The New York Knicks lost to Chicago Bulls 109-103, and the starters struggled once again, outside of Julius Randle.
The New York Knicks faded in the fourth quarter and would lose to the Chicago Bulls 109 to 103. The Knicks entered the fourth with a slim lead, but they couldn’t get stops or keep up with Bulls to close out the game. New York never got into much rhythm and relied heavily on their star, Julius Randle. After Randle hurt his knee, the Knicks never found enough offense to keep up with Chicago’s scorers.
Julius picked on smaller defenders all night with some help from Kemba Walker in the third. Alec Burks and Obi Toppin brought quality from the bench, but there were signs of tired legs in the second unit. It feels like the Knicks squandered an opportunity to steal a win over a tough opponent. Let’s see where things went wrong and pick out positives along the way.
Knicks’ starters avoid third-quarter crash, but still need work:
Kemba Walker: 7 PTS (3/9 FG, 1/4 3 PT), 4 AST, 2 REB, 1 BLK IN 18 mins
Kemba Walker flashed his offensive potential in a big third quarter. Walker attacked the lane and sought his shot aggressively through that third. He didn’t only look for scoring either, Walker drew attention and fed scorers including Randle for easy points. It was brief, but for that run the New York native ran the offense and things flowed nicely.
The problem is that Walker’s outburst was only for that third quarter. The starters were flat to start the game and Kemba didn’t enter the game in the fourth. So while Kemba had one of his best stretches of basketball with the Knicks, it was relegated to only a flash.
I appreciated Walker’s defensive effort in this game as well. He had to defend bigger guards that scored over him at times, but the shorter guard was working hard. That’s notable because this was the second night of a back-to-back and Walker showed up both nights. He gets a 2 out 5, but this was a nice sign for him and I’d have liked to see him get some fourth quarter minutes.
Evan Fournier: 3 PTS (1/7 FG, 0/3 3 PT, 1/2 FT), 1 REB, 1 STL, 2 TO in 23 mins
Evan Fournier failed to follow his Houston performance with another good night. Fournier struggled to produce with his touches early and faded to the background as the game wore on. He couldn’t hit his three pointers and never got going off the dribble. That left him justifiably benched for the closing minutes of the game.
I’d be hard-pressed to make excuses for a player in the midst of a heavy slump, but there were signs of tired legs after a big game the night before. Fournier’s shots routinely bricked off the front of the rim. He didn’t have much burst heading into the paint and showed less movement off the ball. Against Houston, he sought the ball and asserted himself, but Chicago left Fournier waning on the perimeter.
I’ll repeat, none of that excuses the poor performance. Fournier wasn’t signed to split back-to-backs and his oft-injured backcourt-mate stepped up when he could have requested a night off. New York’s big free agent acquisition has to be better and his consistent struggles make it hard to offer the benefit of a doubt. Fournier gets a 1 out of 5 on his night, we need more from a starting player and especially at his salary.
RJ Barrett: 9 PTS (2/12 FG, 0/2 3 PTS, 5/8 FT), 2 AST, 15 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 1 TO in 33 mins
RJ Barrett had another disappointing night, although he tried to salvage it through sheer effort. Barrett’s shot was off again, which has been the pattern for weeks at this point. But that issue was exacerbated by the fact that RJ couldn’t finish anything around the rim. He would make a tough move to create space inside and then short arm a floater or brick a lay-up.
The challenges from the field are worse for the fact that Barrett took the second-most attempts on the team. Six players made more field goals than him, some on half as many tries. He could have salvaged some good will by sinking free-throws, because he got to the line often. But RJ barely made more than half his free-throw attempts. That spells doom for a Knicks offense that needed firepower from anyone not named Randle.
To his credit, RJ tried to make up for his folly through hard work. He was a beast on the boards, taking advantage of being one of the bigger bodies on the court most of the night. Barrett also provided quality defense on Zach LaVine and periodically Demar Derozan as well; but they made tough shots while he was missing easy looks. Barrett gets a 1 out of 5 for too many wasted possessions.
Julius Randle: 34 PTS (13/19 FG, 1/2 3 PT, 7/8 FT), 3 AST, 10 REB, 5 TO in 39 mins
The Chicago Bulls trotted out Derozan at power forward and tried to guard Julius Randle with Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso. Randle took a few possessions to adjust before steam-rolling his pint-sized defenders. The Knicks’ star posted-up, powered through, and finished over Chicago’s all-guard line-ups consistently all night.
Randle was the lifeline of the starters. Walker, Fournier, and Barrett combined to go 6/18 from the field for 19 points while Randle shot 13/19 and 34 points. Ball movement might have stagnated, but New York was better when Randle isolated in this one.
That’s not to pretend this was a flawless performance. Five turnovers are three too many, with Randle over dribbling when double-teams arrived. The big man didn’t get much help, but he also failed to find his shooters when they were open. Kemba Walker did a much better job of creating looks for perimeter players despite a fraction of the chances. Randle gets a 4 out of 5 anyway, but he’s still chasing last season’s qualities.
Nerlens Noel: 6 PTS (3/4 FG), 2 AST, 5 REB, 3 BLK, 1 TO in 26 mins
The only thing disappointing about Nerlens Noel’s game was his foul trouble Noel started off with a nice bounce pass for an assist, then proceeded to do positive things in the paint, on the boards, and on defense. But he continually trotted off to the bench thanks to unnecessary fouling and contact. He was good when he wasn’t hacking anybody.
Noel’s movement and shot-blocking are a big boost to the team’s defense. He may have gotten into foul trouble, but on the flip-side he took away the paint from Chicago. The big man challenged anything within arm’s reach and moved well enough to orbit ball-handlers any time they entered the arc. He was a force defensively.
It’s not a dominant stat-line, but Noel’s numbers are good for his minutes. The big man is just returning from extended time out and his biggest issue is fouling. He did flash some of last year’s flaws, struggling with the bigger body of Tony Bradley early. Yet Noel is a welcome booster for a tormented defense. Now he just needs to stay out there long enough to sustain his impact. But for now, he’ll score above a starter’s average 2.5 out of 5 on impact.
Knicks’ bench doesn’t have the legs to close:
Derrick Rose: 9 PTS (3/11 FG, 1/2 3 PT, 2/2 FT) 3 AST, 2 REB, 1 STL, 3 BLK in 30 mins
Derrick Rose didn’t quite have his full repertoire on offense, but made his game work nonetheless. The former-Bull passed on some three-point looks and focused on downhill trips often. That’s a good idea up against a small-ball team that rarely left a rim-protector out there. Unfortunately for Rose, he didn’t capitalize as often as we’d typically expect.
But that doesn’t mean Rose was bad. He finished a few beauties inside and picked up some nice dimes along the way. More importantly, his defensive play seemed inspired. Lonzo Ball proved a bit too big for Kemba Walker to hold, but Rose had enough size to make an impact.
Even I’m surprised at 3 blocks and 1 steal for Rose. He was all over the place on defense, but the numbers are better than I recall. So for a player that couldn’t get shots to fall, he did enough of everything else to make up for an inefficient scoring performance. Rose grabs a 2.5 out of 5 thanks to some extra notches in the defensive area.
Immanuel Quickley: 12 PTS (4/11 FG, 1/8 3 PT, 3/3 FT), 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 TO in 25 mins
Immanuel Quickley is another player that might point to tired legs for his inefficiency. IQ did a good job scoring inside the arc, but failed to convert his three point looks. His misses weren’t just bad either, they were outright ugly. It’s too bad, because his conversions inside were fun to watch and a couple of threes would have really pumped up his efficacy.
IQ’s jumper was bad when he was open and even worse when he pressed. Quickley is the kind of scorer that makes tough shots enough to warrant a few forced attempts. But he wasn’t even close on some of his off-balanced attempts. These weren’t late shot-clock heaves, these were just IQ trying to shoot himself into rhythm and barely grazing the rim.
In his defense, Quickley continued his trend as a positive defender. IQ has quietly become one of the most consistent defenders on the team with a case for best perimeter-defender period. He drew enough fouls and got inside enough to put up more points than attempts which is a small hurdle but one that others failed to surpass. Quickley provided positive minutes even on an off-night and he gets a 2.5 out of 5 for the performance.
Alec Burks: 13 PTS (3/6 FG, 1/3 3 PT, 6/6 FT), 3 REB, 3 TO in 29 mins
Alec Burks had another good game, albeit not nearly the explosion of his night prior. Burks didn’t have legs in his jumper, but didn’t force much. He attacked off the bounce instead, and frequently made his way to the free throw line. You could catch him making savvy moves to salvage plays that otherwise could have ended in disaster.
By disaster, I absolutely mean turnovers. If there’s a blemish to Burks’ night it’s the turnover total. He didn’t register a single assist while clocking three giveaways. That was the danger of his trips inside; Burks was either scoring, getting fouled, or coughing the rock up.
The microwave scorer also failed to live up to his secondary outputs. His defense was a step slower than in recent performances and he didn’t chase down long boards like usual. So his impacted was limited in areas outside of scoring, and relegated his game to a strong bench performance but nothing special. Burks gets a 2.5 out of 5 for a good night, but nothing beyond that.
Obi Toppin: 10 PTS (3/5 FG, 2/3 3 PT, 2/2 FT), 1 AST, 6 REB, 2 BLK in 13 mins
This is the stat-line that Tom Thibodeau should have thrown in his face. Obi Toppin didn’t even hit the 15-minute mark that I require for an impact score. But Toppin was overwhelmingly good in the few minutes that he got. Toppin had gravity on cuts, got after boards, and hit his three-pointers for a change.
Thibs will probably defend Obi’s absence from the game. The Knicks’ coach tapped the Obi/Randle frontcourt briefly and Chicago attacked that combo inside. But let’s not ignore Obi’s two blocks. On one of those blocks, he challenged a shooter at the rim then had to make a second leap to score the rejection. Toppin was giving effort on defense, it wasn’t his fault for the defensive struggles next to Randle… make of that statement what you will.
Long story short, Obi should have played more. The Bulls went small and it was a perfect invitation for New York to pump minutes into their big man that moves like a guard. Thibodeau had other plans and the Knicks lost…
Jericho Sims and Quentin Grimes:
These two got spot minutes at the end of the first half. Sims got a block, but didn’t do much in 4 minutes. Grimes barely played for 30 seconds and only came in for defense. But at least we got a glimpse of the rookies.
Slow to make changes, but hanging on by a thread with Tom Thibodeau:
Tom Thibodeau:
The Knicks trotted out the same starting line-up that is putting up league-low numbers as five-man rotation and the results were typical. New York’s starters flopped again with inefficiency from all but one scorer. That made their brief and fleeting third-quarter success more worrisome to me than positive. Kemba showed some life and that might be a sign that things can work out… but that just means I’m concerned Thibs will stubbornly avoid making meaningful changes for that much longer.
I’ve mentioned the other elephant in the room. That elephant’s name is Obi Toppin, the brightest spot of this otherwise bland and frustrating season. Toppin continues to excel in bit minutes with players around him seeming to feed off the energy, but we get those fleeting moments of joy in 5 to 7-minute increments. Instead we’re subjected to that five-man rotation for enough time to drive any momentum to a halt.
The entire point of New York’s depth is that players can step up for each other as needed. But that’s not really what’s happening when the first five guys are handicapped by a complete lack of chemistry. They haven’t gotten better and they’re forcing the bench to overextend itself. That meant tired legs and no jumpers for a unit that thrives on transition and space, while the starters barely treaded water because their star pumped in a spectacular scoring performance. Thibodeau gets a 1 out of 5 again, for not fixing what’s obviously broken.
Closing Thoughts:
This loss smarts. New York actually had a lead heading into the fourth for a change, but they didn’t have the energy to bring it home. I can’t help but think that a few coaching decisions might have made the difference in a game with such a close score. We’re almost 20 games into the season and the starting line-up remains intact while baring the brunt of responsibility for New York’s struggles by every measure we can use.
Things are about to get scary too. This next stretch is brutal and the Knicks are sitting just 1 game above .500. We’re on the brink of the ship beginning to sink and Thibodeau seems determined to ride directly into the iceberg that is Walker/Fournier/Barrett/Randle/Whichever of our three centers are healthy that night. I’m a big fan of patience and trusting growth, but at some point, changes have to be applied.
Now for the good news. Even playing like crap, the Knicks were in a competitive battle with one of the league’s best teams so far. They may face the Lakers without Lebron James thanks to a blatant cheap shot and Isaiah Stewart’s viral bull-rush for revenge. There’s a chance to right the ship by stepping up to competition the same way that New York has played down to some competition. We’re one run away from the good vibes returning, whether that requires a rotation change or not. We’ll see how the drama unfolds after the next one Knicks fam!
Stay tuned to KnicksFanTV.com for the latest Knicks news, rumors, and recaps throughout the 2021-22 NBA season. In case you missed it, catch Alan Hahn pulling up on KFTV After Dark to discuss the key moments to the Knicks win against the Houston Rockets.
