The New York Knicks fall to the Utah Jazz 93-108. Tom Thibodeau’s fourth quarter rotations comes back to bite him in the butt.
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The New York Knicks saw their 4-point deficit balloon to 15 in the closing minutes of a blowout loss to the Utah Jazz. The Knicks found answers for Donovan Mitchell or Jordan Clarkson while struggling to score themselves. Three-point shooting kept the game just within reach until an explosion from Immanuel Quickley brought the score within reach. But Tom Thibodeau went with the starters to close and they immediately gave up a twelve to nothing run.
With the game out of reach, Julius Randle got chippy with Rudy Gobert. It appeared that Gobert was trying to make peace while Randle continued to throw what can only be called a tantrum. The messy conclusion added insult to an already painful loss and likely hammered the final nail in the coffin of a season most felt was over in February.
But there are bright sides to the night. RJ Barrett showed some fight despite Utah’s tough defense. Immanuel Quickley continued his run as the Knicks’ most reliable point guard. The push for a comeback began with a line-up comprised solely of sophomores and rookies. Let’s see who held their own in a game whose final score masks a more competitive affair.
The Knicks’ starters collapse late as Julius Randle loses his composure
Alec Burks: 10 PTS (3/9 FG, 3/9 3PT, 1/1 FT), 3 AST, 5 REB, 2 TO in 34 mins
Alec Burks made his three-pointers early before cooling off. His recent play has been relegated to fourth fiddle, but his catch and shoot role has helped from long range. This marks seven games out of the past nine with three or more made threes.
Burks makes more sense as a tertiary playmaker than a lead. His three assists in this performance weren’t the sort to leap off the screen. But his ability to make extra passes and chase down rebounds keeps him productive in off-ball situations. He helped out where he could.
But Burks is cast in a point-guard spot and not providing the requisite skills. He’s playing well for an off-guard, but when the Knicks’ offense struggles Burks’ inability to control pace or momentum stands out. His defense was also disappointing, but that can be said of nearly all perimeter defenders. Burks gets a 2 out of 5 for decent off-ball play in what should be the lead guard’s position.
Evan Fournier: 17 PTS (6/13 FG, 5/10 3PT, 0/1 FT), 2 AST, 2 STL, 1 TO in 28 mins
Evan Fournier’s performance will likely be marred by his late insertion into a close game. The Knicks had just cut Utah’s lead from double-digits down to four until Fournier and Randle checked in. The Jazz would immediately make a run and Fournier fouled out in short order. It’s a rough finish after what had been a nice night in the earlier quarters.
Fournier’s three-point shooting in the beginning was huge. He made an array of threes that kept the Knicks from losing momentum. The shooter added some defensive impact in a second-quarter that saw him piece together a series of steals and deflections. His positive defensive plays were offset by an inability to contain Jordan Clarkson, however.
Evan had a strong night if we just run through the statistics. But his weaknesses were also highlighted throughout the action. His defensive struggles proved to be a back-breaker late, but I blame Tom Thibodeau for even checking him in after a long break. I appreciate Fournier’s effort as of late and he’d receive a more positive review without the last-minute substitution. Fournier’s impact earns a 2.5 out of 5 for quality shooting.
RJ Barrett: 24 PTS (8/20 FG, 4/8 3PT, 4/6 FT), 3 AST, 7 REB, 1 STL, 4 TO in 43 mins
The Jazz have two premier shot-blockers patrolling the paint. That sets them up to be a tough match-up for RJ Barrett’s downhill approach. Barrett drove and saw his attempts sent back on multiple tries, or he’d run into a wall and turn the ball over. But if there’s a reason to smile, it’s that Barrett never quit going right at the defense and managed to find production.
Barrett picked up some clever finishes inside. His accurate three-point shooting helped to mitigate some of his struggles for whistles or finishes. By the end of the game, he managed a productive 24 points despite being stymied on many attempts in the lane. He also added rebounding and a few nice passes to fill out the performance.
RJ’s game crept toward inefficiency, but he was productive enough to make up for the mistakes. I’m less concerned about his misses inside than I am about his turnovers. He has grown into a quality downhill player but hasn’t learned to elude shot blockers. Barrett gets a 3 out of 5 for managing strong scoring in the face of a difficult defense.
Julius Randle: 13 PTS (6/21 FG, 1/6 3PT), 3 AST, 11 REB, 2 TO in 35 mins
The Utah Jazz grabbed back-to-back offensive rebounds on a play early in the game. Julius Randle was near the loose ball on both occasions but looked at Mitchell Robinson as if to blame the center for the mishaps. That small moment early told me all that I needed to know about where this performance was headed. Somehow, Randle managed to have an even worse game than I’d expected.
Randle shot miserably, and Rudy Gobert’s presence took away any chance to work inside. He fired away from outside instead and that meant just thirteen points from 21 attempts. Randle replaced turnovers in traffic with pull-up jumpers that bricked. His lackadaisical offense managed to be slightly better than his no-effort defense. The big man seemed mentally checked out from tip-off.
I mentioned Randle’s tantrum after the final whistle. It didn’t even make sense within the context of what we’d seen on camera. Randle was the aggressor, throwing elbows and refusing to accept apologies for contact. His entry into a tight game was the marker for a collapse and the show he put on after the game only made it worse. Randle gets a 1 out of 5 for his poor behavior, low energy, and inefficiency.
Mitchell Robinson: 4 PTS (2/3 FG), 2 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK in 26 mins
The Rudy Gobert match-up represented a chance for Mitchell Robinson to make a statement. He went up against one of the premier centers in the league with his second contract just a few weeks away. Unfortunately, Mitch struggled to find his usual impact and came across as underwhelming.
Mitch had some nice moments defensively. He swatted an off-balance attempt inside from a Jazz guard. His steal deflected a pass inside and led to a fast break. But Mitch had little impact on the boards and failed to generate second chances. Guards struggled to get him the ball around Utah’s bigs and that meant very little offense for the big man.
The quiet night was disappointing after Mitch has dominated against smaller teams. I’d hoped his momentum would carry over but Rudy Gobert is a special kind of big man. I think Gobert is the image of Robinson’s ceiling, a traditional big whose impact comes from effort plays and defense. But this match-up showed us how far Robinson still has to go before he closes the gap. Mitch picks up a 1.5 out of 5 for his lack of impact.
The sophomores nearly save day for New York’s second-unit
Immanuel Quickley: 16 PTS (3/9 FG, 2/5 3PT, 8/11 FT), 4 AST, 4 REB, 1 STL in 23 mins
Immanuel Quickley is the Knicks’ best point guard and it’s not even close. He knows how to get players into sets and is even willing to wave off Julius Randle at times. Quickley didn’t get anything going at the rim against Utah’s shot-blockers but he has other ways to produce now.
IQ hit a couple of three-pointers, but his ability to draw fouls was the standout piece of the puzzle. He anticipated reaches and got into shooting form fast enough to turn whistles into easy points. The only drawback was when he missed two out of three tries in the fourth. That could have cut a five-point lead to three, and may have been Thibodeau’s excuse for giving Quickley a breather.
But it has never been more apparent that benching a player was the wrong move. Quickley was the driving force of a run and the Knicks lost all momentum after he sat down. IQ also showed off his creative flair as a passer and grabbed some rebounds. The sophomore deserves more attention for this run that he’s on. If he plays like this consistently then the Knicks have another promising young weapon growing. IQ gets a 3.5 out of 5 for almost sparking a comeback.
Quentin Grimes: 0 PTS (0/1 FG, 0/1 3PT), 1 REB, 1 STL, 1 TO in 14 mins
Quentin Grimes didn’t seem to get much going. The Jazz chased him off the three-point line and pushed him to drive and kick. He wasn’t bad with these opportunities but they didn’t produce points while coming few and far between.
Defensively, we got a few moments where Grimes played nice on-ball defense. But more often than not, the Jazz simply attacked a different defender on the floor. That meant a muted night for the first-round pick rookie and an early trip to the bench.
Jericho Sims: 0 PTS (0/1 FG), 2 AST, 6 REB in 21 mins
Jericho Sims saw some extra action after Mitchell Robinson left the game with shoe issues for the umpteenth time. The protective piece that Mitch wears continues to take out high-priced sneakers with impunity. But that allowed Sims to lock horns with Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside for some much-needed experience.
Sims held his own in those match-ups. He didn’t do anything that leaped off the screen against the bigs, but they never overwhelmed him. Our rookie’s best moment actually came when switched onto Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson tried a series of dribble moves but got nowhere and missed a contested jumper over Sims instead.
Despite the extended minutes, Sims had a fairly nondescript night. He grabbed some boards, picked up some reset pass assists, and even attempted a baby hook over Gobert. But it was a decidedly average night, which isn’t such a bad thing against such quality match-ups. Sims gets a 2 out of 5 for holding his own.
Obi Toppin: 9 PTS (3/6 FG, 1/2 3PT, 2/2 FT), 1 STL, 1 BLK, 1 TO in 13 mins
Obi Toppin was a little too energized early. He kept biting on head fakes and it led to some breakdowns in the defense. But he was quick to catch his composure and started to make a lot happen off effort and work.
Toppin knocked down one of his two three-point attempts. His second try was a miss in the fourth quarter that immediately saw Julius Randle headed to the scorer’s table. That was unfortunate as Obi was playing strong defense and dunked in transition before the next stoppage took him out. Obi was a part of the fourth-quarter comeback and got benched before it unraveled. But his thirteen minutes fall short of an impact grade.
Miles McBride: 1 AST in 3 mins
Three minutes of play in a blowout typically signifies garbage time. But Miles McBride started the fourth quarter with a group consisting of IQ, Grimes, Toppin, and Sims. McBride played a role in that young squad’s fantastic defensive sequences. Tom Thibodeau pulled the rookie before he could make a major impact, pushing for RJ Barrett’s offense to combine with the defense. But this was another example of good things happening when Deuce McBride plays.
A fourth-quarter decision by Tom Thibodeau leads to an immediate collapse for the Knicks
Tom Thibodeau:
I want to call Tom Thibodeau’s decision to bring the starters into the fourth inexplicable. But it’s not hard to explain because we’ve seen this pattern for two years now. Thibodeau didn’t trust his young players to close out. The problem is that his decision runs counter to all of his talk about “earning” playing time. Thibodeau benched the players responsible for momentum in lieu of players that had struggled all night.
But you might wonder if there were any other decisions that I think are worth discussion…nope. I can’t begin to focus elsewhere when Thibodeau made such a glaringly bad decision. Julius Randle made sure to maximize the pain by showing us once again that the coaching staff can’t rein him in. The first game of the post-Kenny Payne era concluded with Randle pushing assistant coaches and training staff away as he tried to jaw at Rudy Gobert.
I can’t think of any other word but embarrassing. Tom Thibodeau should be embarrassed that the game ended that way. He has no control over his star player and hasn’t held that player accountable. We’ve spent plenty of the year complaining about the defense regressing because of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, but Julius Randle has been awful as well. Randle just doesn’t get called out or punished for it. Thibodeau gets a 1 out of 5 for letting one player run amok while others get benched for any missed shot or rotation.
Closing Thoughts
This was the perfect game to hammer home arguments that Julius Randle or Tom Thibodeau has to go. For some fans, it’s an either/or proposition and for others, it needs to be both. But this season has left a foul taste in everyone’s mouth. There’s a lack of leadership and composure that has meant countless big leads evaporating and temper tantrums on and off the court.
Call me toxic, but if Julius Randle doesn’t want to be here then he shouldn’t be. Games like last night aren’t helping his trade value anyway. His coach can’t control him and the expensive player showed more heart after the game than he did on any defensive possession. I feel like these recaps have been charitable up to his point, but enough is enough.
The Knicks were riding a wave of positive energy. They’d started to string together strong performances and pick up enough wins for an outside chance at the play-in. I’m happy that the young guys still looked good, but I’m done worrying about the standings. Unless I’m checking Tankathon to see about catching the Spurs, I’ll be focused on the players I hope to see in uniform next season.
The Atlanta Hawks are up next and I just want to see New York compete. I want the youth to get big roles regardless of the outcome. We’ll see if Tom Thibodeau can get out of his own way and if the Knicks can restore some positive energy 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. And in case you missed it, check out Knicks Weekly, where Corey Tulaba from No Ceilings joins to give his draft takes.
