Honeymoon Sweet Dreams
In their first competition of the season, the New York Knicks Knicks relegated (Welcome to Wrexham) the Detroit Pistons to the G League. After the subs energized the team and the Knicks jumped to a double digit lead , the starters awoke and completed the dismantling. Jules, 6 of 10, 2 of 4, and RJ, 8 of 14, 3 of 5, hit their shots. Jalen Brunson was 7 of 9 with 5 assists and drew 3 offensive fouls. IQ chipped in with 13 pts and McB had 6 steals.
Actually, the offense was even better than that. With Jalen penetrating at will, the Pistons D was constantly scrambling to recover. When scoring himself, Brunson found the open shooter. Bogdanovic always seemed to be on the Knick with the layup. Isaiah Hartenstein led the team in mp with 28. Mitch was a dominant force early in the game with only 6’8” Isaiah Stewart to contest him.
Dfensively, the Knicks throttled the Detroit gand that coudn’t shoot straight withy their collapsing D. The Pistons lack solid 3 pt. Shooters. With Cade Cunningham, 3 of 12, tripled in the lane, their offense struggled. Troy Weaver had brought in Bogdanovic and Alec Burks to help with this problem. Although Bojan was 3 of 5 from deep, his defense was atrocious. He should not be a starter when these two teams meet again. Their was a bright side for Detroit, Jaden Ivey, 6 of 9 for 16 pts, looked like a ROY candidate and Jalen Duren had 14 boards in 24 minutes.
The Knicks first real challenge will be on the 19th when they open in Memphis. Their next two preseason games against the Pacers should be reruns of last night’s game. Play the starters no more than 20 minutes and see what we have in Cam Reddish, disappointing, and Isaiah Hartenstein, promising last night. The Wizards have a talented roster, but their PGs were just added in mid and late September. Devin Dotson should be the starter, by default. Designating Bradley Beal as the starting PG doesn’t make him one. Dotson could give Jalen Brunson some trouble with his quickness. At least the Wizards have the talent to make a game of it.
Let’s hope this honeymoon continues.