News & Blogs
Game Thread: Knicks vs Pelicans, March 24, 2026 – Posting & Toasting
Knicks Notes: Miles McBride in final stages of rehab, NY’s offensive tweaks helping Karl-Anthony Towns – SNY
Knicks 121, Pelicans 116: “Mitch and Zion talkin food I know it” – Posting & Toasting
Knicks head coach Mike Brown isn’t in every huddle. There’s a good reason – The New York Times
Jalen Brunson’s fourth-quarter takeover exactly what Knicks needed vs. Pelicans: ‘That’s a position he wants to be in’ – SNY
How to watch Pelicans vs. Knicks: TV channel and streaming options for March 24 – The New York Times
The Putback with Ian Begley: Kaz Famuyide on Jalen Brunson and Knicks 7-game win streak – Begley Putback
Knicks at Hornets Preview w/ Richie Randall (Buzz Beat Podcast) | PREGAME POD | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
A Knicks Brawl People Don’t Talk About! – Knicks Fan TV
YT News
38 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.03.26)”
G’morning, all.
Wow. That Rockets game. That is remarkable.
If Rudy Gobert is going to hang 14 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks on you, you kind of deserve to lose the game.
Legitimate test for the Knicks tonight on the road.
The Rockets seem to have some trouble finishing, which is kind of shocking given they have Durant. I think their problem is that they are missing two key pieces. Steven Adams is a plus player and got them a lot of extra possessions (like Mitch does for us). That helped make up for not having a real starting PG to run the offense with VanVleet out.
With the logjam at the East 5-10 positions, it really doesn’t matter if we end up #2 or #3 (for the record, I see us staying at #3)—meaning that we’ll probably have no idea who we are going to play in the first round until the last day of the season…….so we shouldn’t worry too much about it. We should focus on honing our own skills, staying relatively healthy, and getting Deuce back in the fold and ready to play.
I’m still not sure I’d rather play Boston than Detroit in the second round. The way things look, think I actually prefer Detroit. I know they’ve massacred us this year in the regular season, but Boston did that to us last year and we still took them out.
I think my preference between Boston and Detroit may depend on whether Cunningham is back and how well he’s playing. Either way it’s going to be tough, but I think OG and Mikal may match up better with Brown and Tatum than we match up with the healthy young tough Pistons.
Based on my wholly arbitrary last 30 games threshold, designed to make tonight’s late March regular season game look as spicy as possible, we’ll be treated to an ECF preview.
I would way rather face the Pistons than the Celtics. The C’s are a team with championship DNA who were humiliated last year and who probably believe that if Tatum did not get hurt they could have come back and won that series, and that they lost on a fluke, even with Brown’s knee barking. Joe Mazzulla is a dangerous coach, not without flaws, but I’d prefer facing a team coached by JB Bickerstaff.
But the bottom line is: these playoffs will reveal who this Knicks team is, and who this coach is. It is finals or bust, no matter who we face. Dolan said as much, and everyone on the team, including the coaching staff and FO, knows it.
I’m in
I was super impressed by the Celtics D in the 4th quarter vs. OKC. They made every Thunder possession really difficult and no one other than SGA got any kind of good looks.
It also led me to believe the Thunder aren’t invincible. Yes they’re deep as hell and have a great center combo in Chet and I-Hart, but they still depend on SGA to generate all their offense down the stretch (and yes I know we do the same with Brunson) If you limit the open looks for their multitude of 3 point shooters and limit SGA as best you can, you have a good chance of beating them
I’m going out on a limb and saying no repeat championship for OKC
It is interesting that a lot of teams not in the #1 position seem to be peaking right now as we head into the playoffs. In the East, the Knicks, Celts, Hawks, Sixers, and Hornets are all getting healthy and gelling. In the West, the Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets and to a degree the Wolves have all been flexing.
Barring any setbacks, I could see these playoffs being epic right from the get-go.
OKC without a 100% Jalen Williams is a lot less formidable.
To me, beyond the obvious “how good will Tatum be come playoff time?” question, the keys to Boston’s success are:
-how well does Payton Prichard play? When he gets it going, he is one of the most underrated players in the NBA, an absolute menace who is sneaky-good on D and as a creator in the paint.
-How well do the playoff-novice kids play? Are Queta, Scheierman, Hugo, Walsh, etc. ready for prime time?
-What will Vuc’s role be? Will they try to integrate him in or is it too late for that?
If the Sixers somehow get healthy and can sustain it, I would not feel great about facing them in the first round. A lineup of Maxey, Edgeconbe, Embiid, George, and Oubre, and a bench of Drummond, Barlow, Grimes, Watford, Bona, and Payne is hardly a pushover. I would relish a Sixers-Celtics first round matchup.
I think home court advantage vs. Boston matters a lot. Their inexperienced players + their veteran supporting cast plays much better at home than on the road.
I can’t see NY get historically lucky and win two road games vs Boston like they did last season. The only way past Boston as an underdog is to go 3:0 at home and thats a very very tall order.
All other EC playoff teams present different material challenges but, if NY is healthy and plays well, – they own the delta down the stretch and his name is Jalen Brunson.
I don’t understand the “finals or bust” criteria for whether this season is a success or not. To me it’s championship or bust. No one is building a team to finish second. This team is not young enough to consider a finals appearance a stepping stone towards significant development and improvement next year. If we don’t win it all this year, I think there’s
going to be a significant change unless injury can be used as the reason for the loss.
Regarding the Celtics
The Celtics far outperformed expectations this year. However, IMO they were not quite as good as their record indicated. IMO that style would have gotten exposed in the playoffs. With a close to 100% Tatum they are way better and will be far from easy to beat by anyone, but still not nearly as good as the healthy team with Holiday, Horford, KP and Kornet. We have a solid chance to beat them, but I’d also way rather have homecourt.
“I don’t understand the “finals or bust” criteria for whether this season is a success or not. To me it’s championship or bust. No one is building a team to finish second. This team is not young enough to consider a finals appearance a stepping stone towards significant development and improvement next year. If we don’t win it all this year, I think there’s
going to be a significant change unless injury can be used as the reason for the loss.”
I think making it to the finals would indicate progress, and Leon could sell that to Dolan as such. It would justify firing Thibs and hiring Brown. It would also justify not trading the everything including the kitchen sink for Giannis.
This is not the same as saying that there won’t be any big moves if we don’t win a championship. I just think that there would be a different sense of urgency felt by all stakeholders if we get to the finals rather than losing before that.
As for me personally, even though I would be horribly disappointed, I would definitely consider losing in the finals a much less bitter pill to swallow than losing in any round before then, especially in the first two rounds, and especially ESPECIALLY if it’s to the Celtics. I would also be far less eager to blow it up, at least to some degree, if we make it to the finals.
Aaaaaaand…….Peralta gives up two runs in the top of the first. And then has 3 strikeouts right after that. Weird start to the season.
I can agree with that, but strictly from a handicapping point of view, if we made it to the finals and lost I would think other teams are more likely to improve next year than us given our age and draft status. So my first thought would be, we need to upgrade something significant.
Skenes bad (pulled!?!) = Mets up 5-2 in the first.
Wow, I didn’t have the reigning Cy Young winner getting yanked in the first inning after giving up 5 runs on 37 pitches on my bingo card…
Skenes betrayed by some horrible play by centerfielder. Should have escaped with a tie game. Mets really made him work especially Robert Jr.
yay, ⚾️ is back…
feels funny saying it, but it’s true, the hornets are our toughest test since LA…
I think we have an advantage up front and on the boards…
the lamelo/coby white point combo is working well for them, nipples can do a little of everything and can get really hot shooting…
coached well, with a young athletic group…did I mention brandon miller, he’s pretty good too…
I should just give up on doing work for the rest of the year…
Re: weaker Celtics
Assuming Tatum gets to 100% by the time he gets to us during the first week of May, – Boston will still have the 2 best players on the court + Derrick White.
Then you add that they have a ton of deep playoff experience + a championship with this core, better coaching staff and home court advantage…I’m saying it’s not insoumanable but a serious hill to climb with a very very tiny margin of error.
We need to try to win every game except Thunder and beat them on April 9th. Home court could be the variance that tips the scale.
what else would you do with your time raven…what if there were no more work for you, what would you do…
Don’t sleep on Diabate.
or kalkbrenner, he’s cooled off/rookie wall or whatever, still nice future frontcourt for them…
The guy who scares me on the Hornets is Coby White, that dude always seems to light us up
Maybe play up on him and don’t let him hit 8-of-14 treys. We oughta maybe try that.
“Then you add that they have a ton of deep playoff experience + a championship with this core,…”
They have 5 guys who fit this description: Tatum, Brown, White, Prichard, and Hauser. The rest of the roster has very little playoff experience. Vuc has never been beyond the first round.
“…better coaching staff…”
I’m not sure about this. Mazz inherited a great roster, yet he was outcoached by Miami in year 1, and last year it could be argued that he was responsible for the 2 20-point Knick comebacks. He won a chamiopnship with a team that I think a) had the best roster in the NBA, and b) had some injury luck with opponents. He’s young and still learning, so maybe he is in fact the better coach as of now, but it’s not a given.
“…and home court advantage”
Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I think home court advantage puts a ton of pressure on a team to win both of the first two games. Lose one and the advantage swings to the other team. And if you lose both, the series is pretty much over. So to me, it’s important, but the better team will usually prevail anyway.
9-4 Mets (Peralta 7 Ks after a bad start). Nice.
Misiorowski with 9 Ks. Also nice.
Carson Benge and Francisco Alvarez hitting back to back home runs was nice
Yeah, their offense is basically (1) SGA (2) Jalen (3) ???
“ Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I think home court advantage puts a ton of pressure on a team to win both of the first two games. Lose one and the advantage swings to the other team”
Agree with you so we are a minority of two. I’d still rather have HCA as it gives you an extra home game but I bet a lot of teams would rather start a series on the road if they could still have 4 home games. Akin to the coin toss in tennis matches where the trend is moving towards electing to receive if you win the toss.
The Mets didn’t hit the ball hard at all against Skenes, but they had tough at bats, drew walks, and put the ball in play. That lineup is gonna give people some headaches.
They drew nine walks and made the Pirates throw 192 pitches.
The benefit is not where you start, – its where you finish.
Favorites are likely to be either be tied 2:2 or up 3:1 at home for game 5. Whoever wins game 5, wins the series 95% after a 2:2 tie. Trust me,