The Knicks ran out of gas against the Thunder’s young upstart team. New York’s promising offense never got help on the defensive end.
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The New York Knicks let another game slip in the fourth quarter and overtime. This time the Knicks fall to the Oklahoma City Thunder 123 to 127. New York’s offense was rolling for three quarters with Julius Randle playmaking, shooters making shots, and Mitchell Robinson feasting inside. But New York’s offense never translated to the defensive side of things, as OKC hung around through transition offense and threes.
The Knicks’ offense ground to a halt in the fourth quarter as the Thunder’s youth scrapped into overtime and stole a lead. New York would have multiple opportunities to tie thanks to the Thunder’s missed free throws. With a three-point deficit and one last shot, Immanuel Quickley caught a baseline pass for a good look that rimmed out.
New York scored 94 points through the first three quarters, then eighteen points in the fourth and just eleven in overtime. Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes made some clutch plays, but not enough to close. The Knicks let a golden opportunity to win slip away for the second time in a row. There are no excuses for collapses, but let’s see what worked and where New York collapsed as we review the performances.
Strong offense but not much defense from the Knicks’ starting line-up
Kemba Walker: 9 PTS (3/9 FG, 2/5 3PT, 1/1 FT), 5 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL, 2 BLK in 26 mins
The good news is that Kemba Walker’s three-point range appears to be coming back. The bad news is that he’s still not mustering much scoring to make up for his defensive deficiencies. Walker hit a pair of threes and drove for an additional three-point play, but he was blanketed the rest of the way.
Nine points and five assists wouldn’t be so bad if not for Walker’s struggles with perimeter defense. The Thunder seemed to be hunting him down to run through screens for space to fire up threes. Josh Giddey beat Walker through screens for a series of shots and kickout assists from start to finish of their match-up. Kemba’s offense was decent in this content, but his defense couldn’t hold up.
Walker’s playmaking deserves some appreciation, however. He has a knack for finding Fournier and Randle in positions to attack. The New York native would likely help out with late-game execution if his defense weren’t such a liability that he never gets a chance to close. Walker’s flaws outweighed his strengths in this one, so he gets a 1.5 out of 5 on impact.
Evan Fournier: 29 PTS (10/18, 6/13 3PT, 3/3 FT), 5 AST, 4 REB, 2 STL, 1 BLK in 45 mins
Evan Fournier bounced back from a brutal game against Portland, and he did it almost immediately. Fournier knocked down a pair of early threes and pounced with twelve points in the first quarter. He would knock down timely threes at almost every key juncture of this game. It’s unfortunate that the French wing didn’t get the shot at tying this game in overtime.
The other big story for Fournier was his passing. The shooter repeatedly attacked the lanes off the dribble and made quick feeds to cutters and shooters alike. His five assists would have a few more if players hadn’t been fouled or had Mitchell Robinson finished a monster dunk that Fournier set up.
While Fournier’s defense was messy in the first three quarters, he came up with multiple big plays in the fourth. He grabbed a big defensive board, had a steal that led to Quentin Grimes’ go-ahead lay-up late, and blocked a shot from Giddey. Fournier did his part through and through. I’m giving him a 4 out of 5 for his impact and execution.
Quentin Grimes: 19 PTS (7/18 FG, 5/14 3PT), 7 REB, 1 STL, 2 BLK, 1 TO in 40 mins
It didn’t feel like Quentin Grimes took 18 shots. That’s probably because so much of his offense came within the flow of the game. He didn’t force many shots beyond some rushed attempts late in the shot-clock. Instead, Grimes found open spots on the floor and took advantage whenever the defense gave him an inch.
We celebrate when Grimes is scoring, but his defense is the constant. Grimes was all over the place as usual, doing his part to cover a lot of ground. The biggest problem with him taking extra shots is that it leaves him late to get back in transition. When Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier are your only line of defense in transition, a bunch of rookies are liable to have career nights.
Grimes was big on the boards too, contributing the third most on the team. He has a knack for getting to where the ball is going whether that’s open spots on offense, scoring lanes on defense, or rebounding position. The more we see him play, the clearer it becomes that Grimes was a gem of a pick. The rookie gets a 3 out of 5 for impact in another strong game.
Julius Randle: 30 PTS (11/26 FG, 1/5 3PT, 7/7 FT), 10 AST, 13 REB, 7 TO in 45 mins
Jekyll and Hyde performances are fairly common for Julius Randle, but I think this one came down to exhaustion. Randle was brilliant for most of three quarters. He got deep position often and feasted against the Thunder inside. When Randle faced up from the perimeter, he generally looked to set up dribble hand-offs for shooters off his screens. It all worked to near perfection.
But by the fourth quarter, the Thunder were doubling and trapping Randle. He spun into crowds, threw passes into the crowd, and struggled to find teammates amid multiple defenders. The more the game slowed down, the easier Randle became to guard. We can’t expect New York’s star to shoulder the team with a triple-double over forty-five minutes without slowing down and making some mistakes.
I’m not excusing Randle’s decision-making, but fatigue was clearly a factor in his mistakes mounting late. The good news is that his effort didn’t seem to wane. He’s playing his best basketball of the season, coinciding with the faster pace of the offense. But as his turnovers compiled, New York finished with a disappointing and familiar result. Randle grabs a 3.5 out of 5 for his impact, dipping below 4 despite the triple-double.
Mitchell Robinson: 14 PTS (6/9 FG, 2/4 FT), 17 REB, 4 STL, 4 BLK, 2 TO in 41 mins
The Knicks’ defense needed Mitchell Robinson. That’s not hyperbole, New York’s defense was a mess, and Robinson at least provided cover inside. He couldn’t prevent Josh Giddey from finding an open shooter on the perimeter, but Mitch denied virtually anything loose ball within his orbit. He tallied eight stocks thanks to active hands whether the ball handler tried to drive past, shoot over, or pass around him. Mitch even denied Giddey in isolation on a switch in the fourth quarter.
The big man’s recent play has taken a leap thanks to rebounding. I lost count of how often Mitchell Robinson rose up in a sea of Thunder jerseys and pulled down a rebound. The second chances that Mitch produced were crucial in keeping New York close or ahead for most of the night. This marked the eleventh time since January started that Robinson grabbed double-digit boards. That’s even more impressive when you consider he’s played in 19 games during that span and had two of those nights cut short from injury.
I think there’s an argument to be made that Mitchell Robinson has been New York’s best player. For the gaudy output of Julius Randle lately and RJ Barrett before that; neither player is a guarantee for two-way success. Robinson impacts the Knicks’ defense just as much as New York’s stars impact its offense. He’s quickly playing himself into a bigger contract range this offseason and deserves every penny. Mitch gets a 4 out of 5 for his impact in this game.
Not enough production to earn more minutes for the Knicks’ second unit
Immanuel Quickley: 0 PTS (0/7 FG, 0/5 3PT), 5 AST, 2 TO in 14 mins
Solid playmaking simply hasn’t been enough to make up for Immanuel Quickley’s inability to make buckets. He fired from mid and long-range early to no avail against the Thunder. His shooting woes meant early trips to the bench in both halves. IQ got one last chance at redemption with the last attempt of overtime, but couldn’t connect.
The frustrating part is that IQ has some beautiful passes in every performance. He threw two nice alley-oops to Obi Toppin for the one. Quickley also played solid defense, which puts him ahead of many perimeter players in the rotation. But he can’t miss all seven of his attempts and expect much playing time.
Alec Burks: 11 PTS (3/11 FG, 1/5 3PT, 4/5 FT), 3 AST, 6 REB, 2 BLK, 1 TO in 27 mins
I get why Alec Burks was out there at point guard to close this game. Immanuel Quickley couldn’t sniff a basket and Kemba Walker’s defense made him impossible to play. That meant Burks running the offense for most of the fourth and overtime. That also happens to be when the offense slowed down, became turnover prone, and lost its rhythm. I don’t blame Burks for the collapse, but New York needs a PG that can take command in these situations.
To Burks’ credit, he actually drew some whistles and made some nice plays in that fourth quarter. He’s still clinging to his efficiency through trips to the free-throw line, but it’s just enough to keep him afloat. On the downside, he took the Knicks last shot in regulation while fishing for contact and a whistle. The shot had no chance of going in and was like a perfect microcosm of the Knicks’ futility late.
It’s frustrating that Burks is a jack-of-all-trades type of player being asked to do too much. He scored, made some nice passes, got boards, and wasn’t too and on defense either. But he also failed to keep the offense running down the stretch. Burks gets a 2 out of 5 for impact which is a solid score off the bench.
Cam Reddish: 2 PTS (1/2 FG) in 8 mins
It’s virtually always apparent that Cam Reddish brings a new element to the floor when he gets time with the Knicks. Reddish is a fluid athlete with enough ball-handling to get into the teeth of the defense. He flashed that athleticism in his brief appearance in the first half, but barely after.
Obi Toppin: 7 PTS (3/8 FG, 0/4 3PT, 1/2 FT), 2 REB, 1 TO in 8 mins
Obi Toppin’s first stint was fairly quiet, with two missed threes and another miss from a post-up. Sure, he had a monstrous alley-oop dunk but his limited minutes didn’t seem out of order between Randle’s passing and Toppin’s missed shots. There wasn’t as much excuse when he started to create more chaos in the paint for the second half.
Toppin, as usual, was at his best with momentum toward the basket. Two of his three field goals were alley-oops from Immanuel Quickley. The big man asserted himself to get up more attempts from inside and long-range but didn’t have much luck. His night ended early, with solid numbers to show for it, but I’d have liked to see him give Randle more rest.
Taj Gibson: 2 PTS (1/1 FG), 4 REB, 1 BLK in 12 mins
Taj Gibson’s short minutes were well-played. He grabbed three offensive rebounds in traffic and provided his usual quality screening and defense. But Mitchell Robinson was having a brilliant game so Gibson served only to buy Mitch a few breathers throughout the action. That said, Taj did a nice job in his limited action.
Forty minutes per starter to lose against rookies for Tom Thibodeau
Tom Thibodeau:
Tom Thibodeau’s night looked like a comedy of errors in retrospect. His thinly veiled distrust of his young players meant that four of five starters played over 40 minutes in this game. That led to diminishing returns at the latter portions of action. But Thibodeau added even more obstacles to New York’s success when he burned through two timeouts attempting to challenge calls. The first challenge failed, and the second challenge didn’t exist because coaches only get one challenge. More importantly, that second time out was New York’s last and left them playing in a tight game for the final minute without a chance to advance the ball or draw up a play.
Let’s revisit the minutes allotments. Obi Toppin, the top-ten pick from last season got 8 minutes. Cam Reddish, acquired for a first-rounder a few weeks back and playing well lately, also got just 8 minutes. Even Immanuel Quickley who played great last season and spent the offseason developing a whole new skillset received just 14 minutes. Thibodeau’s handling of these young players is starting to look like an indictment of the front office. The starters are running on fumes and choking away leads late, but Thibodeau still can’t find minutes to rest them.
This game was a disaster for the coach. He mishandled minutes, time-outs, challenges, and anything in between. To add insult to injury, he ran his veterans into the ground against the Thunder’s obvious tank. Oklahoma won by running the ball through two rookies and a third-year player. Sometimes trusting youth and letting them learn can pay long term dividends despite short-term challenges. Since Tom Thibodeau hasn’t learned that lesson despite his reputation in three different cities, he’s getting a 1 out of 5 for this loss.
Closing Thoughts
The play-in games have become the bane of my existence. The Knicks were fresh off an embarrassing loss to the tanking Portland Trail Blazers and locked in a bitter battle with the tanking Thunder, but MSG managed to flash a graphic with the Knicks being one win away from being one win out of a play-in spot. The NBA All-Star break is one game away and the twelfth place Knicks are trying to sell me on the playoffs (cue Jim Mora’s famous clip here).
It wouldn’t be as bad if Tom Thibodeau weren’t force-feeding minutes to a handful of veterans that the front office was actively trying to get rid of at the trade deadline. He’s not pumping Alec Burks’ value for the offseason by playing the guy out of position nightly. I thought that injuries would open paths for young players to get opportunities and learn on the court. Instead, injuries just mean that struggling vets get five to ten extra minutes of damaging their efficiency numbers.
This was supposed to be a soft patch for New York. Instead, they went 1-2 against tanking opponents. The Brooklyn Nets are next, with a slew of contenders and playoff teams waiting after the All-Star break. It’s hard to imagine the Knicks salvaging goodwill with any single win. But beating Brooklyn does always feel a bit sweeter than normal. I’ll cross my fingers for the Knicks to find success against the Nets and Obi to add a dunk contest trophy during the break. I’ll see you after the clash of NY teams, Knicks fam!
Stay tuned to KnicksFanTV.com for the latest Knicks news, rumors, and recaps throughout the 2021-22 NBA season. And in case you missed it, make sure to check out CP on SNY, where he discusses whether or not Mitchell Robinson is part of the Knicks’ future.
