Knicks Morning News (2025.11.04)

Nice win last night.

The Good:
-It wasn’t rocket science to predict that KAT would have a big night. He’s moving better (looks like the quad thing is behind him, fingers crossed!) and Sarr is not Turner or Bam, at least yet. His D was still an issue but less of one than in prior games.
-Josh Hart had a second solid all-around game. He seems to be getting used to the finger splint, as he swished a couple of 3s and made some great highly contested running layups. Defensive Player of the Game. I like that Brown kept him in his bench role, just so Hart doesn’t think that he’s competing for a starting spot. And 26 minutes seems like a very good number for him.
-Mikal just keeps on putting up all-star level go-go-gadget games. He’s doing everything out there, just filling in the blanks on both ends. 4 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 0 TOs! The above-the-break 3pt shooting seems light years better than it looked last year. Still not worth 5 firsts but looking worth the extension, and an absolute bargain this year, the last of his prior contract.
-Brunson had an off shooting night, but who cares? He still opened things up for everyone else. 9 assists is a great number. 32 minutes an even better one.
-OG had a typically excellent OG game. 5 steals!
-Clarkson has hopefully put all chatter about “decline phase” to bed. Still takes some dumb shots (news flash: so does Brunson, KAT, and OG) but mostly playing smart, effective basketball on offense and doing his best on D.
-Deuce still looks to be in grief recovery mode, but I loved his aggressiveness on D, he rocked Sarr with two hard fouls (one called a flagrant, but not really) and generally a positive contributor. We’ll need more from him next game, and I think we will get it.
-Shamet gave us exactly what we needed in a starting role vs. a young, athletic team…veteran savvy, decent shooting, hustle. The decision to keep him over Garry Bird seems more and more like a no-brainer.
-32 assists on 44 made shots…more, please! Seems like the Brown offense is starting to click, but it’s the Wiz so who knows?

The Bad:
-Yabujelly trying to impact the game in non-shooting ways, but largely (!) ineffective. His 3pt shot seems temporarily out of order, but he mixed it up on the boards and set some solid screens. Looks like he’s severely pressing. Probably back to scant minutes in games when Mitch plays.

The Ugly:
-The rotation players couldn’t really put the game away, so the scrubs didn’t get in until around 4 minutes left, and proceeded to look very scrubby. The only positive was Huk’s rebounding.
Shamet put up a Bargnani-level dumb 3 off of an offensive rebound when the Wiz were trying to come back.