’s not going get the ball as often once Brunson is back. Brunson is going to go right back to scoring mid 20s. Those extra shots from the PG position are going to come from somewhere. OG will likely get fewer opportunities where he has it on the outside and decides to drive like he has lately. And if by some crazy chance Brunson is feeding OG a lot more than previously, then Mikal and/or Hart are going to disappear. There’s a limited number of shots in a game. Brunson is correctly going to be the #1 option and Towns #2. Until someone proves they can be more efficient than those guys on high usage, then OG and Mikal will get fewer shots those guys are on the court. The best we can hope for is a more efficient OG with a similar number of shots as before.
Missed the game. Did KAT get injured? Someone mentioned that on the thread…
He hurt a finger on his non shooting hand…looks like they splinted it and he came back
The real question is why are OG and Mikal so much more efficient without Brunson?
They, in fact, have been as efficient on their shots in Brunson’s absence as Brunson has been on his own shots:
– Brunson .606 TS%
– OG .606 TS% since Brunson injury
– Mikal .623 TS% since Brunson injury
And this is before today’s game pumps up their stats.
I wasn’t able to watch the game, but I have a couple of questions based on the box score. Does anyone know why Kolek didn’t play? And Mcullar seems to be getting garbage time minutes instead of anyone else (for example, Dadiet). Does anyone know why? And how did he look?
It’s certainly a concern. The positive way to look at it is that we have more ways of performing well, but of course the negative is that Brunson is so heliocentric that it’s just a different kind of offense with him on the floor, disrupting the kinds of opportunities that exist without him. I do believe JB is team-first and completely inclined to sacrifice as he needs to in the name of wins. I am less convinced that Thibs can find a way to make it all work, and on both ends. The tools are there….
Note it occurs to me maybe Kolek didn’t play because Payne is back. But I still don’t understand McCullar
52% vs 31% from three tells a good part of the story.
And while I made up the stat of 27 assists leading to wins (okay, I didn’t make it up, but it’s only partially real), they did get 32 assists in this game.
glad to hear things went well for you out here on your trip rama…
seems like so cal is making sure to send you off with another beautiful day outside 😊
just finished watching the game, wow, the hawks were really not that in to it today…
good for us for making them look so bad…
Watching the game myself right now, geo. How was your outing? Weird to be around great crowds of humanoids? Anyone who, um, didn’t have gray hair?
Since it’s still formally the game thread, I’ll just note that with nine minutes left in the fourth Breen mentioned that the Knicks had 32 assists.
They also ended with 32 assists, so no assists that last nine, and they went from leading by 29 to winning by 16.
Which I guess sort of makes sense as at the five-minute mark they had 120 points and ended the game at 121! This is going to be a smelly ending…
Thibs refused to pull the starters but they stopped trying at all a long time before the end of the game
Some would say even more reason to pull them! But no
Except he yanked Josh Hart out one rebound shy of his 10th triple double. Only guy subbed out. That seems… dickish.
The last Knick fg was with just under 8 minutes remaining
Everyone was under 35min. Shamet played 30. This wasn’t the most egregious Thibs game.
I’m thinking Thibs wanted to reward McCullar for something he saw in practice, which is what he usually says. Payne may have stayed in to get more game reps before the playoffs, or maybe he’ll sit the b2b tomorrow.
Vintage thibs
https://x.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1908638680115183883
ha raven, yes sir, lots of old folks, good to see some younger families in the crowd also…
it was funny, ma’s old so she remembers more dangerous type protests – she was ready for a fight, ha, had to get her to chill and not worry the son…too funny…it was a positive event and a really good vibe at the site…being around like minded folks and such…
our first venture, so still working out some things…had a chair, water, signs, flags…however:
I so need a tambourine and a megaphone…must get megaphone 📣 for next event…
wish I could carry a beat, would also bring a drum…
stopped by this pub for a chimichanga and a beer on the way home – today was a good day…
that thibs quote about OG reminds me a little of fizdale’s ‘eat what you kill’ spiel…
like thibs ain’t got no part in it…
at least he didn’t say it was all up to the medical staff…
Unnecessary minutes to Hart and OG at the end of the game. Take your starters out Thibs the team was up 20 with under 5 minutes left.
Delon being 6′ 5″ gives him a big advantage as a point of attack defender over somebody like McBride. He needs real consideration for minutes when healthy.
I know the perfect tambourine for you, if you’re accepting early Christmas presents, Geo.
Here you go geo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4UqMyldS7Q&ab_channel=IceCubeVEVO
And sampling ‘Footsteps in the Dark’ from ‘Go for Your Guns,’ still one of my favorite albums. You want to talk about guitar work…
The top six teams in the Eastern conference seem to be set, but Milwaukee and Detroit are really close when it comes to who is fifth and who is sixth. It looks likely that six plays us and fifth plays the Pacers. I wonder if either of those two teams cares which of the Pacers and us they meet in the playoffs.
https://x.com/TommyBeer/status/1908629688999641129 hmmm
call me crazy but hearing: knueppel (pronounced ka-nipple) shouted out by the game announcers over and over during this houston/duke game is funny as hell…
wow, houston may win this…
cooper flagg was on his way to having one of the best collegiate seasons ever…
crazy comeback
Historic choke job!
A Coach K team would have never been that unprepared against the press.
Flagg is going to be a great NBA player.
Owen your boy Maluach had 0 rebounds, -18 in 21 minutes.
They won’t say it out loud, but 100% they would each prefer to play the Pacers.