The New York Knicks scored below 90 points for the third straight game, losing another blowout to the Charlotte Hornets 88 to 109.
The Knicks saw another healthy dose of zone defense while the already depleted unit was down another shooter in Reggie Bullock. That left New York with few answers on offense outside of a second quarter run from Kevin Knox.
The Knicks offense generated plenty of decent looks, but shooters simply failed to convert. Playing from behind is never easy, and without reliable jumpers to create space the task was Herculean. Offense didn’t come easy and the Hornets always seemed to make a timely three pointer to kill any comeback momentum.
New York struggled against ball pressure and in space. Shooting struggles led to less off ball movement which led stagnation for ball-handlers. Even Julius Randle was visibly frustrated in a third straight blowout. The Knicks left the game below .500, in desperate need of a boost. Let’s check out how this one got away from them.
Elfrid Payton: Elfrid Payton turned in a more efficient effort than his past few games, leading the starters in scoring. He was effective on attempts inside, but still hasn’t found a jumper and has yet to distinguish himself as playmaker. The Knicks’ starting point guard was competent, but little else. He did enough to keep the team afloat but never generated momentum for his teammates.
Over 31 minutes, Payton scored 15 points, 4 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals with 3 turnovers. He shot 7/14 from the floor and 1/3 from three while missing both free throws that he attempted. The lead ball handler gets into the paint often and he uses the kickout threat to create space for floaters. But his offense often feels like it comes at the expense of spacing for everyone else. The negative impact is especially clear on RJ Barrett.
Payton comes away with a 2.5 out of 5 for his performance. It was a perfectly average game, lacking any bite to give it further value. If anything, this felt like a bad omen. Payton played a solid game but it did little to help the rest of the starters or improve other players on the floor. That’s worrisome coming out of a point guard’s performance.
Austin Rivers: Austin Rivers’ first start in orange and blue saw solid scoring but nothing else. The Knicks’ starting unit needed spacing and Rivers did his best to provide it. The combo guard took frequent three pointers. There was a bit of JR Smith to the way that Rivers made even broken plays look threatening. Unfortunately, Doc’s son was unable to generate much off the dribble. That’s hard to blame on the combo guard though, he spent most of his time without a real catch and shoot threat spacing the floor.
Rivers played 38 minutes to generate 13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal with 3 TO’s. He shot 5/12 from the field and 3/9 from three. New York needed a frequent shooting threat and the combo guard provided as much. Charlotte’s zone defense clogged passing lanes and created traffic for everyone, Rivers picked up turnovers in that chaos without finishing much inside.
The three-point shooting keeps Rivers afloat with a 2 out of 5, but his failures to produce elsewhere on the sheet reduce the score. The newcomer led the Knicks in minutes and his productivity simply doesn’t reflect almost 40 minutes of play. That said, the willingness to shoot and attack off the dribble would have been better served if anyone around could hit a shot.
RJ Barrett: Ben Wallace could probably give RJ Barrett shooting tips right now. Barrett’s jumper continued to be his Achilles’ heel, but he at least managed to show off the rest of his skillset against the Hornets. The jumpers that RJ took in this game, were for the most part wide open. Shooting struggles seemed to create hesitance everywhere else. Most notably RJ had an ugly post possession that ended with a Hayward block. A couple of third quarter assists helped the prospect to snap out of his malaise. Barrett’s game began to build from hard drive and kicks as well as tough work on the glass.
The maple mamba fought for 35 minutes, accumulating 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to just 1 TO. He shot 5/18 from the field, 0/5 from three and 1/2 from the free throw line. Barrett found some success late by taking more determined paths to the basket. He was practically taking his first step before the ball reached his hands at some points. The young man couldn’t shoot, but he did use the extra space given to build some downhill speed and momentum. That extra kinetic energy got Barrett his best results of the night.
Barrett’s performance isn’t only tanked by 11 points on 18 attempts. The youngster lost a major match-up with Gordon Hayward, who looked like Pistol Pete meets Larry Bird for most of the night. RJ gets a 1 out of 5 for the combination of inefficiency and badly lost match-up with a star. This isn’t all doom and gloom though. Barrett may have found something with the force that he used to attack the lane late. The youngster doesn’t have the most explosive first step, but he is strong as a bull and can generate a lot of power across the gaps that defenders are giving him.
Julius Randle: Whether it was frustration, fatigue, or both; Julius Randle had his worst performance of the season so far. The centerpiece for the offense rarely had room to attack for himself and was relegated to using his own gravity to find other players. Unfortunately, shooters didn’t hit, and some of Randle’s passes weren’t connecting. On two occasions in the third quarter, Randle sailed a pass out of bounds when he expected off-ball movement from players that stayed in the corner. The leader was demonstrably upset with the lack of motion.
The former Kentucky big man played for 30 minutes and finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists to 4 turnovers and a block. He shot 2/9 from the field, 0/2 from three and 7/8 from the free throw line. Randle needed players to help him out. When Kevin Knox got hot in the second quarter, Randle was content to feed the hot hand. But for most of the 48 minutes, there was no consistent shooting threat and that severely hampered his productivity.
The performance marks a season-low for Julius Randle in my ratings. He ends with a 2.5 which still isn’t bad. It’s tough to punish Randle after the amount of attention he drew from the defense while limiting his forced possessions. The jump pass betrayed him, as Clyde noted during the broadcast, but even Randle’s turnovers came on attempts to create for other players. New York has to punish a defense that focuses so much energy on stopping their star player, at least reward the big man with assists.
Mitchell Robinson: Even with the Hornets mix of small ball and perimeter play; Mitchell Robinson’s interior presence was felt defensively. The big man had memorable blocks and compiled another multi-steal game. The disruptive hands that I’ve been praising recently are becoming a staple of his performances. Mitch also took advantage of the undersized Hornets on offense. The big man was perfect inside, picking up dunks even when players put a body on him.
Mitch spent 33 minutes putting up 12 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals with 1 turnover. He was 5/5 from the field and 2/4 from the free throw line. The big man still doesn’t even look at the rim from outside of five feet, but his gravity as a rim runner is enough to warp defenses. This game saw some of Blockinson’s impact muted though, as the Hornets were able to hit a lot of jumpers that took him out of the equation.
Robinson grabs a 3 out of 5 for his double-double. There aren’t new developments to speak about, mainly because Mitch has been doing so much good for so long now. The biggest news for New York’s big man is that his foul woes disappeared faster than RJ Barrett’s jump shot. He’s had just two games without a steal this season and he’s gone without a block just once. The big man is averaging 1.5 spg and 1.9 bpg while averaging well below 3 fouls per game. His already great defense has made another leap.
Immanuel Quickley: A floater for an and-one marked Immanuel Quickley’s entry into the game. The rookie guard would fail to convert on any further field goal attempts for the night. That didn’t stop IQ from accumulating some positive highlights through his aggression. This game saw some rookie mistakes and forces, but Quickley’s constant attack showed flashes of his potential.
IQ spent 29 minutes on the floor and put up 3 points, 4 boards and 3 assists to 1 turnover. He shot 1/10 from the field, 0/6 from three and converted his only free throw attempt. Besides his floater, IQ had some nice assists including the most accurate lob we’ve gotten to see in a while. The rookie forced a few long shots, but most of his looks were clean. That makes the shooting numbers a bit more acceptable but also adds a “not again” element to them. Knicks fans have seen many a shooter arrive in New York only to have that player’s efficiency tank. We’re witnessing as much with Reggie Bullock this season.
Quickley nets a 1.5 out of 5 for his shooting woes. This performance reminds me of Kevin Knox the game prior. Knox had rough numbers against the Nuggets, but his actual play was promising and became a positive against the Hornets. Quickley had a similarly rough night on the boxscore with Charlotte, but I think his approach can carry over into future games for positive results.
Kevin Knox: The Hornets game would have gotten ugly a lot sooner if not for Kevin Knox. The third year forward entered the game with the Knicks down 12 and hit his first 3-pointer with the Knicks down 17. Knox blacked out from three after that, taking the Knicks as far as a 1-point lead before the Hornets wrested away control of the game. The wing made the last shot of the half, a three pointer that aptly cut a renewed double-digit deficit to 7.
Knox played 29 minutes while adding 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists to 2 TO’s and a block. He shot 7/17 from the field and 5/12 from three. The Hornets didn’t allow Kev to get many looks in the second half. His game faded to obscurity from there. But the young forward’s first half single-handedly propelled the Knicks offense into competitiveness. You won’t find players his height that have a cleaner looking form. His release is surprisingly fast for such a long shooter. Now that his defense is respectable, Knox has played himself into a legitimate NBA contributor with scoring upside.
As much as I’m praising Knox here, the praise still hinges heavily on his upside. The youngster couldn’t ride his momentum into the second half. He’ll have to learn how to handle defensive adjustments when he gets cooking. Knox turns in a 2.5 out of 5 for his team high scoring and legitimate floor stretching. The youngster took roughly one-third of the Knicks three pointers and had more than half of the makes from that range. He’ll need to improve his efficiency to jump into the higher performance score ranges.
Nerlens Noel: After his nightmare performance against the Nuggets, Nerlens Noel had a strong bounce back against Charlotte. Mitchell Robinson has set a high standard for interior defense and Noel was able to keep up the pace in his back-up minutes. The big man blocked shots and changed even more when players tried to attack the lanes. We also got to see Noel complete an alley-oop from IQ.
Cruising through 15 minutes of game time, Nerlens Noel managed 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal with 1 turnover. He made his only two attempts from the field. The game was bereft of fumbled passes by the Knicks back-up center. That’s notable since I’ve harped on Noel’s drops like I would a tight end.
The big man maximized his production and impact in fifteen minutes. The Knicks got blown out. Noel was the only player with a positive plus/minus. That’s not to say he should have played much more or would have changed the outcome, but Noel gave the Knicks everything they could ask for from a brief back-up appearance. He gets a 2.5 out of 5 for generating so many positive outcomes, failing to climb higher as a limitation of his minutes.
Tom Thibodeau: This was yet another night where Tom Thibodeau’s in-game adjustments were difficult to judge due to the limitations on New York’s bench. The Payton and Barrett pairing seems like a permanent mismatch but look at the scoresheet and try to find the alternatives. IQ shot 1/10 from the field and Rivers played 38 minutes already. Unless DSJ or Jared Harper is the answer, Thibodeau didn’t have a lot to work with.
The same can be said for Gordon Hayward going off. Thibs was a bit late to intensify the defensive attention paid to Hayward, but I think the real issue here was that both Reggie Bullock and Frank Ntilikina are hurt. Those are the two players typically tasked with containing a star on the perimeter. The Knicks don’t have a third option for that role. Increased attention to Hayward, or any slasher for that matter, led to open looks for quality shooters like Graham and Rozier.
This isn’t to absolve Thibodeau though. He’s no stranger to riding a hot hand, yet the Knicks coach waited too long to bring Knox into the second half. The coach picked up a technical foul early in the game but couldn’t snap the officials out of a bad night with the whistles. Thibodeau’s not getting a pass for his third straight 20-point loss. He comes away with a 2 out of 5, spared from the 1’s by an injured list that’s long enough to break some social distancing protocols.
Closing Thoughts: I think the highs of a 5-3 record have led to bigger disappointment during this nightmarish three game stretch. New York’s shocker of a start stemmed from the fact that this was a clearly flawed team finding ways to compete. But the flaws and weaknesses weren’t hidden even when the team won. Now we’re seeing what happens when shots don’t fall and luck breaks for the opposition.
Make no mistake about this, New York is a better team than the product we’ve watched for the past few games. When players are healthy, Thibodeau will have options to try addressing opposing star players or zone defenses. That’s not to say that there are silver bullets on the injured list. This was and will always be a rebuilding team. But the ability to remain competitive on most nights depends on fresh legs and adaptability. The injury shortened rotation doesn’t allow for either of those characteristics.
The schedule isn’t going to get any easier. New York starts a 4-games in five days stretch tomorrow. There isn’t much time for players to rest, heal or practice. This can get discouraging fast, but an early test of character might not be such a bad thing. Pressure makes diamonds and the sink or swim portion of the season can’t wait. The players could respond, or Leon Rose will have plenty of excuse to make moves that emphasize the future. We’ll watch it unfold together and try to track the changes and developments along the way.
Stay tuned in to knicksfantv.com for the latest Knicks news and rumors throughout the season. Also, CP, J. Ellis and Ashley broke down the Knicks’ loss to the Hornets during last nights live stream. Check it out below.
