The New York Knicks lose to the Orlando Magic, extending their losing streak to four games. They’re limping into a much-needed All-Star break.
The New York Knicks lost their fourth game in a row, this time to the Orlando Magic 118-100. The Knicks added another two players, Donte DiVincenzo and Bojan Bogdanovic, to the injured list, which showed in the loss.
Believe it or not, the Knicks stormed out the gates behind a 20-point first quarter from Jalen Brunson. But their success only lasted as long as the Knicks’ star was on the floor. Brunson sat, and the Knicks gave up a 17-3 run which gave the Magic momentum they wouldn’t let go. They even added insult to injury when Taj Gibson left the game holding his back.
By the fourth quarter, it felt like the only victory would be making it to the final whistle without another player getting hurt. New York lost what felt like an elevated scrimmage. But there’s still noteworthy action. Let’s dive in.
Brunson and Achiuwa can’t carry the Knicks’ starters
Jalen Brunson: 33 pts (11/21 FG, 5/8 3PT, 6/7 FT), 6 AST, 1 REB, 2 STL, 3 TO in 35 mins
The fact that New York started the night with 36 points in the first quarter is a testament to Jalen Brunson’s greatness. He covered more than half that scoring despite the Magic blitzing him with double-teams from the first play of the night. His success waned as his weak-side help failed to capitalize when they received the ball in space.
Brunson’s six assists are also a minor miracle. No one else on the team shot well, and half the players hesitated or refused to shoot. So, most of Brunson’s creation required setting up the big men for dunks or layups. If the Magic could get Jalen to swing the ball outside, their defense was a success.
If Brunson played 48 minutes, the Knicks might have stood a chance. That’s assuming he could still walk by the end of it. New York’s MVP faced a Sisyphean task: in other words, impossible. That he still put up an efficient 33 and 6 is worth a 4 out of 5 despite the team’s double-digit loss.
Alec Burks: 13 PTS (5/16 FG, 2/6 3PT, 1/2 FT), 3 REB, 1 TO in 30 mins
Alec Burks dribbled the ball too much to finish this game without an assist. He led most offensive possessions when Brunson sat, and the wheels fell off. Burks fired contested jumper after contested jumper, missing the vast majority. By the time he got some open looks, Burks was completely out of rhythm and missed, anyway.
Let’s talk about Alec Burks’ success last time in New York. He’s missing the slashing element that helped him. Burks never drew a ton of fouls or crushed teams at the rim. But he drove enough to keep defenses honest, create space for midrange pull-ups, and draw a few fouls. Right now, he just settles for the contested jumper and we won’t get MJ Burks back unless he’s more aggressive in meaningful ways.
The important note is that Burks can be better, and we need him to be. Burks gets a 0.5 out of 5 for being the only other offensive option and failing to help Brunson.
Josh Hart: 4 PTS (2/8 FG, 0/4 3PT), 2 AST, 3 REB, 2 STL, 2 TO in 30 mins
I thought Josh Hart was poised for a big game. He started the night with a pair of coast-to-coast drives for layups, which usually means his momentum will carry throughout the night. But everything faded after Brunson sat. It might have simply been fatigue, I clocked 17 straight minutes of action before Hart took his first break.
Hart missed all of his three-pointers, but he HAS to keep taking those shots. On Zach Lowe’s recent “The Lowe Post” podcast, Steve Jones Jr mentioned that the Cavs spent the offseason looking at what matters more for shooting gravity, between shooting percentage or volume. Volume was more important. Hart needs to test that hypothesis because the team struggles when he hesitates.
Hart laid an egg in this one, but I’ll give him a pass since he’d been great in recent efforts. The Knicks’ Swiss army knife gets a 1 out of 5 for running on fumes.
Precious Achiuwa: 23 PTS (8/16 FG, 1/2 3PT, 6/7 FT), 5 AST, 14 REB, 1 TO in 43 mins
Precious Achiuwa was the bright spot of the night. If we’re being honest, he’s been the bright spot of the past week. Achiuwa continued to mix nice passing with dynamic scoring. Precious showed flare in the post, attacked coast to coast on one occasion, and even hit a three-pointer off the dribble.
Achiuwa can enter the debate about which Knicks’ big is the best offensive rebounder. I place him behind Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein, but his 10 offensive rebounds in Orlando make him a part of the discussion. He’s as active and relentless as the other big men in New York, which is great.
The only downside for Achiuwa was that he couldn’t stop Paulo Banchero, but nobody would stop Paulo with how he was shooting. I’m giving Achiuwa a 4 out of 5 to tie Brunson for the best impact of the night.
Jericho Sims: 8 PTS (3/5 FG, 2/3 FT), 1 AST, 8 REB, 1 STL in 39 mins
We need more from Jericho Sims. That probably sounds crazy when he was one basket and two rebounds away from a double-double, but it’s true. His rim protection wasn’t effective, and his only offense came within three feet of the basket.
Sims is active but not assertive. If he’s beaten to a spot, he’ll concede. Compare that to Mitch running out of bounds on the baseline to back into a better boxout position. Or look at Hartenstein flying into space to put back a dunk. Sims is missing the forcefulness despite his strength.
All of that is to say, Sims can be better than what we’ve seen. But he was still alright. I’m giving Sims a 2 out of 5 for grabbing some boards and dunks, but lacking anything extra.
New York’s second unit fails to make a positive impact
Miles McBride: 8 PTS (2/11 FG, 2/6 3PT, 2/3 FT), 1 AST, 1 REB, 2 STL, 1 TO in 32 mins
Miles McBride played better than the numbers suggest. He spent most of the second quarter relegated to watching Burks dribble into contested jumpers again. Deuce looked like a more creative playmaker during his pick-and-roll opportunities, but not by much. He would get to the paint and look for kickouts; the problem was that three-fourths of the other players couldn’t shoot.
McBride’s best drive and kicks went to Jacob Toppin, who hesitated. Toss in that Deuce missed some open looks and had to take late shot clock forces, and his efficiency is in the tank. But I liked his defense and trust him more with the ball than Burks, presently. McBride gets a 1.5 out of 5 for a rough game.
Jacob Toppin: 11 PTS (4/7 FG, 1/3 3PT, 2/2 FT), 4 REB, 1 TO in 17 mins
Jacob Toppin’s numbers are a mirage. Almost all of his production, including all but one field goal, came in garbage time. When the game mattered, Toppin looked nervous. He passed up shots, missed badly when he did shoot, and struggled defensively.
I hate to be harsh, but Toppin was little more than a body out there. As injuries compile, it gets harder to justify keeping players on the roster who can’t contribute at least 10 minutes of meaningful basketball. Let’s chalk this one up to nerves, but Toppin must play better. He gets a 1 out of 5 for the minutes that mattered, 3 out of 5 for garbage time performance.
Taj Gibson: 0 PTS, 1 STL, 1 TO in 9 mins
Taj Gibson fell hard on a post-up attempt and held his back for most of the game. I hate to see a veteran that I respect struggle this much. Hopefully, Taj is healing up, and if he can’t keep up, give him an assistant coaching role.
Too many injured players to blame Tom Thibodeau
We’re at a “chicken or the egg” moment with Tom Thibodeau. Some fans blame his heavy minutes loads for the injuries plaguing New York. Others point out that what happened to Robinson and Randle were freak accidents, and forced bigger minutes on the rest of the players.
Both sides have a point. Thibodeau must play his regulars major minutes to give this team a shot. But he never seems to stagger the minutes well. For example, DiVincenzo barely sat in the last game until he hurt his hamstring.
I don’t have a critique for this game because Thibs had no options. My question for readers is, “Do you think the injuries are an amalgamation of Thibodeau’s rotations, or are the injuries the reason Thibs’ rotations broke down?”
Closing Thoughts:
Thank God for the All-Star break. The Knicks are down bad, but we’ve finally, hopefully, reached daylight. It sounds like Hartenstein and Bogdanovic will be back right away, Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle will be closer to on-court activity, and OG’s elbow will have had more time to recover.
The past couple of weeks have been a struggle, thanks to injuries. But we saw enough in January to know that this team will be scary when everyone’s healthy. So, this recent losing streak feels less worrisome than it otherwise might.
Let’s head into All-Star weekend to celebrate. I hope Jalen Brunson wins the shootout, Jacob Toppin steals the show at the dunk contest, and Brunson finishes with an ASG MVP. After that, we’ll return to recaps and hopefully celebrate the return of a healthy Knicks side. I’ll see you next time, Knicks fam!
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