Knicks Team Play Beats Jazz
Coach Tom Thibodeau tightened his rotation and Immanuel Quickley was the immediate beneficiary. In his 26 min. on the floor, Quick scored 13 very timely points and a +/- of +18. The four steals only tells part of the IQ story on D. On many P&R plays where Sims had to leave his man to challenge the ball, IQ became the help defender rotating on the big. Immanuel picked up most of his 5 fouls, as well as his steals, in the paint, disrupting Utah’s P&R plays.
Jalen Brunson took over in crunch time following IQ’s 8 points early in the 4th. He scored 25 points, on 10 of 20. Jalen was unstoppable in the last 7.5 mins. as he iced the win for the Knicks. In the words of Wally Szczerbiak, Brunson “ abused Mike Conley”. Jalen will guide the Knicks to more than a few wins when there is no ‘glove’, no ‘cooler’ to keep him in check. The lane is his play ground.
Cam Reddish was the third star of the game. Like IQ, on defense Reddish has a sense of where the ball is going. His anticipation leads to tips, steals and quick recoveries. As Cam’s mpg have increased, his superior defense has become important. Perhaps we can now take Reddish’s D for granted. In fact, his D was a bit disappointing against the Jazz.
It is on the offensive side where he needed to make a major improvement. Last night he took one wild shot off an ill advised drive. His line of 7-13, 2-5, 3-3 was only marred by a lone rebound and 2 TOs. Cam Reddish is now playing like the lottery player he was expected to be when he was included with Trae Young in the Luka Doncic trade. Dallas is still way ahead there.
The ‘under the weather’ RJ Barrett played a team high 37 min. Why? His line was a sad 5-18, 0-5, 8-14. Barrett did pick up a foul on D fighting over an Olynick screen., a rarity. Obi Toppin was having a very good night. His line, in 18 min. was 3-4, 3-4 9pts, 6 boards, 4 dimes and +/- +23. It was promising to see Obi go to the broads rather than leaking out on defense. Toppin and the Knicks could have benefitted from some of those 37 min.
Benching Brunson and Barrett for the final quarter of the OKC game was a gutsy message aimed at the entire team. Even the stars are accountable for poor play on the defensive end. It was probably a bigger gamble sitting RJ as Brunson’s dad is a Thibodeau guy. RJ is both a good kid and a bit delusional regarding his skill set. Barrett could be a good defender, but he will never be the guy to slow down a top scorer. His offensive game is not thriving as his point totals are usually based on FGAs, not eFG%. Would the Knicks be better with Quentin Grimes starting with Cam and Jules rather than with RJ Barrett ? That would depend on RJ following Cam Reddish’s improvement and allowing the game to come to him.
For the first game on the Western road trip, this was a good win. The surprising Utah Jazz presented a good challenge for the Knicks after traveling to Salt Lake City.
Box score: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468363