NBA Cup helping Tom Thibodeau, Knicks build toward postseason
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts during the first quarter against the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
As the questions came for Tom Thibodeau in the moments after his Knicks had conducted a clinic against the top-ranked defense in the NBA, he mouthed the same answer over and over.
Thoughts on the NBA Cup now that the Knicks advanced to knockout round?
“Just worried about Charlotte,” Thibodeau said, referring to the next game on the schedule.
What worked with the offense to run through the Orlando defense with ease?
“Just worried about Charlotte,” Thibodeau repeated.
Were you aware of the point differential and the contingencies in schedule as the game wore on?
“Just worried about Charlotte,” he said, smirking slightly.
The smirk, the smile and the look gave an indication that Thibodeau knew what the team had accomplished and saw the same things that the 19,812 fans at Madison Square Garden had witnessed. In the locker room afterward the players acknowledged that they knew the ramifications. A win over Orlando got them into the NBA Cup but winning by too much could have meant a meeting with the Boston Celtics instead of the Atlanta Hawks.
The Knicks already were beaten down by the in-season tournament last season when the schedule ended up meaning extra games with Milwaukee and Boston. That presented a bigger challenge to the bigger goal of seeding for the postseason, which is the real goal.
And it’s that goal that Thibodeau, even through the smile, is focused on. What he saw Tuesday was another sign that raising a banner for some contrived, sponsor-fueled attempt to increase interest in the too long NBA schedule might be nice. But it also might just be a stepping stone on the road to those bigger goals.
“We're just building,” Karl-Anthony Towns said after the game was over. “We're building I think every game. We're getting better. We're getting more cohesive. I think what's very good about today is we talk so much about our offense, I thought our defense was matching our offense. And that's what was needed for us to be the team that we see ourselves being at the end. So it's a good day at the job for all of us.”
While much has been made of how the team would learn to play together after the offseason makeover, Towns not only is fitting in on the court, but when he talks he sounds as if he’s heard his coach’s speeches for years. And then you remember that he has. He heard it as a young player in the league and has had time to separate and grow and realize that what sounded like coach-speak has some deeper meaning.
Beyond moving on into the NBA Cup, the Knicks had put on display a performance that was worth stopping and noting. The Magic were shorthanded — as they have been since October 30 when Paolo Banchero suffered a torn oblique — but had still won six straight and 12 of 13 with a stifling, physical defense. The Knicks met that defense head on and demolished it.
The Knicks scored 71 first-half points, built a lead of 37 points in the third quarter and then sat Jalen Brunson for the entire fourth quarter. They also shut down all the starters earlier than usual (maybe to keep the Celtics out of the tournament?). The Magic did what they usually do. Jalen Suggs worked at bullying Brunson. Mo Wagner was an irritant, shoving and angering Towns. And the Knicks humbled them.
The immovable object versus irresistible force test of the top-ranked offense against the No. 1-ranked defense was a one-sided victory for the Knicks and they focused on the fact that their defense had been stifling, too. That is the test that the Knicks will have to prove they can pass if they want to move to the larger goals.
For one night, it seemed as if it was all clicking. And maybe that’s why Thibodeau was already shifting his attention to the next task at hand — worried only about Charlotte.
Achiuwa upgraded
Precious Achiuwa, who has yet to play this season after suffering a hamstring strain in preseason, was upgraded to questionable for Thursday's game against Charlotte.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.