The New York Knicks struggled early and never recovered, losing to the Denver Nuggets 97 to 113.
The refs immediately set the tone, calling three fouls on the game’s first possession. They were visiting Nikola Jokic’s house, and he scored at will more than 20 points in the first quarter. New York’s offense struggled, scoring just 12 points in the same span. The Knicks battled the rest of the way but never came close to overcoming a 22-point deficit after the first quarter.
Julius Randle struggled from the jump. RJ Barrett hit foul trouble before the Knicks’ first possession. The offense struggled without Randle’s gravity or Barrett’s creativity. Derrick Rose led the way for the few players that maintained their consistency. It was a tough night but not without some bright spots. Let’s dig in and see what takeaways can come from the tough loss.
With leaders lacking, Knicks’ starters get overwhelmed
Elfrid Payton: Elfrid Payton’s night was a flop, thanks in large part to Facundo Campazzo. Campazzo was a pest whenever Payton made a lazy pass and a gunner if Payton’s focus slipped on defense. He was sloppy to the extent that even Clyde and Breen lost patience with his efforts at times. It wasn’t all bad, though. Elf had a strong series of plays on both ends early in the third quarter, but that makes Payton’s lapses even more frustrating.
Payton played for 17 minutes and picked up 6 points, 2 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 4 turnovers. He shot 3/7 from the field and 0/1 from the free-throw line. The stats speak for themselves here. Payton had more field goal attempts than points and twice as many turnovers as assists. A starting point guard can’t let that happen. Randle was struggling, RJ Barrett had been neutered within 10 seconds, and Payton only made the situation worse. His passing had shown improvement in some prior games, but this was a marked regression to go along with the rest of his struggles.
There’s another stat-line worth noting when I express frustration with Payton’s performance. Facundo Campazzo put up 16 points, 4 assists, 9 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocks. He didn’t only light up Payton, but the others didn’t struggle so much on offense. Payton had no answers for his match-up and couldn’t have picked worse timing. When the stars needed a pick-me-up, Payton added turnovers and poor decisions instead. Elf gets a 1 out of 5 for impact.
Reggie Bullock: Reggie Bullock’s minutes took a dip. I’m not sure why. Actually, I know why…Burks is back, so the backcourt rotation is expanding. But Bullock had a good game. He was the only starter that played up to winning streak standards. Bully hit his shots, played solid defense, and was a positive force in an otherwise lackluster starting five.
Bullock played 24 minutes and added 14 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He shot 4/9 from the field, 3/7 from three, and 3/3 from the free-throw line. He did his job, double-digit scoring and better defense on Michael Porter Jr than others provided. Ten more minutes of Reggie Bullock would have helped.
I’m sad that I don’t have much more to say about this performance. Bullock has been playing this way since the all-star break. He hits his shots, plays good defense, and typically adds an assist or two along the way. This performance stands out exactly because of that consistency. The Knicks faced a contender on the run, and many struggled. Bully gets a 3 out of 5 for the performance.
RJ Barrett: Before anyone could score a point, RJ Barrett picked up two fouls. The foul trouble seemed to affect his aggression on both ends of the floor. Barrett struggled to score and couldn’t use his strength and physicality on defense. RJ got hot from the corner during the third quarter, but his jumper was the only effective part of his night. Even his rebounding and playmaking slumped in the performance.
Barrett played 28 minutes, finishing with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block. He shot 4/14 from the field, 4/8 from three, and 2/2 from the line. RJ’s shooting saved his performance from being a complete debacle. The Nuggets left him open in the corner throughout the third, and Barrett punished them. We didn’t see Broadway Barrett, though. He earned that moniker by overwhelming defenders and willing baskets from nothing. There was no forcefulness to his game. Early foul trouble seeped into every other aspect of his attack.
A brief reminder: RJ Barrett is only 20-years old. He’s a young sophomore playing as the second option for a top-4 team in the East. That’s a heavy burden to carry, and the youngster’s maturity has spoiled us. The Nuggets went big and went right at Barrett, with an assist from the refs and home-court advantage. This game was an aberration and a warning sign for when playoff quality teams and intensity kick up. New York needs more from RJ to be successful, but this was just one bad game for now. He gets a 1.5 out of 5 for his tough night.
Julius Randle: Julius Randle couldn’t find his flow in this game. He missed 4 of the Knicks’ first 8 field goal attempts and didn’t make a shot until deep into the second quarter. Randle missed his easier looks and found limited success on drives inside. By the third quarter, he became frustrated with the officials. It bled into his performance and behavior. He began to force drives into traffic while looking off open players. That led to turnovers and a poorly timed technical foul right as New York got the game as close as it would be in the second half. His struggles bled into his behavior, and that behavior seemed to affect teammates.
The Knicks’ star played 30 minutes, gaining 14 points, 5 assists, 8 rebounds, 1 block, and 5 turnovers. He shot 5/15 from the field, 0/5 from three, and 4/6 from the charity stripe. I had a feeling this would get ugly when Randle missed his first free throw off a defensive 3 seconds call. We’re accustomed to Randle taking some tough shots, but he’s usually knocking down a few of those while hitting anything remotely easy. The big man couldn’t buy a jumper and had more success barreling into the middle…but that also led to ugly turnovers as Randle started looking at the refs instead of his teammates…he had a case at times.
It’s not time to sound the alarms, but Randle has had a few letdowns against the better teams in this league. Contenders defend him tougher, changing how they double or challenge him. Denver’s defense didn’t have the pieces to stop Randle inside without help, but their guards snuck on him often. I also think the big man saw Nikola Jokic getting whistles for any sort of attempts to disrupt dribbling and expected similar treatment…maybe in MSG but not in Denver. The offense struggled without its leader, and his frustration seeped into other players. RJ Barrett picked up a technical foul not long after Randle. Julius gets a 2.5 out of 5 for still providing boards and assists, but this was disappointing.
Nerlens Noel: I’m judging Nerlens Noel on a handicap for this game. He had an ugly roll of the ankle recently and isn’t the most mobile big man, to begin with. Noel still stepped up and tried to defend Nikola Jokic, but the refs took away Noel’s ability to do much more than put a hand up. That left Noel without a chance to respond physically or even poke at a dribble before being punished with a foul. To make matters worse, Noel started to focus so much on the MVP that he missed some rotations inside during the early portion of the game. That meant a bad night for Noel, but he picked up his performance in the second half.
Noel rocked for 30 minutes despite injury and managed 5 points, 5 rebounds, 6 blocks, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. The block party helped New York gain momentum during an attempted third-quarter comeback, but it wasn’t enough. Once Noel hit his rotations properly, he was a menace to everyone other than the Joker. He re-established the interior defense briefly but eventually took another bad hit that slowed him down again.
The injuries and officiating make it impossible for me to blame Noel. Nerlens showed up hurt and gave a great effort. He was overpowered inside and handcuffed to boot. The blocks and steals look nice but came when the game was out of reach. I respect everything about this effort, though. Noel didn’t stop fighting. His mental approach stayed strong despite adversity, unlike others. The big man just came into a bad match with big limitations and caught an unfortunate L. Noel gets a 2.5 out of 5 for his uphill battle.
Knicks’ second unit backcourt maintains an edge
Derrick Rose: Other key players struggled, but Derrick Rose was still good. He came into the game and went right at Campazzo in a manner that no one else managed. The former MVP knocked down three-pointers, drove for floaters, and generally played the game we’ve been spoiled by throughout his second tenure as a Knick. He had similar defensive issues to Payton but gave it back to Campazzo in kind.
Rose dropped 14 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 turnovers in 27 minutes. He shot 6/10 from the field and 2/3 from three. The lead guard also shared possessions well with Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks. A greedy approach may have better served the Knicks this time. The former Bull created pressure inside. That freed up shooters, though only a couple of those players rewarded the playmaking with buckets.
Rose and Quickley were the most efficient players on the night. IQ fed off Rose, though. D-Rose was the driving force for more offense than his numbers even suggest. He should have been the first guard off the bench. Burks was instead. It was a strange game in that Rose was brilliant, but I wanted more from him. He tried to get others going, but there weren’t many players locked in to help. At the end of the day, the former Bull played well despite little help from his teammates. Rose gets a 3 out of 5 for his impact.
Immanuel Quickley: Immanuel Quickley mixed plenty of good with some bad, but getting torched by Austin Rivers is unforgivable. IQ was feeling his three-pointer, hitting another shot from a mile out, but this time when the game was out of reach. He had some shrewd drives to the basket and has finally traded in his floater for consistent lay-up attempts…of course, his first lay-up attempt was ugly, but he followed that by scoring with the same underhand move a few minutes later. Quickley gave Denver fits off the dribble and would have had an undeniable good game if Austin Rivers didn’t get to do so much yapping.
The rookie played 24 minutes, landing at 18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 turnover on 4/8 from the field, 3/5 from three, and 7/9 from the line. A few times, I wanted to see IQ chase dimes to cutters, but the windows were limited, and he was feeling his offense. I can’t count that against a guy that drops 18 points on just 8 attempts from the floor. Quickley provided much-needed scoring, so I’ll overlook the passes that he didn’t make as long as it doesn’t become a trend.
IQ’s scoring does come with a slight asterisk. He picked up some of his points in threes and free throws during garbage time. It added an extra shine to Quickley’s box score that doesn’t pass the eye test if you turn the game off once the game is out of reach. He was still one of New York’s best players, but it’s not quite the performance his numbers suggest. Austin Rivers shot over the rookie way too often to celebrate this one much. IQ gets a 2.5 out of 5 for his high-scoring night.
Alec Burks: Alec Burks struggled mightily. We’re talking, 0 points in 16 minutes struggled. He came off the bench early to spark the offense but gave New York a goose egg in the scoring department. That looks even worse when you consider his second-unit counterparts at guard were efficient and scored well. Burks looked for his rhythm but never found it, and that took possessions away from the players who were helping.
The Knicks’ bench scorer finished 16 minutes with 0 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 block. He shot 0/7 from the field and 0/3 from three. With Randle and RJ struggling, the addition of Burks’ absolute attrition spelled doom. We didn’t get any smooth hesitations or pump fakes into easy points. Burks just pressed for some looks and got nothing going. This was just his second game back from a long layoff…he looked it.
Burks was bad. There’s no talking around it. He came in and struggled to get anything going. We can chalk it up to rust and hope for improvement as the scorer gets his legs under him. Same as Noel, I’m giving Burks a bit of a handicap here. He’s back from a long time off and integrating into a unit that had already baked in its own chemistry. The timing is just unfortunate as margins for error are closing fast. Burks gets a 1.5 out of 5, and it probably warrants a 1. I’m being nice.
Obi Toppin: The big deficit seemed to take a toll on Obi Toppin’s confidence. The rookie was hesitant on jumpers and fell back to old habits of only looking to pass. His aggression was night and day once the benches cleared and younger players surrounded Toppin. That tells me that the struggles were more mental than anything that Denver threw his way. The rookie felt some playoff intensity for the first time, and it showed.
Toppin played 17 minutes, loading in 4 points and 6 boards on 2/6 from the field, including 0/2 from three. I love that his rebounding is legitimately coming around. He has been grabbing one or two standout boards in every game, but this 6-piece is an uptick in total output as well. It’s worth watching garbage time just to see the night and day approach this kid took. Without veterans to defer to, he actually dribbled with intentions to score and looked better for it.
There’s a downside to Obi shining in garbage time. It means that his play in meaningful minutes didn’t live up to his talent. Outside of a nice defensive sequence where he got whistled for a foul, Obi was invisible at best and skittish at his worst. I’m hesitant to say he looked bad, though. He just looks young. The tools are there for this kid to develop into a legitimate piece. Mental aspects keep his impact down even beyond his raw skill set. Obi gets a 1.5 out of 5 for his impact in meaningful minutes.
Taj Gibson: Taj Gibson tried to play his game and picked up fouls faster than Rasheed Wallace catches second technicals. The big man was too undersized to deal with Jokic, who shot over Taj at will. When Gibson tried to disrupt Joker before the shot went up…he got whistles. So Taj finished with just 11 minutes of burn, below the impact rating threshold, and picked up 5 fouls in that brief span.
Gibson finished the night with 2 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 1 block…honestly, not bad for just 11 minutes, mostly against an MVP leading candidate. He wasn’t bad, just limited by his size and the refs. I’ve joked about Taj getting away with murder sometimes, thanks to his reputation. This was a night where he didn’t get away with anything and was punished even when he played well. That’s how it goes when you’re matched against a superstar on their home court I suppose…can Randle get this kind of love in MSG, though?
Early technical sows doubt instead of helping for Tom Thibodeau
Tom Thibodeau: First thing’s first, Tom Thibodeau faced an uphill battle before he even had a chance to react. The Knicks had 3 team fouls before a field goal attempt in this game, and the Nuggets built their lead at the free-throw line as much as they did through Jokic early. Thibs tried to respond by arguing with the refs and picking up an early technical. I generally like that approach, but it seemed like the players got the wrong message. Heads hung low, and everyone jawed at the refs instead of tightening up. Two early timeouts didn’t turn things around either. The opening sequence may have decided this game. Thibs’ technical foul seemed to make exacerbate things.
Thibs scattered some nice decisions throughout the game. Thibodeau trusted RJ Barrett not to pick up a foolish foul after his opening pair. That’s a nice vote of confidence in the young prospect. Thibs threw Burks in early but went back to relying on Rose once he saw which player was hot. He also got everyone some extra rest for a change, instead of forcing starters to play through a 30-point deficit for no good reason. It wasn’t all bad. The Knicks got blitzed, so none of these decisions amounted to much.
There’s a new way to get a message across to the referees. Thibodeau once used his challenge to completely upstage the refs from early in a game and put pressure on them for poor officiating. This was right after the debacle at the end of the Nets game. He picked up a technical foul, and then I’m not sure if he even bothered to use his challenge. There were PLENTY of shoddy calls, some obviously missed. Those were opportunities to make the refs acknowledge mistakes and maybe force some self-awareness on them. The team lost its composure, a rarity but one that I have to pin to the coach as much as anyone else. Thibodeau gets a 1.5 out of 5 for his impact.
Closing Thoughts
Well, that sucked. New York did so much to create goodwill and build momentum heading into this game, and two quick whistles became gasoline for a dumpster fire of a night. To make matters worse, everyone we needed to lose got wins instead. The Knicks lost ugly and lost ground at the same time. Now they’ve got a gauntlet of contenders approaching with hardly any room between play-in territory and home-court advantage. But what’s a New Yorker who can’t handle adversity? Probably someone planning to move.
We’ve been through way too many ups and downs to let a bad game drive us back into despair. New York is in the thick of things, and the schedule is a nightmare, but we’ve embraced the struggles all year long. This is time to fight, and I expect our guys to bounce back the same way they have all year long. That doesn’t guarantee wins, but I expect competitive games, at the least. This team is too hungry to slip up in the final stretch badly enough to forfeit the goodwill that 60 games built.
Next up is a rematch with Phoenix and then the superstar squads in LA to follow. New York has their work cut out for them. Teams are after that fourth seed, and the Knicks have the toughest schedule by a long shot. This is what the whole season’s worth of work has been building up to, though. Win or lose, I expect the Knicks to battle. That’s the only standard I’m holding our boys to at this point. I’m on vacation over the weekend, so no recaps for the Suns or Clippers games. But rest assured, I’ll be watching with y’all, and the KFTV crew will have plenty to talk about. I’ll be back with the recaps for the Lakers and to ride this final stretch out with the Knicks fam!
Stay tuned to knicksfantv.com for the latest Knicks news, rumors and recaps throughout the season and as the playoffs approach.
