The New York Knicks are 0-1 in the In-Season Tournament. Can they bounce back tonight and defeat the Washington Wizards?
The New York Knicks are 6-5 on the season, but they’re 0-1 in the In-Season Tournament after losing a close one to the Milwaukee Bucks a few weeks back. However, with New York facing the Washington Wizards today for their second In-Season Tournament match, maybe they can bounce back and stay in the mix for the group play round.
The Knicks are favored in tonight’s matchup against the Wizards, and rightfully so. The Knicks have the fifth-best defensive rating, and their offensive rating jumped from 27th to 14th over the last six games. As for the Wizards, their offensive rating is ranked 22nd, and their defensive rating is 27th. So, by those metrics, New York should have their way with Washington. But after a cardiac Knicks affair against the Atlanta Hawks, you can never put anything against this team.
So, what must the Knicks do to get back into the mix for the In-Season Tournament? Well, let’s discuss.
Knicks need to attack the rim
As I noted, the Wizards currently have one of the worst defenses in the league. But their weakness is protecting the space inside the arc. According to Cleaning the Glass, Washington ranks 30th at defending the rim when it comes to opponents accuracy. Seeing those numbers, the Knicks should be licking their chops because that is where they thrive as a team.
With Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle getting off to slow starts and RJ Barrett being in and out of the lineup due to injury or illness, the Knicks’ ability to attack the cup hasn’t been consistent.
Thankfully, it seems like Randle has found his groove while embracing a new way of playing the game—he’s attacking the rim more rather than settling for difficult midrange jumpers. To give you an idea of how Randle’s approach has changed this season, he’s attempting 31 percent of his shots around the rim, 37 percent from midrange, and 32 percent are threes. This is a more well-balanced approach compared to last season, where 22 percent of his shots came from around the rim, 32 percent were from midrange, and 40 percent from three.
Of course, percentages only do so much. But when watching Randle this season, he started the year taking his difficult midrange jumpers, which are highly contested stepbacks and sidesteps. But returning from his ankle injury, he’s had to switch his game since those shots weren’t falling (there probably was a discussion of a scoring gameplan change for him, too), so he has been getting downhill and using his physicality to punish defenders and to get to the free throw line.
As for Brunson, he is getting to his spots, but his shots aren’t connecting consistently as we’ve become accustomed to last season. Last year, he finished 60 percent of his shots around the rim, while this season, he’s only connecting on 43 percent. That’s a massive drop, and part of the reason might be due to the fatigue of playing in FIBA. But we should be confident that he’ll bounce back because, as we’ve seen, he was able to close the game against the Hawks and connect on 6-10 shots from downtown. Also, he dropped 45 points against the Bucks in the last tournament matchup and kept the Knicks in the game while everyone else struggled to shoot.
As for Barrett, he’s been the most consistent scorer for the Knicks this season, and that’s saying a lot about how the Knicks have started and how RJ has improved his game. RJ is completing 61 percent of his shots at the rim. This is huge for RJ, considering he has never averaged 60 percent or greater at the rim in his career. Obviously, it is still early, but I am buying that RJ has figured out his strengths.
So if the Knicks win over the Hornets is a benchmark for how this team could look when the Knicks’ big three (and the rest of the group) click on all cylinders, then this matchup should be the Wizards’ worst nightmare.
The Knicks must expose the Wizards’ lack of midrange defense
Returning to Cleaning the Glass, the Wizards rank 28th at allowing opponents to hit the midrange. So once again, the Knicks should be as happy as a pig in slop.
However, the question for the Knicks based on their slow offensive start: Will the Knicks’ midrange shots fall tonight?
Now, because the Knicks haven’t hit their stride, their numbers aren’t there yet—they currently rank 22nd in midrange accuracy. But since this is the same core that returned from last season, the Knicks have a solid midrange shooting team.
New York ranked as the 13th-best midrange shooting team based on previous year’s stats. And that is thanks to Brunson, Randle, Immanuel Quickley, and a dash of Isaiah Hartenstein (he’s got a legit floater). All the players mentioned shot 45 percent or greater from midrange last year. And to get an idea of how good that is for each player, here is where they ranked amongst their peers:
- Brunson was in the 85 percentile amongst point guards, shooting 49 percent
- Isaiah Hartenstein was in the 76 percentile amongst bigs, shooting 49 percent
- Quickley was in the 71 percentile amongst combo guards, shooting 46 percent
- Randle was in the 71 percentile amongst forwards, shooting 45 percent
Currently, only Quickley is shooting above 45 percent from midrange—he’s shooting 51 percent—while Brunson, Randle, and Hartenstein are all shooting 40 percent or less.
However, the expectation is that the Knicks’ top midrange shooters will get back to form by midseason. But hopefully, they start getting back into shape tonight.
Make Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole work
The Knicks must attack Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole on the defensive end. Since both are tasked with the heavy lifting on offense, they’re not playing the best defense—Kuzma has a 122.4 defensive rating, and Poole has a 126.5 rating. So, whether New York is attacking Kuzma and Poole in isolation or while off-ball, they need to exploit them on defense in every way possible.
Conversely, the Knicks need to be careful not to allow Kuzma and Poole to go nuclear. We have seen these guys catch fire and light up a gym in no time. So, New York needs to continue to bring the intensity on defense they have to start the season.
Knicks need to dominate the boards
The Knicks are the third-best rebounding team, while the Wizards are dead last. A reason for New York’s success as a rebounding team is because of Randle, Hartenstein, Mitchell Robinson, and Josh Hart. The rest of New York’s team is filled with willing rebounders as well, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise considering this is a Tom Thibodeau-led team (outside of his coaching career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, his teams have always ranked in the top 10 in rebounding).
Now, saying the Knicks need to dominate the board is like saying the sky is blue. It’s essentially guaranteed. But when it comes to punishing the Wizards on the boards tonight, I am looking at Mitchell Robinson against Daniel Gafford.
In previous matchups, Robinson and Garrod have been an almost even battle between Mitch and Gafford. However, with Robinson’s dominant start to the season, I expect him to overpower Gafford.
I am expecting Robinson not only to secure most of the rebounds, as we saw him do against Mark Williams and Clint Capella earlier this week. Yet, I believe Mitch will feast offensively inside the paint, whether getting putbacks or being fed in the paint for easy buckets.
With that said, I am not expecting Mitch to get 15 points or greater. But I think he should get a double-double in this game.
Knicks bench needs to pay attention to Bilal Coulibaly
Bilal Coulibaly has been making quite a name for himself to start the season. Dave Johnson, the Wizards play-by-play broadcaster for 27 years, gave Coulibaly high praise while speaking with me in this week’s Game of the Week Preview. Dave talked about how Coulibaly has a very professional approach to the game and is already making significant strides in the NBA because of his attention to detail when prepping for games. And that is very noticeable in his most recent games.
The box score only does him partial justice because when you watch him on the floor, he is poised and understands what he wants to do with the rock. From the footage of him, it only takes a second or so to decide whether he wants to shoot, facilitate, or attack the rim.
Now, he is still a rookie and getting caught up to NBA speed. So, I am not expecting him to take over a game as Quickley could. Nonetheless, he’s been very impactful for the Wizards and has kept them in games. So he is someone the Knicks need to keep in check and not take him lightly.
Hopefully the Knicks can enter the win column for the In-Season Tournament tonight. While the Wizards have been what seems like to be a pushover, they have the capability of turning up the heat. Let’s see if the Knicks are ready for their matchup in the Nation’s capital.
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below! Also, stay tuned to KnicksFanTV.com for the latest Knicks news, rumors, and recaps throughout the NBA season. And in case you missed it, check out CP on SNY talking about Julius Randle’s hot stretch!
