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NBA Cup bracket: Knicks, Magic, Thunder, Spurs reach quarterfinals – CBS Sports
Knicks 118, Bucks 109: Winning with a lot of Hart – Posting & Toasting
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Knicks vs Raptors Rapid Fire Recap | KFTV Reacts – Knicks Fan TV
RAPTORS at KNICKS | FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS | November 30, 2025 – NBA
Jalen Brunson Is The Knicks’ Unstoppable Offensive System – Knick of Time
Knicks vs Raptors – Recap & Reaction | POSTGAME SHOW | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
The Run.down Knicks vs Raptors Postgame Show – The Strickland
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91 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.12.01)”
josh has gone at least 19/7/7 and 3 steals last three games. surprisingly, no one has ever (stats since 72-73) done it 4 straight.
And his finger is extremely crooked.
We have a lot of good players up and down this lineup.
thats probably why were currently 13-6 and the number 2 seed and this is without og and shamet
2 good wins without OG. Will be curious to see what Brown does with the starting line up once OG does return.
My gut says move Hart back to the bench but also he needs to keep a steady dose of minutes for Hart. He really is the engine and HART of this team in a lot of ways.
But I’d keep Mitch on the bench where he can wreck bench units and pick up offensive rebounds off Clarkson misses. Start Deuce and keep KAT at the 5 for a true 5 out starting line up with a bench of Clarkson, Kolek, Hart, Yabu and Mitch.
Nice to see Yabu perk up yesterday. Hopefully he’s finding his role.
I think Hart is playing too well to move to the bench. When OG comes back, you return to last year’s starting lineup, at least until Josh cools off. If he’s willing to shoot from downtown, that’s your 5-out lineup, even if Deuce is a better shooter than he is.
Yeah I’d be cool with last year’s starting line up too. I mean, they are our 5 best players and that’s usually what you want to do. And I think Brown’s offensive wrinkles will hopefully alleviate any of the issues that unit had last year.
Amazing time at the game last night! Pre-gamed at Mustang Harry’s, then took our seats about 10 rows above the Knicks bench.
Deuce took over MSG in the first quarter and the Knicks seemed to hit every shot they took. It felt like a blowout in the making, everybody was celebrating like the game was over. Then the team sort of let go of the rope, both cooling off and repeatedly giving Barnes open looks from 3, which he happily drained. He has a rep for being a bad shooter, but so far he’s at 41% for the year on 3’s and 86% from the FT ine, so maybe he’s found something. The Raptors went to an aggressive zone and we started struggling mightily to get looks. The crowd seemed stunned and deflated from over-celebrating early. The half ended on a sour note.
Then the Josh Hart show really got going. The Knicks got it back together for a bit in the 3rd, but then IQ reminded us of why we loved him…every shot he made was pure and sent a groan through MSG. There were definitely lots of anxious fans when the lead was cut to 3.
But Josh Hart was not gonna let us lose this game (although he had a couple of terrible turnovers) and you could tell that TOR’s legs were starting to go. Toronto had no answer for the KAT-Mitch pairing. Mitch’s OR and hoop was huge, but the FT shooting is scary bad right now. Kolek came in and gave us decent minutes to start the 4th, Clarkson was a rollercoaster, Yabu didn’t stink, and the Raps started missing the shots they were making earlier.
Kudos to Bridges for a magnificent job on Ingram. There was a point early in the 3rd where BI just beasted on Mikal for an easy 2 at the rim, and I worried that they were gonna keep going to that until Bridges picked up his 4th. But Mikal didn’t let up, and his D is a big reason we held on to the lead. And Hart was truly magnificent, all over the place, driving fans into a frenzy.
Strangest sight of the night? A guy wearing a Yabu jersey. WTF?
All in all, an expensive night but worth every penny. For a guy who has been going to MSG for 50+ years, this is a golden age. The fans just adore this highly-rootable team, the arena has never looked or sounded better, raucous blue-collarish (relatively speaking) sellout crowd and celebs galore for a pretty much nothing game, such a joy to behold!
I don’t know, Hart is still pretty open most of the time as opponents continue to ignore him at the 3pt line. The Knicks shot a lot of 3s yesterday, but their 3pt rate has declined quickly without OG, and particularly since he became a starter. There’s a reason why 3 of their 4 worst 3PAs in a game have come in the last four games. Opponents are hugging the other shooters and still able to pack the paint because they are ok letting Hart shoot.
When OG is back, I’d go to Deuce as the SG, which has the added benefit of letting Mikal play off ball most of the time.
Alan, re: Hart starting, sure, with the caveat that we are still very early into the season and have had a very soft schedule. Even last night, Toronto was on the second game of a B2B after playing OT in another city and missing 2 starters. Hart is notoriously hot and cold from 3, and when he’s cold, it can be a problem. I need to see more vs. Orlando, Detriot, Cleveland, and WC powerhouses before concluding anything about lineups going forward.
The most important thing is that Brown is showing more flexibility than Thibs did on a number of fronts. Switching lineups. Playing some zone. Moving Brunson off the ball. Going both 2 bigs and no bigs.
I was almost worried that Brown brought in the scrubs too early…no way Thibs has them in with a 20 point lead and more than 3 minutes left. I also think Brown rode Kolek for as long as he could, he had some great moments but was also in there for some big Raptors runs.
The most glaring negative from last night’s game (and lots of games) was KAT’s ineffectiveness for long stretches. He just seems stuck in the mud and out of sorts. There was a point just after the half when they flashed the league leaders on the board and one of my girls said “How is KAT second in the league in rebounding?” I looked up and saw that he had zero on the night at that point. Zero rebounds in a half against a Raps team without their starting C? No bueno.
A Yabu jersey is an interesting choice, but it’s far from the most obscure I’ve seen. Probably a French enthusiast, which is totally valid.
The most obscure jersey I’ve seen at MSG is a pristine looking Shawne Williams back in 2011, I think.
I will say that the guy wearing the jersey was not exactly svelte, so maybe therein the affinity lies…
The issue with Hart starting last year was his inconsistent 3 point shooting.
He started the season very strong, the spacing was fine, the offense was terrific and we got all the upsides of Hart without much downside. That’s a LOT of upside.
Then he start shooting poorly, teams adjusted to how they covered him and Towns, the spacing got worse, the offense sputtered and we became a meh team for most of the rest of the season.
That’s when the calls to start Deuce began (including me).
Righ now, Hart is shooting 3s really well. That’s partly why so many other things are clicking on offense. But we’ve seen him shoot well from 3 for periods before and then decline sharply (including when we first traded for him).
Maybe working with a new shooting coach will improve his consistency. We will see.
IMO we should stick with what’s working for now, but since we know he tends to be inconsistent, slump, lose confidence and that really gums things up, we should probably be a little quicker on the trigger than we would normally be and start Deuce if things go south. The good news there is Brown will make a change much faster than Thibs if warranted.
Was the guy with the Yabu jersey Congolese or French? That could be the hook.
I need Yabu to play better because when he does he’ll be one of my all time favorites.
He trained as a boxer growing up! Has all the elements of a guy I can fall hard for.
Wow, somebody has won the national lottery and didn’t tell us about it. 😀
He is playing better. He was just so terrible on offense early his overall stats still look bad because the sample is small. I think his defense has improved a little and he’s also shooting a little better from 3. He’s not where we want him yet, but he’s trending in the right direction.
Really fun game when our two all-stars play meh, our defensive wizard is out, and we win going away.
I’ll just mention Huk with another stellar game, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots per 36…
LOL
Knicks went 11-3 in November with the 2nd best offense and 10th best defense.
Today, in Tommy Beer’s Fun With Small Sample Sizes:
I don’t think Clarkson hurt us last night, he may have even helped. But I definitely would like to see him clean up some things, like the early in the clock leaning 3-pt heave and that nonsensical illegal screen in the backcourt.
I believe it was either Benji or Jon from KFS who opined prior to the season that even though Clarkson was not a good 3pt shooter overall, he still stretched the floor because he was percieved as a good spot-up catch-and-shoot shooter…as opposed to, say, Josh Hart. Not sure how that narrative will play out in the playoffs, but you can definitely see that he has some gravity out there.
“Knicks went 11-3 in November with the 2nd best offense and 10th best defense”
Another reason to like the Emirates Cup…
The Knicks record for wins in a calendar month is 15 (done when Willis and Clyde played; they hit 14 in Jan 2024). They are on a roll, but only play 13 games in December…unless they advance in the Cup to the semis and finals. Win it all and every game before and after and they tie the record (unless stick in the muds point out that the final doesn’t count as a regular season win)!
This road game vs. the Celts should be a good litmus test for this OG/Shamet-less team. They have been on a bit of a roll lately, with wins over ORL, DET, AND CLE plus a close loss on the road to MIN in their last 4 games. Then after a couple of easier home games we play ORL at home with hopefully both teams at close to full strength (OG is apparently getting close), then @ TOR in the IST QFs, then either ORL again or MIA.
It’s still way too early to draw firm conclusions no matter how these games go, but it will tell us a lot more than beating up on the shorthanded and tired Raps, or the Giannis in first game from injury return Bucks, or Charlotte, Brooklyn, or Dallas. The fact is, we already lost twice to ORL and twice to MIA, so I need to see actually meaningful wins before getting too high about these recent wins. Most importantly, I need to see KAT get something going in those games. Right now he looks more like a glorified role player.
“…unless they advance in the Cup to the semis and finals.”
Their success or failure in the Cup will not affect their official games played this month. The final game doesn’t count (which is dumb, but whatever), and if they lose in the first game they will simply play the loser of the other EC Cup QF game (Miami or Orlando).
“The final game doesn’t count…”
“…unless stick in the muds point out that the final doesn’t count …”
This stick-in-the-mud wore a Willis jersey to the game last night, so yeah.
I hear it’s Cyber Monday, is that in honor of my favorite KB poster?
If Tatum gets back, Celtics as 7th or 8th seed would be an awful R1 matchup.
There have been some infuriating moments on both ends of the floor, as we knew there would be, but Clarkson is at 19.7 PTS/36, not turning the ball over much, and has a 97 TS+. That’s close to a best-case scenario. He’s been a legitimately solid usage soaker for the minimum.
His on/off numbers look terrible, but he’s primarily subbing in for one of the best players in the sport. We’re still at +1.5 overall in his minutes, and that’s with opponents shooting 43% from 3 with him on the floor and Brunson off.
He’s doing his job, and is contention for best vet-minimum signing of the offseason at the moment.
Knicks went 0-4 last season vs Boston during regular season and it didn’t mean shit come playoff time.
Knicks in March of 1994 went 14-0!
“He’s doing his job, and is contention for best vet-minimum signing of the offseason at the moment.”
I haven’t gone around the league to verify that, but it’s probably true…and damn well should be. I still would like to see more good plays and fewer bad plays from him, and that’s partly on Mike Brown to say things like “we don’t need that off-balance pull-up from 3 early in the clock, like, ever.”
In other words, the goal for Clarkson shouldn’t be “great value on the vet’s minimum.” It should be “as close to a $14M player as possible.” Right now he’s still pretty far from being that, but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that he can get there based on how he has looked physically/athletically/mentally thus far.
If Jordan Clarkson didn’t take mind numbing shots, he wouldn’t have been available for the minimum and might have a few all-star selections to his name by now. By all means, Mike Brown should try to succeed where all of his prior coaches have failed, but I’m not holding my breath.
Clarkson is not Landry Shamet, so he’s not the best vet minimum value in the league
Just noting that yesterday Payton Effing Prichard went off for 42 points. Every time he plays against us he does something terrifically annoying. I’d love to see Deuce just stapled to his chest on Tuesday for the whole game.
“By all means, Mike Brown should try to succeed where all of his prior coaches have failed, but I’m not holding my breath.”
Clarkson is in a different role on this team than he has ever been. He is neither a starter on a shitty team nor a high-usage shoot-first 6MoY candidate on a contending team. It’s Brown’s job to reel him in and make him realize that he needs to adapt to this role, not by changing who he is, but focusing more on what he does well/best. It doesn’t seem like anything all that radical…and I think he’s trying. It’s a good ecosystem for him, and his head and heart seem to be in a good place.
Put differently, if this is his floor, great! He’s still helping us win. I’m just hopeful that there’s a higher ceiling.
“Clarkson is not Landry Shamet, so he’s not the best vet minimum value in the league”
Very true! Alas…
TH2 has been pretty damn good for the Nuggets on a minimum.
Clarkson’s issue this season has been his 3pt shooting, only 31% while making 60% from 2pt range. Like Z-Man mentioned though I would think that’s mostly due to those crazy off balance looking quick 3s he takes, I’m curious what’s his 3pt% on open catch and shoot 3s.
“Just noting that yesterday Payton Effing Prichard went off for 42 points. Every time he plays against us he does something terrifically annoying. I’d love to see Deuce just stapled to his chest on Tuesday for the whole game.”
The good news about this game is that it’s tailor-made for a massive KAT breakout.
Funny thing with KAT is every game it feels like its his worst game of the season but then his final numbers are pretty good. Last night his 1st half was awful with shockingly 0 rebs but he finished the game with 22 pts on 8 for 15 FG with 8 rebs.
“Funny thing with KAT is every game it feels like its his worst game of the season but then his final numbers are pretty good. Last night his 1st half was awful with shockingly 0 rebs but he finished the game with 22 pts on 8 for 15 FG with 8 rebs.”
He’s busting his ass out there whenever he’s on the floor, so definitely not about effort. Brown made a strong adjustment by playing him and Mitch together, it seemed like KAT got freed up a bit. He was strong on the offensive boards and had a couple of key putbacks. The 3pt shooting is a mess, though. He’s 9 for 32 in his last 7 games. Is it how he’s being defended, i.e. keep a wing in his grill and force him to drive or pass? Which makes him more likely to rush shots when he has some daylight?
At least he’s still creating space out there and making some good decisions, but also some bad ones.
Feels like KAT has also missed a ton of layups. I’m not even talking about on his crazy drives, he seems to be missing a bunch of point blank layups off passes and offensive rebs.
Meanwhile Deuce is 14-20 from three over his last three games.
Meanwhile Josh Hart is 8-17 from three over his last three games.
Meanwhile KAT is 2-9 from three over his last three games.
Ok, but if KAT is our 3rd or 4th best 3 pt attempts or %age shooter we will win a lot of games. Unless he falls off a cliff, opposing defenses will play to deny him the shot
Ps: not a big KAT fan, so not trying to ruruland Melo by this comment
don’t quite agree. i see kat as having more than his share of high effort plays and also more than his share of unusually low effort plays. high effort bastions include willingness to make hard things happen on the ball, crashing the glass and boxing out and working hard one on one when switching onto a wing. low effort refrains include getting back in transition (even when he doesn’t fall on a drive), going through the motions on a pnr blitz or hedge instead of actually trapping, and languid movement off ball on offense, especially sluggishness in setting a timely screen. overall i’d say he’s neither a bust ass nor a low motor player.
What’s very weird (to me) is that KAT seems like he’s in a three-point-shooting slump (which he is, for the season, at 33%), and is clearly not taking many (i.e., under 4 per game over the last 5 games, which suggests that he’s very self-aware), but in that 5-game stretch he’s hitting 37%, which is even a bit over normal (not for KAT, but for the NBA).
It better be, or else i’m charging royalties. 😀
As a side note, i was in charge of the first Cyber Monday in Portugal, back in 2009, and even got some minutes of TV fame. Given the Wharol rule, i wasted my seconds/minutes of fame in that. LOL
That’s funny, cyber!
pt, I hear you but the things you pointed out are imo less “low effort” and more lapses in concentration and slow processing/poor situational awareness, and routine ebb and flow for a lumbering big. I have been harsh on KAT at times, but always within reasonable expectations. By that, I mean that I don’t expect him to sprint back on defense like the highest-motor guys Giannis or Hart. Patrick Ewing had a reputation for giving 100% at all times, even though he was often slow in getting up the court on D, etc. So maybe a better way of putting it rather than “busting his ass” would be that I don’t have any issues with his overall level of effort compared with my expectations for a guy with his physical profile.
Shamet’s been great but he’s probably #3.
Russell Westbrook’s averaging 17.3 pts, 9.1, rebs, 8.6 assists, 1.6 steals per 36.
And Marvin Bagley’s averaging 17 & 10 with 3 stocks.
I agree..but I stumbled upon some tape of KAT’s defensive possessions this season on YouTube and immediately took the rose KAT colored glasses off. I saw wayyyyyy too many plays where he gave zero effort. More than I noticed last season. I thought KAT would be better defensively this season, but he’s handing guys off when there’s no one to hand it to. Often. Already. Is Mike Brown’s defensive system that complicated? Or was OG just covering his mistakes? I’m almost ready to say send him to Dallas for AD lol. I would love Giannis as our PF, but he’s gonna take every pick we can offer even though KAT’s all star worthy every season. But..no doubt I am intrigued by what last year’s starting 5 could do within Brown’s scheme. It also saves Mitch’s legs. My only question is will OG and Bridges be able to play the same defensively if we don’t have a Deuce level defender at the POA?
He’s a legitimately good offensive player unfortunately
I agree.
I’d put Hardaway Jr over Shamet too, but perhaps playing next to Jokic should be considered an unfair advantage.
“Payton Effing Prichard
He’s a legitimately good offensive player unfortunately”
he also unfortunately has a letter t in his last name except for apparently on this forum for some reason
thanks for the info, fucking Doogie
Russ and Bagley are playing on teams with a combined record of 7-32.
From here on out, I’m just going to ever so slightly misspell names until Knicks 2025 goes insane.
BWAHa HAHAHAAA!!!!
Yeah, Fuck You Doogie. The man who has no clue how to use capital letters or punctuation has no fucking business correcting others.
He’s a helluva irritant, just like you Doogie, and now I’ll be doubly happy to spell it incorrectly going forward.
Luka and Brunson named NBA Players of the Week.
A dark day indeed for Mavs fans
Doogie is like an ultra-annoying but otherwise benign tumor. After typical non-invasive treatments had little effect, he was surgically removed. Alas, the relief was only temporarily and he’s back to his ultra-annoying pre-ban self. Only the capitalization and punctuation have changed.
Elvin Hayes was trending, and I was worried, but luckily, it was just “What’s the first name when you see this?” and it’s the old Bullets logo.
Phew.
And Clarkson has a -3 bpm. He’s doing his job but he’s not even providing surplus value.
The question for me is: which vet’s minimum guy would you be happy to exchange Clarkson for? I think you can make a valid case both for or against any of Westbrook, Bagley, or Hardaway. As for me, I am just fine with Clarkson. It’s telling that neither Westbrook nor Bagley were attractive to any contending teams. Initially, our team needed some playmaking and shot-creating chops that Hardaway lacks. Now that Kolek is emerging and Shamet is hurt, Hardaway would seem like a good swap. But I think the best of Clarkson as a NYK is yet to come.
d-mar, that was deliciously funny.
I’ve been enjoying The Clarkson Experience. Mainly because I was so down on him, so that when he does things that are good, it’s a delightful surprise; and when he does stupid things, I get a feeling of satisfaction for being right. Win-win.
yeah same my expectations for clarkson were low so i am pretty happy with what he is doing out there re: yabusele exactly the opposite
Clarkson actually has more dunks already this season (four) than all of last season in Utah (three), and while his 3-pointer hasn’t been there (30.9 percent), he has been one of seven Knicks to average double figures scoring (10.5 points per game).
I got to chill with my Celtic family over turkey weekend and they seemed very pleased with their guys. The team is “playing for each other” and “guys are showing up” and “there are some really good stories with these bench guys.” While it may not last, tomorrow’s game feels like it might be a fright fest.
The common ask about our guys up and down the line was about Clarkson. Even in some random Chapple Hill Bar from some Frat bros who unwisely misjudged my loose game of eight ball against a nephew (thanks for the round, gents)… I could happily answer honestly that I felt Clarkson has been good for us. That might not last either, but the team seem to have no problem passing him the ball atm.
hi clarence glad you had a good holiday!
it was fine
“and that’s partly on Mike Brown to say things like “we don’t need that off-balance pull-up”
Pretty sure he’s not going to say that. At least not for another 20 games or so.
Clarkson’s defense is quite bad and his offense, although it fits a need, isn’t all that great either.
He’s fine on the deal, especially compared to an underperforming vet minimum class, but I do think the bullish are overlooking how truly awful he is on defense.
I don’t know about Clarkson’s defense being a defining issue. Basically, he plays the role that Brunson does, but from the bench. I don’t really expect great defense out of that role. If he was an excellent defender along with scoring like he does he’d be a starter almost everywhere.
I don’t see it with Clarkson. Still
Yeah, strictly by eye-test I think he’s passable as a defender for his role. I’d certainly be open to film study that points to his D being highly detrimental.
The floor for “acceptable” performance for him is quality minutes eater at the shot-creator/playmaker combo-guard position. He has had a positive +/- in 9 of his last 13 games, and was a -3 in two of the 4 negative games. That doesn’t in and of itself mean that he’s playing well, but if we keep doing better than treading water while he’s on the floor, that’s probably fine. When he starts costing us games with bonehead play, sure, Mike Brown should adjust his minutes. But that clearly isn’t what is happening now.
I totally missed the dawn of the Daniss Jenkins era. Before tonight he had 4 starts for the Pistons and averaged 19-3-9 on decent shooting. Alas, he’s 1-11 tonight, but still…did anyone see him play in college at St. John’s?
clarkson is like the infinite improbability drive from hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. you throw him the ball and the possession suddenly looks nothing like any play you’ve ever run, but something that strongly resembles a basketball non sequitur will absolutely happening and it will be happening in the direction of the basket. it’s not always good, but can also be just the punt you need if you find yourself floating in space.
Giannis must be fuming. On cue, Marvin Bagley had an excellent game.
Giannis singing “I want to be a part of it….”
https://c.tenor.com/BtOOPltQf-8AAAAC/tenor.gif
Kolek maybe being an NBA player wrinkles the sheets a little for Clarkson.
There’s some guy on the Clippers named Yanic Konan Niederhäuser.
You know, to make sure you differentiate him from the other Yanic Niederhäuser.
With Davis back and Flagg getting up to speed, Dallas might actually be ok?
Well yes, when Ryan Nembhard goes 12-14 from the field.
That’ll happen regular-like.
ANAG, Raven (all Nembhards are good).
there are only those two no other brothers waiting in the wings
The Mystery that is Myles Turner
mr inconsistency only thing hes consistent at is being inconsistent
jalen johnson 26.8/10.8/8.8 over his last five 33/13/8.7 over his last three
Turner is the only guy on the Pacers I came out of my torrid love affair with a more negative impression of than I had going in. He isn’t as good as I thought he was. (Sure, his old team is 2-400 without him, but I will bet my Haliburton jersey that correlation does not equal causation in this case.)
garrison mathews scored 15 points for the pacers last night…….on 3 shots from the field
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