Knicks' ability to beat lesser opponents can help them go far in playoffs
Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein drives to the basket against Spurs center Victor Wembanyama during the first half of an NBA game in San Antonio on Friday. Credit: AP/Eric Gay
SAN ANTONIO — Maybe there is no better way to judge just how good the Knicks have become as they have progressed through this season than the reaction of the opposing teams they have run through of late — from Monty Williams’ anger with what he seemed to feel was the Knicks running up the score and chasing records as they dismantled his 12-win Detroit Pistons or the acknowledgement of the one-sided nature of the matchup in Darko Rajakovic after the 44-point blowout of the free-falling Raptors.
They are 26-3 against teams below .500 even after the overtime loss to the Spurs on Friday night and have the third most double-digit wins this season behind only Boston and New Orleans. Whether the opposition likes it or not, the Knicks play with a style that has helped them put a foot on the throat of lesser opponents — evidenced by the NBA-best 40-3 record the Knicks hold when leading by 10 points or more this season. And it just might be the characteristic that can carry them through the postseason against teams believed to have bigger stars or more talent.
While we can debate the star power of the Knicks — whether a team needs a Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokic to win a title — and the need for them to get all of their pieces on the court again as they still await the return of Julius Randle and OG Anunoby after the return of Mitchell Robinson Wednesday, there’s no debate the Knicks have the toughness of mind and physicality of play to compete with any team.
ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins has earned a reputation for outrageous opinions, but fewer are disagreeing with what he put out on trade deadline day when he said, “One thing I see about the New York Knicks is that they have a culture and they have an identity. They have more dawgs on their team than the Milwaukee Bucks do,” Perkins said. “If you want to go down the line, I can’t name one guy on their team that’s not a pit bull. Not one on the New York Knicks. Every single guy on the Knicks is gonna bring it night in and night out. We always look at talent.we always look at talent and say ‘ yeah man they’re more talented than this team and all this, but . . . In order to win a championship, you gotta have a team full of some dawgs.”
Perkins was arguing that day that the Knicks were better than the Bucks, after he went through a list of affirmations of naming teams that they would beat in a playoff series. And right now the Knicks are closing in on the Bucks for the second seed in the East behind only the Boston Celtics, having moved into third place Wednesday.
What the Knicks are at full strength — evidenced by the 15-2 record in games that Anunoby has played — is a talented, deep team. But they have yet to show that they can get that whole team on the floor.
“The big thing is you want to have the belief,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It starts with belief that you can win. Where does the belief come from? It’s from your preparation and the demonstrated ability to win. And we always feel if we defend and we rebound and we keep our turnovers down, no matter where we are, no matter who we have, if we do those three things it’ll put us in position to win.
“So we understood when we had injuries to Julius and OG and Mitchell, you’re not going to replace those guys individually. But we can do it collectively as a team. And so that’s what we’ve done all season. We’ve gotten a lot better. Guys have gotten expanded roles and they’ve thrived with them. It’s a credit to the work they’re putting in — and not only their individual work, but to work together. So they’re creating good basketball on both ends of the floor.”
Brunson on a different level
Jalen Brunson became an All-Star this season and almost certainly will earn his first All-NBA spot. And maybe after the 61-point effort Friday night, it’s time to stop the debate and add him in the top 10 voting for MVP. Brunson has carried a shorthanded Knicks squad not only with his scoring but in the locker room, where he has helped transform a culture.
“He’s special,” Donte DiVincenzo said after Friday night's game. “I think he’s an All-NBA talent. Even If we didn’t come away with the win tonight what he did tonight shows you he’s one of the best guards in the East. Every single night, whatever it takes to win he does that . . . Every single night he gives us a chance to win and he continues to be himself.”
Brunson fell just one point short of the 62-point record-setting performance by Carmelo Anthony in 2014 and became just the fourth Knicks player with at least two 50-plus nights in the same season.
DiVincezo No. 1 at 3s
DiVincenzo got his own piece of history Friday night, passing Evan Fournier’s single-season franchise record for three-pointers of 241. DiVincenzo is at 245 and counting with nine games remaining. He did it after breaking the franchise record for a single-game held by Fournier and J.R. Smith with 11 three-pointers on Monday night.
“It’s a cool accomplishment,” he said. “You look at the list of who’s on there, it’s special. We still have eight or nine games to go. No real pressure. Just go out there and take the shots I’ve been taking all year.”
Practice? We’re talking about practice?
It may not be in the rundown as a regularly scheduled segment of "The Roommates Show" podcast that Brunson and Josh Hart host weekly, but somehow the fact that Hart is the self-proclaimed “worst practice player” makes its way into every episode — with no pushback.
So how does that work with Thibodeau, who is meticulous in his preparation?
“I think he just realizes like, he just lets me rock out,” Hart said. “I think he knows that games I’m going to be locked in and prepared and I’m going to play extremely hard. So I think he lets me get away with it.”
Hart said he hasn’t heard from Thibodeau yet about the open scoffing of practice work, but he figures he’s heard.
“Thibs probably listens,” he said. “I ain’t gonna lie. Thibs listens to everything. He had another practice player that was bad, maybe Marcus Camby, someone he had that was bad. He used to call me that player.
“I’m going to tell him I don’t get paid to practice. I get game checks. I get paid to play in the game. I make sure I know the scout. I’m prepared. I do all that. But if I practiced how I play my body is not going to — especially with the minutes I had this season — my body would not make it into the playoffs. I would probably be out now. Most of it is about maintenance.”
Injury questions
While the Knicks wait on Randle and Anunoby, both Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein were banged up Friday night. Hartenstein was pulled to the ground by Cedi Osman and fell on his right wrist. He said X-rays taken after the game were negative.
“Yeah, it’s cool, it’s maybe just a light sprain,” he said. “.I just landed on it. But nothing serious . . . It’s fine.”
Robinson said the same of his surgically-repaired left ankle that kept him out for 50 games before returning Wednesday. He was limping at times during the fourth quarter and overtime, but said that it was not a problem.
“Kind of landed a little funny, but I’m straight,” Robinson said, adding that this injury was an easier recovery than the fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot he suffered in 2021. “That one snapped on the foot, the fifth metatarsal broke. This one is a hairline fracture. Really just get it back to normal, do that and it’ll be fine.”
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.
