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2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Nuggets – House Money Game

Do I get the argument that the Grizzlies game could have said more about the problems that the Grizzlies have more so than how good the Knicks are? Yes, but, I mean, come on, they just destroyed a contender, they really don’t need to win tonight to pretty much shut up all of the critics.

But, okay, fair enough, crushing the Nuggets would truly shut everyone up.

So let’s just do that.

Let’s keep Matt Ryan’s consecutive game streak going!

Let’s go, Knicks!

58 will be so great!

319 replies on “2024-25 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Nuggets – House Money Game”

Nice but somewhat meaningless statistic for Jalen. He’s more than we deserve.

Great insight there. Ball security is such an underrated aspect of elite offensive players. Jordan’s insanely tight handle was one of the things that really set him apart from other big volume scorers, especially 2nd 3-peat Jordan who was over 30 PPG and under 2.5 TOV all three of those seasons.

Josh Hart is the FIRST player in NBA History to record the following statistics in the first 46 games of a season:

• 600+ PTS
• 450+ REB
• 250+ AST
• Under 125 TOV (he has 89)

I would guess that Thibs has written in giant letters on the chalkboard:

FOLLOW THE CUTTERS!

(or Jokic will carve us up)

Richard Jefferson gunning for president of the Thibs Minutes Police.

Knicks already beat the Nuggets by 27 earlier in the season at Denver, how many times do the Knicks have to blow them out?

Richard Jefferson gunning for president of the Thibs Minutes Police

He’s jumping on the bandwagon, there are some here (myself included) that deserve it more… 😉

Thank god I can watch this game on MSG, Ryan Ruocco’s voice annoys the hell out of me

Haven’t worn or admired a tie in years but Mike Breen’s tonight is sweet! Clyde looking fly too. Go Knicks!

saw on twitter that Westbrook to Jokic is the number one assist combo in the league this year. Everyone in the media made fun of Jokic for wanting to get Russ but it turns out he might have known what he was talking about

Jokic in foul trouble… Jokic in foul trouble…

(in a childish sing-song voice)

Whenever i’m here on time, the game starts super late. 😛

That’s just standard for NBA games, it’s super annoying. Unlike this game which is pretty fun so far!

the Nuggets really completely fall apart the minute Jokic steps off the court

More proof that he’s the real MVP.

Knicks are not looking like a mezzanine team so far! 🏀🏀🏀

I’d love to know how many people are going to go to Abu Dhabi because they watch MSG

Better than Fanduel though

Westbrook bricking a three, somehow getting his own rebound then missing the putback is a quintessential Russ sequence

I’d love to know how many people are going to go to Abu Dhabi because they watch MSG

Better than Fanduel though

Is it? UAE is a slave state.

I remember my buddy telling me about meeting Westbrook. Said you can’t believe how big a guy he is in person

OG just chased a steal near the top of the circle, was late, missed, then ran down court while Denver scored. Then posted up because he was first guy down. Happens too much. Can’t happen come spring time.

Would be interesting to know how many of his leak outs happen because he leaves early.

Knicks replay challenge complex is more advanced than deepseek and cheaper

Quantum computing.

We are not a mezzanine team in some other universes. 😉

We are not a mezzanine team in some other universes.

Everything Everywhere All at Once!

Yankees are also excellent with their replay challenges, I’m pretty sure under Girardi they were by far the most successful at challenging calls.

Knicks’ll win this. They’re on a general up wave right now.

EDIT: Unless they keep laying total brick from the charity stripe.

Is it me? Or is Deuce shooting a lot worse since the crowd started to chant “Deeeeeeuce” when he shoots the ball?

Deuce might be drunk, but he knocked the ball out of Westbrook’s hands with a helmet-to-helmet tackle. Not easy to do.

We’ve run more in the last 2 games than we did for whole seasons under Thibs.

Might be nice if we could turn them into points.

Between the missing FT’s and OG/Deuce/Precious string of missed layups/bunnies I’m ready to throw something at the TV

Leaving in Towns to be the 5 while our starting wings are on the bench is an interesting strategy – especially since Jokic wasn’t playing.

weird feeling to the game, we haven’t trailed much, but it doesn’t feel like we have much a lead at all…

jokic hasn’t even had an impact on the game yet…

I was pretty confident Jokic was going to hit that shot at the buzzer

Same. Yelled at the TV not to let him shoot that.

Astonishingly quiet half from Joker. I expect destruction in the second.

Six points is a helpful lead but should be 12

I was pretty confident Jokic was going to hit that shot at the buzzer

I wasn’t worried, I think he’s only like a 30% shooter from beyond midcourt (-:

Up 6 at halftime, but it feels like we are losing given Jokic and Porter played limited minutes.

Bridges having a rough night shooting.

Bad from the FT line.

We had some missed finishes that were bad.

Shamet still sucks.

he looks okay on defense, but really shaky shooting right now…

need those minutes from him though…we need mikal and OG to plat a little less and be able to get after it on defense…

I’m not sure how to feel about that 1st half…

What matters is being up by 1pt in the end, how we get there doesn’t matter. 😉

I wasn’t worried, I think he’s only like a 30% shooter from beyond midcourt (-:

After that shot he’s only 1/41 for his career on heaves. But this season he’s up to 1/13, ~0.08%

What a bum!!!

The uneasiness comes from the fact that its halftime and the world’s greatest player has yet to make an impact on a game where his team is only down by 2 baskets. And you know that he will eventually have an impact … its an inevitability. We will just have to ride on the fact that we have the better team.

Gonna be interesting to see Thibs rotation in the 2nd half. Knicks have 2 days off before their next game, wouldn’t be surprised if he rides the starters hard for the rest of this game.

If we shot league average from the line we’d be up the 10 we should be up.

But mostly Bridges needs to have a good half after that brick fest.

We’re getting destroyed under the boards, we need to score every time we get a rebound on both side or we’re gonna lose this game badly.

We have to make the most out of this dumb take foul

P.S. and KAT was blocked on a layup/dunk

Picking up your 4th foul via the most obvious transition take foul of all time is certainly a choice

KAT is sleepwalking in this game. It’s stuff like this that gives him a rep as a soft player. His fingers are injured, and it’s taken him out of the game.

Denver’s strategy of forcing OG to dribble by passing him the ball every time down the court does not seem to be working.

for a while I haven’t really understood the notion that jokic is a bad defender…

he’s not quick with his feet, but he positions himself well…he is pretty quick with his hands…

plays a lot of minutes and most nights carries the offense…

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shot bounce in like that before.

Kawhi against Philly for the Raptors, maybe.

Seeing Mikal being congratulated by Deuce made me wonder if they’re even the same species. Talk about different morphs.

We took a punch in the face but we reacted well thanks to The Little General’s great quarter. Let’s close it!

Monster quarter by Brunson. I am so proud to be rooting for these guys, they are laying it all out there!

At our best, you can really see the vision. It seems exhausting to keep up with 5 guys as offensively skilled as our top guns.

Didn’t even realize Brunson has 30, he’s so consistently good it’s inoculated me to when he’s cooking

Sent to my son “If Brunson switched to ON, you better tell Jokic to do the same, or we’ll win the game” 😀

I’ve been watching Jalen Brunson for 3 years, and I still can’t believe how fucking good he is

I’ve been watching Jalen Brunson for 3 years, and I still can’t believe how fucking good he is

Same here. Very happy to have him as our captain. 🙂

Precious is so close to being a real solution on this team, but he still makes some questionable decisions and his shot has to improve.

Should consider putting OG on Murray so they can switch the Jokic screen, but Mikal did a great job icing that last screen

I just poured some Slane triple-casked Irish whiskey that I got for a Christmas gift, hoping that we will be Slane the Nuggets shortly…

Switching Precious onto Murray and Mikal standing tall against Jokic was great. Cam shot, less so.

This may be a game where it’s best to have Precious on the court. The lack of boards are killing us.

One of Brunson best games, he’s finding the perfect balance between passing and shooting.
And Josh’s play through the seams of the defense is outstanding.

Mikal is such a great finisher

Both he and Hart.

If we could infuse OG and Precious with a little of that…. oh boy!

Not turning the ball over does neutralize slightly how we have been crushed on the boards

OG should have dunked there!

Can’t finish well unless he dunks and it was there!

I was writing my OG post for tomorrow’s thread in my head and then he does that.

Towns’ hand is pretty clearly affecting his shooting, but you’ve really gotta, ahem, hand it to him for still finding ways to contribute

Not sure Jokic would have even passed the Rucker Park test tonight. Gotta be his worst game of the year.

Most points by the Knicks ever over a three-game period, and we’re not over yet.

Impressive 4th quarter, when we defend with this focus and intensity and play selfless basketball you can really dream.

Great game from JB, alas I’m still worried about KAT’s hand, he’s sucking it up but his shot is not okay.

Imagine spending two years whining about this team

Imagine? This is Knickerblogger. It will happen.

Brunson: “Lotta room for improvement.”

That’s a nice thing to hear… especially after a ten-point win over a very good team.

That 3rd quarter showed me something. We could’ve easily faltered and done a classics fake comeback but ends in a loss thing but we stayed steady.

Who was it here that said a title contender needs an MVP level player to be legit?

Jalen Brunson is that guy.

Hell of a win tonight when we weren’t playing our best for most of the game. Would like to see if KAT could get some rest before the allstar break to hopefully get his hand right.

Houston is probably a tougher test than Denver, they’re really rolling. Hopefully we can get an easy win against the ADless Lakers before that one

LA without AD is nothing. That said, it makes for a perfect trap game. Kind of don’t care either way, honestly; I want to see what we are against Houston.

Denver exposed a couple of issues we’ve known about, but we beat a very good Nuggets team.

Should we be worried about KAT’s thumb?

Is it still bothering him because it’s new and still healing or is this an impactful pain issue until off season surgery?

Impressive 4th quarter, when we defend with this focus and intensity and play selfless basketball you can really dream.

This ^^^^^^^^^^

Brunson’s 2nd highest assist total with 15 tonight. His career high of 17 was also this year.

The bench was a major difference maker tonight, again. Precious came up big while KAT was out and Deuce was on the loose.

Who was it here that said a title contender needs an MVP level player to be legit?

Jalen Brunson is that guy.

Not exactly an uncommon belief. Only a handful of teams have won or been in contention for a title without a guy you could realistically see win MVP. Off the top of my head, there’s the Pistons championships, the 2014 Spurs, and last year’s Celtics.

KAT was good down the stretch and played some good D (for him).

But yeah Precious and Deuce shoring up the bench is making a huge difference.

Also that felt like the easiest 30 ever from Brunson. His assisting has been great. Just when you think he can’t get better he adds that element to his game to get everyone involved.

And Hart. Just can’t say enough good things about that dude.

Houston will definitely be the toughest team we face in the mid season mezzanine tournament.

Not exactly an uncommon belief. Only a handful of teams have won or been in contention for a title without a guy you could realistically see win MVP.

And Jalen Brunson is that guy!

Just think how much we would’ve won by if we’d had a really good offensive rebounder available…

Not sure Jokic would have even passed the Rucker Park test tonight. Gotta be his worst game of the year.

He must have spent the afternoon at Gaitway Farm in Englishtown, NJ watching his trotters train…

I would have preferred to win by enough that Matt Ryan could play, but I will accept a still dominant win over a contender.

Fuck off, the rest of the NBA!

By Post Author

Just a note — total eye test, but the last three games it feels like Brunson has really stepped up his defensive game, too. He’s closing hard, pushing guys around, getting around screens, getting into scrums to snatch the ball, getting his hands up, challenging shots. He even had that block!

Odd that Ja and Jokic had two terrible games in a row against us … MVP candidates taking advantage of NY nightlife?

I thought that was KAT’s best defensive game of the year. I also wonder if the bad thumb is making KAT focus more on D sicne his O is someshat. limited. Also, his offensive rebound putbacks were huge.

Minutes Police can put away their batons. OG 39, Mikal 37, Jalen 36, Hart 34, KAT 30. Not perfect, but not that bad, either.

‘Someshat limited’ is a great line. How’s the scotch?

With notes of vanilla, banana, butterscotch, dried stone fruits and subtle baking spice, each sip takes you on a sensory journey, uncovering the subtle layers of this whiskey’s complex character.

The state line is one thing, but context is key: Jokic was a non-factor for a big portion of this game.

Sure Jokic had a bad game but the important thing is that RJ was 5-10 for 11 points tonight

The New York Knicks since December 1st:

Record: 21-8
Net Rating: +9.9 (3rd)
Offense: 2nd (121.1)
Defense: 6th (111.2)

Sure Jokic had a bad game but the important thing is that RJ was 5-10 for 11 points tonight

Why? Seriously …. why?

The New York Knicks since December 1st:

Record: 21-8
Net Rating: +9.9 (3rd)
Offense: 2nd (121.1)
Defense: 6th (111.2)

As answered to JK’s comment yesterday, there are three things that could make a difference in our overall chances, and the first was more gelling. Those numbers underscore the eye test that this team has gelled a lot since the beginning of the season.

Edit: I wonder if two more months will make a further big improvement in the numbers

In thinking about this win, it reminded me of our loss in OKC, except this time instead of getting run off the court in the 4th, we were the ones that overwhelmed them with relentless D. Have we improved or was this just an easier opponent? Probably some of both. But I would love to have another shot at those guys.

In thinking about this win, it reminded me of our loss in OKC, except this time instead of getting run off the court in the 4th, we were the ones that overwhelmed them with relentless D. Have we improved or was this just an easier opponent? Probably some of both. But I would love to have another shot at those guys.

I haven’t checked but I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that the minutes distribution was way better going into the 4th quarter of this game than it was in the previous OKC game. I maintain that the improved bench play and health is the difference.

Edit: I wonder if two more months will make a further big improvement in the numbers

It does if you think there is still more potential in our bench. But that largely depends on Mitch coming back right and being able to play 18-20 minutes a game.

Two points. First, the bench play made a huge difference the last couple of weeks. They hold their own and gradually Thibs started trusting them. This means fresher legs in the fourth. Second point. Those days off they had between games last week, and the practices they had, literally transformed the Knicks defense. The level and consistency of the defense we saw recently is outstanding.

See Jalen Brunson quote above. The Cap says lots of room still for improvement. Gonna tell HIM he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?

One potential benefit of this winning streak going into the deadline is that it makes us seem less desperate to make a trade, i.e. puts us in a better negotiating position.

I can’t think of one instance tonight where Jokic did one of his patented moves- holding the ball high over his head and hitting a cutter for a dunk or a layup

That’s a testament to our new found commitment to defense, guys are staying connected and giving up very few easy buckets to the opposition

So refreshing to see (finally)

I’m glad that Leon didn’t punt on one of Jalen’s prime years. This team really gets my juices flowing.

Kyle Lowry with 13/5/8 off the Sixers bench in 26 minutes last night. It’s kind of like Kobe’s 60 points in his final game, except for in this case no one saw it.

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