Basketball is a contest between two teams. Fans often suffer from tunnel vision when viewing a game, neglecting the opponent’s successes and failures. The biggest Knick surprises were Cam Reddish’s 22 point offensive outburst and RJ Barrett’s 3 of 18. Both threw up bad shots in the closing minutes of a winable game. As a team, the Knicks shot .486 from two but only .243 from three. The Grizz had less success inside the arc, .430, but were 17of 50 for .340 from deep.
This game was lost on the defensive end. Memphis’ replacements for Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dillon Brooks combined for 30 points. Slightly built, 6’11” Santi Aldama played 39 min., with 18pts. on 14 shots. John Konchar was 4 of 9 from three for 12pts in 33 min.. Each player grabbed 11 boards. Julius Randle’s fine performance on the offensive end was offset by Aldama’s efforts. Jules fouled out, a rare occurrence. However, he had only one on-ball penalty, three were offensive fouls and two were assessed for rebounding infractions. Mitch, on the other hand, was plagued by fouls and played only 13 mins, negating the Knicks advantage inside with shot-blocking JJJ sidelined. Guarding Ja, Barrett also had only one on-ball foul, while Evan Fournier had two. Thibs defensive strategy is to defend the paint. Thus, this trio of weak on-ball defenders put tremendous pressure on the centers. They will not face a Ja Morant every night, but there will be plenty of Santi Aldamas and John Konchars.Thibs collapsing D also gives up open threes. Desmond Bane, usually a 40%+ shooter, was only 3 for 13 from deep. Just as RJ had a bad night, so did Bane.
The long term positives for the Knicks were their gritty comeback, Jalen Brunson, and Julius Randle’s continuing unselfish play. If Barrett had been on last night, Randle would probably have had 8 or 9 assists to go with his 24 pts., 11 rebounds. Jules is making consistent triple doubles look like a reasonable expectation. Jalen Brunson continues to impress, and his D is second only to Mitchell Robinson among the starters. Thibs will have to bruise RJ’s ego and move him off the quicker opponents. Taylor Jenkins would have been better off isolating Morant on Barrett rather than putting him in a P&R. It was no contest.
Comebacks from large deficits are very common in the NBA. Teams become complacent with a big lead, players’ shooting runs hot and cold, a bench player comes in and lights it up, etc. There is generally a regression to the mean by game’s end. In this game, the Knicks went play for play with the Memphis Grizzlies and their super star Ja Morant. Unbelievably, they even got a game deciding 50-50 call in their favor when Jalen Brunson stepped in and took a charge from Morant on a made, game winning basket in regulation.
The Knicks lost 115 to 112. Regression to the mean?