Knicks, playing without Jalen Brunson, wake up and pull away vs. Grizzlies
Knicks forward Julius Randle drives between Grizzlies forward Xavier Tillman, left, and guard Vince Williams Jr. during the first half of an NBA game Saturday in Memphis, Tenn. Credit: AP/Brandon Dill
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Julius Randle warned a week ago that when the Knicks face inferior opponents, they cannot “play with their food.” By that standard, for much of Saturday night’s game, they were sticking vegetables in their noses and making a mess of everything before finally escaping with a 106-94 win over the Grizzlies at FedEx Forum.
After arriving in town Friday afternoon, the Knicks were able to scout the Grizzlies against the Los Angeles Clippers, at least giving themselves a chance to put faces to the names of some of the players they’d be facing.
Still, it was a win — the 500th of Tom Thibodeau’s career — and improved the Knicks to 23-16 overall and 16-0 against teams below .500. It may not have been the easiest or most enjoyable victory of his career, but Thibodeau was still pleased.
“To me, it’s a byproduct of a lot of people working together,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to have a number of great players, great assistants, great organizations. You’re just part of it. From that standpoint, I’m proud of it, but it’s all the people you’re doing it with. You can’t do stuff like that without great players. So I’m fortunate right now with the group that we have. We have an incredible group of players — not only players, but who they are as people as well.’’
“I was happy for him,” Randle said. “Appreciative that we could be a part of it. Five hundred wins is a great accomplishment. A lot of work, a lot of time spent, a lot of hours. Congrats to Coach.”
When the game began, because of some long-term and recent injuries, the list of players missing for the Grizzlies was nearly as long as the players who were available. Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Derrick Rose, Marcus Smart, Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke, Santi Aldama and Jaren Jackson Jr. were out.
Jake LaRavia came off the bench in the first quarter and played just one minute before heading to the locker room with a sprained left ankle, done for the night.
The Knicks had one late scratch — Jalen Brunson sat out after testing his injured left calf on the court before the start of the game — and for much of the night, that seemed like more than they could overcome, even though they were facing an assortment of players from the fringes of the Grizzlies’ roster and call-ups from the G League.
Randle had 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists but also had six turnovers. Isaiah Hartenstein added 12 points, blocked four shots and grabbed 20 rebounds, matching his career high set 10 days earlier. He has pulled down at least 19 rebounds three times in the last six games.
Deuce McBride ably filled in for the injured Brunson with a career-high 19 points along with six rebounds and five assists, and Malachi Flynn provided a spark with nine points and three assists in 10 minutes.
Without their floor general, the Knicks moved McBride into the starting lineup for the first time this season and put the ball in the hands of Randle, who tried to control the action and drew double- and triple-teams every time he started to move toward the rim.
The result was troubling and accentuated the need for the Knicks to have Brunson in the lineup. Randle turned the ball over three times in the first quarter and the Knicks saw the makeshift Memphis lineup go ahead 8-2 and hold on to leads of 27-25 after one quarter and 57-53 at halftime.
“Stop turning the ball over,” Randle said of the halftime message. “I was awful. I was terrible. I’m not going to lie, I was terrible. It was just a sluggish game, all around sloppy. But we found a way to get the win. That’s what matters.”
With the Knicks clinging to a 73-69 lead, Donte DiVincenzo had a steal that led to his three-point field goal, then made another steal, with Josh Hart scrambling for the loose ball and flinging it ahead to DiVincenzo for a dunk. DiVincenzo sank another three to put the Knicks ahead 81-69, and they took an 83-72 lead into the fourth quarter.
Thibodeau provided his usual warning before the game — one he has preached even when a team is missing one star, as the Mavericks were on Thursday, when they were without Luka Doncic and still beat the Knicks.
“We were disappointed,” said Thibodeau, who is 500-373 (.573). “We didn’t take care of the ball at all in the first half, put them in the open floor. I thought the defense picked up a lot in the second half. The rebounding was good throughout. But our turnovers were problematic. Then we settled down and got better shots as well. Just finding a way to win is the important thing. Deuce was terrific. That was huge for us.”
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.
