Chemistry Lacking in Knick Loss to Wizards

Chemistry Lacking in Knick Loss to Wizards

The Knicks should be able to weather an off night by Julius Randle. This team has more capable shooters than available FGAs. They did not lose to Washington because Jules went 6 – 17. They did not lose because of costly TOs. New York had only nine. The New York Knicks lost to the Washington Capitals because the chemistry that propelled them to previously win 7 of 8 was lacking.

The main cause of this loss was the disparity between assists. The Wizards had 28 to the Knicks 14. Two days earlier, the difference was similar, 23 -17.

Now the Knicks are not a high assist team. Many of their points come of ISO plays with three players flirting with 20+ FGAs every game. Grimes and IQ are dependable scorers. They use their 10 – 12 shots efficiently. Quickley averaged 10 dimes in 3 games as Brunson’s replacement. Jules continued to do the heavy lifting on the boards with 15 in each loss, and contributed 8 assists vs. Toronto.

When a team puts up big assist numbers, look to the lack of defensive pressure as the reason. When the Knicks are at their best on D, they play with an urgency that has been missing the last couple of games. Solid D makes dimes harder to come bye. Strong defenses challenge every pass, take away the comfortable cushion enjoyed by scorers, anticipate and fight through P&Rs, and look to return to their own men after switches. Thus, easy passes and open shots are unavailable, making it difficult for an offense to pile up 20+ assists. Gaudy assist numbers are most often the result of poor D, with the opposition taking whatever they want on offense.

This has been the state of New York’s efforts against the Raptors and Wizards. It has been suggested here that when the Knicks play in front of their home town fans, their attention shifts away from D and they focus on producing beaucoup points. With this mind set, not only does team defense suffer, but team chemistry as well. Team work on defense is extremely important. It is not simply the ability of players being able to stay in front of their men.

While the Knicks were in the midst of their latest winning streak, Jules made the comment that Coach Thibs “had them on a string” on D. The five players were shifting in unison as their opponents moved the ball. In their last seven wins, New York gave up an average of 103 ppg. Barrett was out of the line up for 5 of those contests. What had changed in these last couple of games?

The obvious answer is the defense has been weak. For whatever reason, the intensity has been down. The cushions have been larger, passing lanes have opened up and more open shots have been available. Bingo. Easy passes to open shooters equals more assists. The lopsided margins between the Knicks and their opponents in these last two games is a reflection of lax defense. Combine this with some players’ desire to score big at home and we have losses to teams that are also in the hunt for a sixth place finish.

Box score: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468824