The New York Knicks have won 8 in a row and are playing their best basketball of the season. Their last loss was April 7th against the Boston Celtics. They have gut out overtime wins against the Grizzlies, Pelicans, and Hawks. They have won games against potential playoff teams like the Mavericks, Hornets, and the depleted Lakers. With the two other wins against the Pelicans (again) and the Raptors. They have simply just kept on winning. Left for dead after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving chose the Nets over them and they lost out on Zion Williamson in the 2019 draft lottery, Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau have done a very good job turning the ship around and making basketball at Madison Square Garden relevant again.
Julius Randle is having a massive season, looks like the leading candidate to win Most Improved Player, and was an All-Star. Signed after New York missed out on Durant and Irving, Randle had an up and down first season with the Knicks. Averaging 19.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists on 46% from the field and 27% from 3 point range last season, Randle has increased nearly every stat this season averaging a career high in points, rebounds, and assists with 23.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 6.1 assists on 46% shooting and 41% from behind the arc. The Knicks are much improved this season and Randle is a big part of that. Another guy who has stepped up big for the Knicks this season is 2019 3rd overall pick RJ Barrett. Putting up 17.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, Barrett has improved from his first to second season. I am not sure what Barrett’s ceiling is and what he becomes in the NBA but the Knicks are very invested in Barrett, who they drafted after they fell in the 2019 draft lottery after missing out on Williamson. Coach Thibodeau has done a fantastic job in helping Randle reach his potential and Barrett work to get to his. The Knick stars have been great this season but the depth guys have been very good as well.
New York’s primary line up for the season has been Randle, Barrett, Elfrid Payton, and Reggie Bullock with Nerlens Noel or Mitchell Robinson at center, Robinson has been hurt as of late. The 4 man line up has been good with an offensive rating of 109.4 and a defensive rating of 109.0. With Noel at center the ratings jump to 112.7 offensively and 113.2 defensively. That plays in part to his play coming as the group as a whole comes more together and figures out how to play with one another. However, Noel has been excellent this season giving the Knicks 5.2 points and 6.6 rebounds while defending the paint extremely well. Point Guard is an issue for New York, Elfrid Payton, Derrick Rose, and Immanuel Quickly have played the majority of the minutes. Quickly is a rookie after being drafted 25th overall in this year's past draft, he is having a solid rookie season averaging 11.8 points and 2.1 assists in 55 games. He looks like a Lou Williams type player for the future, a combo guard who is very good off your bench. Payton and Rose are both free agents to be so the Knicks need a point guard for the future. I love what Reggie Bullock has given the Knickerbockers this season. He is a very good 3 point shooter, playing very well defensively, and has been a fantastic fit with Randle and Barrett, opening up lanes for them to drive and setting screens. When the drive draws a player in, Bullock is in the corner ready to sink a 3 pointer. Off the bench they have Alec Burks (who provides a scoring punch), Taj Gibson (a solid veteran big), and Rose (a very solid veteran point guard), and youngsters Kevin Knox, Frank Ntilikina, and high flying rookie Obi Toppin. The Knicks have a very solid roster who could do damage come playoff time.
I expect the Knicks to be in that 4-6 range come playoff time with a matchup against the Hawks, Celtics, or Bucks in the first round. The most favorable matchup for New York is Atlanta as the Hawks have the least amount of playoff experience and don’t have the top talent of Milwaukee or Boston. The Bucks are the worst matchup due to their top end talent and how it matches up with New York’s, Giannis can take Randle and make him ineffective so that Knicks would struggle to score in that series. Boston is the most interesting matchup, they play on the last game of the season so maybe seeding is decided that day. The Knicks would be the underdogs as the Celtics were in the East Finals last season and returned most of their team from that run. However, the Knicks are scrappy and are going to fight for 48 minutes so that would be a challenge for the Celtics. I do believe the Celtics would win that series as their talent is superior to New York’s but it would be a fun series.
The Knicks have sucked ever since they made a run to the second round after winning 54 games and finishing as the 2nd seed in 2013. They have been irrelevant, praying for big time free agents to sign with them and lottery balls to fall in their favor. However, now New York has decided to take its destiny into their own hands. They are well run, well coached, and have a very solid roster. It is a talented roster who has been playing their best basketball of the season over the past couple of weeks and has been really fun to watch. Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau have done an excellent job of building the roster and coaching them to keep winning games. The Knicks are back and the entire league is better for it, no matter how annoying the fans can be sometimes.
Commentaires