Knicks 109, Rockets 94: The digital natives are restless
The Knicks beat the Rockets last night. Not that you’d know it by talking to some fans.
The New York Knicks defeated the Houston Rockets 109-94 last night at Madison Square Garden. Jalen Brunson returned from time away after a calf injury having not missed a beat, as he and Julius Randle each scored 30+ points. They’ve now done that more than any Knick teammates ever, besides Richie Guerin and Willie Naulls, neither of whom has played for the Knicks since JFK was alive. Meaning if you’re younger than 70, Randle and Brunson are doing things Knicks fans have never seen before. Yet the digital natives are restless.
The Knicks are on a 48-win pace at the season’s midpoint, despite playing 60% of their games so far on the road; if they finish with 48, it’ll be the first time since before 9/11 they’ve finished consecutive seasons 10+ games over .500. The team ahead of them in fourth, Cleveland, has seven more road games than home games left. New York is 7-2 since radically re-configuring their roster with the Toronto trade. Yet the digital natives are restless.
The Knicks led the Rockets the last 35:40 of game time. Houston is young, playing the sixth and final game of a road trip. They’ve struggled away from home, but before the current trip they’d won three of their last five away, including wins in Denver and New Orleans and an overtime loss at Cleveland. They’re a young team that’s showing signs of growth. Five Knicks scored in double-figures. They dominated the glass and won the 3-point battle by 15. Yet the digital . . . you know.
No joy in Mudville. Not for some. Like Borges’ Library of Babel, a belief has spread that with more information available than ever before, knowing the answer to every question is now a matter of when, not if. Tom Thibodeau wants a team that matches his methodology; to some, this beggars belief. Thibs frustrates with excessive, baffling loyalty to certain precepts and players over others. His rotations aren’t what many of ours would look like. So he’s gotta go.
Randle will never be the answer, either. If Brunson makes three All-NBA or All-Star teams the next four years, he may match what Randle accomplishes through his first five years as a Knick. But Brunson was lucky enough to join a team that already had an All-Star. The Knicks weren’t coming off 17 wins like when Julius signed. Sequence matters. Randle had already showed both his heels were made of clay by the time the Knicks seemingly turned things around last year. He continues to show growth and evolution. Whatevs. He’s gotta go too.
Josh Hart was Anuboby a year ago, the new acquisition, after which the Knicks won their first nine games. He hit the biggest shot in the opening game of the Cleveland series. His role has de-stabilized this season. RJ Barrett was playing a hair under 30 minutes a game as a Knick; since OG arrived, he is playing 36. With the 3-spot pretty secured, Hart was playing twice as much power forward this season as he ever had in the NBA. With Randle and Anunoby each averaging 36 minutes at the forward spots and OG playing more power forward as the back-up 4 than he has in years, where does the recently re-signed Hart get his minutes? A shooting guard who doesn’t shoot well? He’s gotta go too.
Quentin Grimes has lost his starting spot to Donte DiVincenzo – deservedly. Per 36 minutes, DDV is taking 25% more shots, 15% more threes and 100% more free throws (Grimes did get to the line five times last night, but most nights he gets there as often as you). Donte adds five rebounds and 3.5 assists per 36; Grimes is 3 and 2. Of course, this is DDV’s sixth season; he’s been around the block. He’s been allowed to fail and try again. It’s only Quentin’s third year. A lot of the time, his issue seems more about comfort than ability.
But the Knicks have been a top-10 team in the league now for a bit – last year and half of this. Everything is fun and light when there aren’t expectations. There are now. The timeline has accelerated. For most of the past 3-5 years, the Knicks were green. So often I could write lines like “eight of their top-10 minutes earners are 24 and under.” Now? Isaiah Hartenstein is the youngest starter. He’s 25. Most of the current rotation – Randle, Brunson, OG, Hart and DDV – are closer to 30 than 20. The Knicks are closer to 55 wins than 40. A year ago they were six wins from the Finals – halfway there.
The digital natives are restless because there’s enough big data to paint a picture of what proper team-building looks like. Hart can’t shoot. Trade him. Randle hasn’t come through in two playoffs. Trade him; go get Lauri Markkanen, who’s played exactly zero playoff games ever (or load Randle up with PEDs; maybe, like Barry Bonds, he’d reverse his postseason history). Thibs is an unsustainable demagogue. Fire him and promote Johnnie Bryant. It’s not like the Knicks have a recent history of unsuccessful, unproven young head coaches. After years of one half-baked undelivered plan after another, the Knicks have finally found some stability and success of late. Not liking what you see two weeks after a major trade? Let’s make some more huge moves. When doesn’t that work?
If you’re restless, be restless. You’ve come by it honestly. Enjoy the revolution of rising expectations; for many Knick fans, this may be their first such rodeo. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but pure appetite makes for a great wet nurse. Just remember: sometimes you’re seeing something you’ve literally never seen before. It’s okay to breathe. And wait. And to let it linger . . .
