Knicks @ Raptors 12/31/2020

Final Score: Knicks 83, Raptors 100

What a horror show. The final game of 2020 went about as fittingly as possible, as the Knicks put together one of the worst displays of perimeter shooting in the history of franchise, or maybe the history of basketball. Despite that, it is, hopefully, a sign of better things to come that there were still quite a few positive takeaways from the game. Let us discuss...

Defense Wins Championships

For three quarters the Knick defense, even without their best perimeter defender, was phenomenal. They were flying around making rotation after rotation, actively using their hands to disrupt even the simplest of Raptor passes. When the 4th quarter began, Toronto was 13-42 (31%) from 3, and even that felt like they ran above expectation. They were simply not generating a lot of great opportunities. Tom Thibodeau has the Knicks defending harder and smarter than they have since before many players on the Knicks were born. 

As Cold As Ice

3-36.

If it felt like the Raptors were running hot because of the difficulty of the shots they were making, that feeling was only extrapolated by the quality of shots the Knicks were missing. Throughout the night Knick players were wide open beyond the arc, and Knick ballhandlers, led by the resurgent Julius Randle, set them up to shoot in rhythm. But time after time, the shots refused to find the bottom of the net.

With the influx of analytics & three point shooting into the modern NBA, nights like this are inevitable. Sometimes shots don't fall. The further the shot, the greater the potential for extremely volatile results. And that volatility only increases if the guys shooting the majority of threes are named Elfrid Payton (0-2), R.J. Barrett (0-8), Julius Randle (0-4), & Reggie Bullock (0-9). But there's still multiple positives to take away from a night of cold shooting. 

For starters, in addition to the defensive mindset he has immediately infused into a team that couldn't stop anything last season, Thibodeau is instituting good, modern habits into the team. Creating more open threes & shots around the rim are good things, regardless of whether they go in or not in the short term. Wins & losses do not necessarily matter this year. Positive habits & progress do. 

To go along with that, it seems, at least early on, the team has fully bought in. People in general tend not to like what they do not know. It's human nature. Julius Randle may be open to coaching, but it would be totally normal and understandable for him to revert to the player he was last year the second these new habits showed poor results. It's not a flaw in Julius Randle's character, but a flaw in our human code. But that did not happen Wednesday night. Despite brick after brick, the Knicks stayed the course and trusted the process. This shows a belief & faith in what the head coach is preaching. 

The Kevin Knox Conundrum

A common talking point amongst Knick fans the last three or so years has been a desire to "free" the kids. For the most part this was based not on merit but on the acceptance that the Knicks were not a good team, and mediocre veterans taking minutes away from rookies was not only pointless, but severely disrupting the evolution of the franchise. Guys like Kevin Knox & Frank Ntilikina would routinely cede playing time to journeymen like Jarrett Jack, Trey Burke, & Mo Harkless, and Knick fans did not know why. Detractors would argue that guys, even high draft picks, should have to earn minutes. That giving them minutes regardless of play would hurt team morale. There may be some logic to that, but it is looking like that logic will not apply this year, because Knox has been spectacular. 

If the theme of this season has been Thibodeau's immediate impact on the playing style of the team, then Kevin Knox is definitely the poster-boy. He's made a leap in just about every area of his game. He is catch and shooting with confidence. When the defender closes out quickly he is pumping and driving not only lacking hesitance, but making reads that show a preparation, feel, and IQ he had not shown an inkling of in his first two seasons. On the other side of the ball he is as engaged as I have ever seen him. He using his rare strength & quickness to stay with smaller wings while also hanging in there with the bigger ones. All of a sudden, remnants of a player who can contribute on a winning team are very clear.

Wednesday night he was the Knicks best player, and Reggie Bullock, the wing Knox typically comes off the bench for, was arguably their worst. And while the minutes (32 for him, 38 for Bullock) somewhat relatively reflected that (typically the disparity is far greater, like Monday at Cleveland when Bullock played 41 minutes and Knox played 16), they still served to represent the fork in the road the Knicks currently stand on, and an ominous sign. Kevin Knox should be starting. He should be getting run with guys like R.J. Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitch Robinson. He should not only be rewarded for his vast improvement, but incentivized to keep putting in the amazing effort he has thus far.

Let me be clear, I am not saying Bullock should not play. Despite being 0-9 from 3 Wednesday night, he suffices just fine as a perimeter shooter and works well as a defender. He is a perfectly fine role player. This is not an Elfrid Payton situation. Bullock is not out there actively holding his teammates back just by being on the court, nor is he an atrocious fit with the guys he plays with. But he also turns 30 in two months, making him almost ten years older than Knox, a player we took ninth overall less than three years ago. There is no reason to lock Bullock in for 35 minutes a night and create a dynamic where Knox is only seeing major minutes on the nights he plays well. 

What's Next?

The Knicks play the Pacers in Indiana tonight, and Immanuel Quickley returns. The aforementioned fork in the road will reveal itself with how Thibodeau manages his rotations. Elfrid Payton, presumably, will start, but it is abundantly clear that Quickley is not only already a more impactful player, but, because of his shooting, a superior fit with the rest of the starting lineup. How the Knicks handle the minutes of guys like Knox, Quickley, Ntilikina, & Toppin, in comparison to guys like Payton, Bullock, and Nerlens Noel, could very well shape how the next ten years of the Knicks franchise unfolds.

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