Hornets 109, Knicks 88: Will the real New York Knicks please sit back down?
An uninspiring effort from the New York Knicks resulted in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets — their third straight — on Monday.
It’s been three straight losses for the New York Knicks, and three straight outings where they’ve scored less than 100 points. This shouldn’t surprise you, but that’s not a coincidence.
New York walked into Monday night’s bout with the Charlotte Hornets coming off of two straight losses, but both to (currently) competitive teams in the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets. After starting off the year 5-3, the Knicks’ honeymoon may have come to an end.
Over the team’s first eight games, they scored an average of 106 points per night. Julius Randle was playing at an All-NBA level, RJ Barrett was taking the leap, Mitchell Robinson had finally turned the corner on his foul troubles, and Tom Thibodeau was looking like a Coach of the Year candidate. Then they lost back-to-back games, and fell into familiar habits.
Still, fans were hopeful that a matchup with a team more within the Knicks’ competitive realm would provide an opportunity to right Tom Thibodeau’s ship; a rustic Galleon carrier that was on the verge of bringing fans the one treasure they’ve longed for: a compelling on-court product.
It didn’t pan out for New York. Charlotte opened things up with a 10-0 run, that was just as much to credit of the Knicks’ mistakes as much as the Hornets’ aggression. It didn’t get better either, with the lead having increased to eight points by the seven-and-a-half minute mark in the first.
Kevin Knox had a lot of bright moments in this one, but it all started in the opening minutes. He and Austin Rivers (who started in place of the injured Reggie Bullock) provided a solid portion of the Knicks’ points in the first period. Knox knocked down two of New York’s three made shots from deep in the beginning quarter, and Rivers tallied seven points solely due to the team’s overall lack of a shot-maker. But the Knicks walked out of a brutal first quarter still in the game, down just 31-25, even after Gordon Hayward put up 13 points. They walked into the second quarter prepared to build upon their momentum.
Backup big Nerlens Noel quickly made his presence known, after blocking two shots in the first quarter, with the defensive effort and overall vision that fans had been anticipating. A five-man lineup featuring Rivers, Immanuel Quickley, Barrett, Knox, and Noel laid the foundation for a 22-6 run for New York, despite having tallied over twice the Hornets’ turnover total.
Knox finished his best first half of the season with 17 points, one of few efforts keeping the Knicks in the game. He would go on to finish with just 19 on the night, but more on that later. The 21-year old forward was the only guy to get it going from beyond the arc over the first two quarters. New York entered halftime shooting just 28% from deep, down 57-50.
Hayward’s scoring streak continued up until the break, with the $120-million man racking up 28 points through 24 minutes of play, as if he had something to prove to New York. The Knicks had been tied to him in free agency this year, which Thibodeau commented on pregame.
A rough night for RJ Barrett only continued in the second half, albeit with more signs of life. New York’s sophomore wonder was able to impact the game in other ways aside from scoring, primarily in rebounds and assists, and at times on the defensive end too. But the Knicks’ shooting struggles continued, and the Hornets only heated up, finishing the night having shot 40% from deep.
The most telling sign of New York’s struggles in the second half can be found in Hayward’s absence for what felt like the entirety of the third quarter. Without their best player, Charlotte was still preying on the soft defense the Knicks had put up between the second and third quarters.
There wasn’t much to tell of the second half, which was nothing more than an extension of the first for New York. Those halftime adjustments we had grown fond of seeing from Thibodeau and company have run dry, and so has the Knicks’ liquid luck. Knox finished as the team’s leading scorer, with point guard Elfrid Payton behind him with 15 points. New York will have a couple days before their Wednesday night national TV matchup with the neighboring Brooklyn Nets.
Let’s hope they put that time to good use.
Notes
Kevin Knox looked the most confident we’ve seen him this year, if not the entirety of last year as well. It’s the first time he’s put up 17 or more shot attempts since the second half of his rookie season (a March 2019 loss to the Utah Jazz). And while that inspires loads and loads of confidence, I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why Thibs didn’t have him in to start the second half after smoking Charlotte in the first. Something to keep an eye on I suppose? Hopefully first-half outbursts become a regular thing for Knox.
Elfrid Payton, despite his efficient shooting numbers, continues to un-inspire confidence. He finished Monday night with 15 points on 14 shots, and even at 50% shooting from the field, that isn’t optimal play from your starting point guard. Hopefully the returns of some injured Knickerbockers shift his attention from shooting to passing in the future.
Thankfully, rookie guard LaMelo Ball didn’t put on a masterclass on Monday. I could already see the headlines for Tuesday morning revolving around the New York Knicks inability to draft him this year, despite their being five picks below Charlotte. Ball finished the night with just eight points (although with 14 rebounds and seven assists) on 3-13 shooting from the field and 2-6 shooting from deep.
I’m the biggest Austin Rivers homer at The Strickland, but the place where he can help this team most is within the second unit. Despite his experience playing next to some of the starters in closing lineups, the veteran guard stuck out on both ends of the ball in the early (and any) minutes playing amongst New York’s top five against Charlotte. Without Reggie Bullock and Alec Burks, Thibodeau was limited in options, but it almost would have made more sense to deploy Knox ahead of Rivers, for sake of continuity.
Help is on the way, I think. I’m not sure where Alec Burks is in his recovery, MSG’s broadcasting booth mentioned he may be in a walking boot at this point. He and Obi Toppin should hopefully provide help in the Knicks’ newly-developing scoring problem, and the duo of Reggie Bullock and Frank Ntilikina will play their part on defense. I can’t say when it will be, but each of those guys’ returns should only help New York.
The New York Knicks have dropped three straight after seemingly convincing the entire state of New York and a majority of the NBA that things had finally changed inside the walls and minds at Madison Square Garden.
That being said, if things are regressing to their means, can the real New York Knicks please sit back down? Most fans, myself included, much more enjoyed the competent and scoring-capable basketball team that took the floor in games one through eight. Can head coach Tom Thibodeau, aided by the inevitable return of his injured personnel, get things back on track?
