Not-So-Under Underdogs
10 things to take away from this 2-0 Knicks lead:
•The Knicks are gritty. All that talk about them being soft compared to last season goes out the window. All we’ve heard from fans and media was that this roster didn’t have that “fight”… they’ve done nothing BUT fight during the playoffs.
•They managed to come back from a 20 point deficit TWICE… on the road, and this is with them not playing their best basketball. It felt like in the first quarter of game two that there was a lid on their basket. A lot of those shots were good looks but just weren’t falling. If they hit those shots, the game stays much closer throughout.
•To piggyback off of that last point, the Knicks have to limit unforced turnovers. There were a good number of plays during that game 2 run by Boston, where the Knicks kind of shot themselves in the foot with rushed passes. This team is fairly great at not turning the ball over, so if they hold onto the rock, just like with the last point, they keep the game closer… maybe even stay ahead of Boston on the scoreboard.
•They’re playing super solid defense. You can sit there and say the Celtics are beating themselves by chucking up 3 point shots, but the Knicks are keeping the Celtics out of the paint and forcing those low percentage shots. Everyone, yes, EVERYONE is playing defense.
•Mikal and OG have been worth the price the Knicks paid for them. Sure, 5 1st round picks and 200 million are steep prices to pay, but when you look passed scoring numbers, these acquisitions have been huge for the team. And even then, for your number 2 and 3 scorers to average 18 each, that’s amazing. Two words for both OG and Mikal… defense and intangibles.
•Obviously both OG and Mikal now have a defensive-first role on the squad, especially having Brunson and KAT who can easily drop 30+ at given night, but what makes those two even more dangerous is that they both can score 30+ any given night. Having two 2-way threats PLUS, arguably two of the best scorers in the NBA will give any teams nightmares, no matter how elite those teams are. Who do you leave open?! You can gamble on leaving Josh Hart open but he’ll make you pay in some way, shape or form.
•Here’s a bonus takeaway… Josh is doing Josh things and with his motor on both ends of the court, he impacts the game in so many ways. Another dude whose intangibles are his most valuable asset.
•For the first time in his coaching career, coach Thibbs has a complete and healthy roster. And all of those minutes they’ve played throughout the season have conditioned these guys for this kind of environment. We’ve seen what his Chicago and NY teams were capable of, but never saw what they were able to do when fully healthy. We also need to give him his flowers for making the adjustments that everyone said he’d never make. From Brunson all the way down to Cam Payne, coach Thibbs has these guys mentally and physically ready to go the distance… a winning culture.
•We all know that Thibbs doesn’t go to the bench often. And outside of his stubbornness, you almost can’t blame him because sometimes the guys on the bench don’t play to the level the team needs them to. However, in these two games, whenever Mitchell Robinson and/or Miles McBride have been on the court, they’ve done all the right things for the most part. The Knicks don’t need Deuce to drop 20+, though that would be huge if he did. They just need him to hit a few shots, play defense and limit turnovers while Brunson is on the bench.
•As for Mitchell Robinson, he’s been stellar, but we all knew that would be the case. His biggest problem has been this: It’s been a strategy throughout this post season for teams to hack him and put him at the line because he’s not a good shooter. With that being said, here’s how that can be a bad thing for opposing teams: If teams continue to do this early and often, it’ll put their team into early foul trouble. So then you risk putting guys who can shoot on the line OR you have to back down defensively because you don’t want to further exasperate that problem and give up free points.
•Now, as great as it is to see the Knicks up 2-0, things can completely swing in the other direction, so I’m not going to sit here and say it’s over. As a fan, all I hoped for was for the team to go home to MSG with the series at least split 1-1, but they’ve managed to take a 2-0 series lead back home to the world’s most famous arena. They’re half way away from closing this series out. The Knicks can surely tighten things up and play a lot better, but they’re showing that they can totally hang with the best in the league, because for all intents and purposes, they are one of the best in the league.
LET’S GO, KNICKS!
Photo Cred: New York Knicks, NBA
