Knicks will need all starting five healthy and more to fulfill NBA title quest
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson looks to pass as the Cleveland Cavaliers' Ty Jerome, left, defends during the first half of an NBA game in Cleveland on Friday. Credit: AP/Phil Long
BOSTON — In the Knicks locker room after Friday night’s blowout loss there were mostly puzzled looks as players tried to explain what had happened. How a game that looked almost like a playoff test could result in the most one-sided loss of the season. It was the worst defeat since Tom Thibodeau took over.
But maybe what would be more puzzling to anyone listening was the insistence from player to player that they still believe they can be the championship team they hoped was assembled in New York. There is no evidence, so belief is all that there is.
The loss dropped the Knicks to 0-6 against the three best teams in the NBA — two losses each to Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Boston. After suffering four blowouts and two late collapses in those six games, the Knicks now will be in Boston for a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Celtics.
“I don’t think that we lack a belief in doing any of that,” Karl-Anthony Towns said in the nearly-empty locker room. “The belief is high in this locker room. We just got to continue to work. We’ve got to continue to get better. Today we may not have made that step forward that we talk about every day and I like to talk about every day, that we need to get that one percent better. Tonight, we didn’t do that. But we get another chance quickly with Boston to show how resilient we are and what grit we really have to bounce back from a game like this tonight.”
There was little grit on display Friday, a point that even they conceded. After 59 games the Knicks have yet to show why anyone would believe that they can do more than they did the last two seasons, seasons that ended with disappointing, injury-riddled losses in the Eastern Conference semifinals. This season to surpass that, unless there is a drastic change in the standings or a postseason upset, they would not only have to get past Boston in the second round but then face Cleveland.
“I’m sure media is looking at it, fans probably look at it,” Deuce McBride said of the failed measuring stick tests. “We can’t get caught up in it. Everybody knows in this locker room it’s a long season and a lot of things change throughout the course of the season as well as going into the playoffs. Our heads are: take it a day at a time.”
What the Knicks have proved this season is what the preseason predictions focused on:they must be healthy to have any chance.
The offseason moves built a top-heavy roster with a starting five that can match up against any team, but a bench that just hasn’t provided the help that they need as minutes have piled up. And they still have yet to actually have a game this season with all of the pieces in place.
One league source wondered after Friday’s loss, “How could they not have gotten a big body at the trade deadline?” Perhaps it wasn’t for a lack of trying, but what they are left with is the hope that Mitchell Robinson will provide that missing ingredient. However, Robinson, who just returned to practice and has yet to make his season debut, has been ruled out for Sunday.
While missing some key pieces, it is apparent that the Knicks are not on the same level as the top teams. Although OG Anunoby returned to the lineup Friday after missing the last six games, playing without Josh Hart the last two games showed the value he provides as a glue guy and an energy boost.
“We’ve got to turn the page but we’ve got to understand where we are,” Jalen Brunson said. “It’s not like, we can’t just turn the page and forget about it. We’ve got to turn the page and realize what has happened here.
"This goes back to the Chicago game. The Chicago game was not our best play, but we masked it with a win. We’ve just got to be better. Simple as that. Can’t keep pointing fingers making excuses, saying what if this, what if that, if we had this person? No, we’ve got to go out there and play how we’re supposed to play with what we have.”
The Knicks had two All-Stars in Brunson and Towns just days ago and no doubt their offensive gravity is something the Knicks can’t live without. But in his absence the Knicks have seen just how vital Hart is, too.
“I mean, obviously he’s — no pun intended, the heart of our team really,” Brunson said. “We can’t just say, ‘Oh we don’t have him tonight, let’s chalk it up to an L.' That’s not how stuff should go.”
“He’s been the heart and soul of our team over the last few years,” McBride said. “Obviously missing a guy like that coming out of All-Star break is tough. But you know, we have to step up. You can’t replace one guy individually. You have to do it as a team and we didn’t do it tonight."
The Knicks did have Towns and Brunson, as well as the defensive stopper pairing of Anunoby and Mikal Bridges Friday and that wasn’t close to enough. It’s easy to blame Precious Achiuwa for the defensive failings, but that would be a lazy way to excuse the four regular starters.
All five starters for the Knicks are averaging at least 34 minutes per game this season — a point we make not to judge the criticism of Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, but to point out the importance those five have to the team and the need for them to be at full strength when the playoffs begin. If you can imagine all five healthy and Robinson and McBride the keys off the bench maybe you can squint enough to see a scenario where the Knicks can do what they haven’t done yet.
“You can’t let anything break you,” Thibodeau said. “You got to have the mental toughness to get through things. And so, there’s got to be a lot more resolve, particularly on the road against a team that is this good.”
OG returns
The Knicks got OG Anunoby back Friday after he missed six games with a mid-foot sprain suffered on February 1. And while he didn’t look like the force he was before the injury he said he came through it without an issue.
"It was about what I thought it would be,” Thibodeau said. “There were some good minutes early and then there’s some rust he’s got to work through but I thought he had good energy.
“It felt good to get back,” Anunoby said. “Feeling better and better as the season goes on.”
He did have one alarming moment in the third quarter when he was stripped on a fast break by Donovan Mitchell and as he went to the floor he grabbed at the foot. But he said afterward, “It was just a misstep.”
Injury updates
Robinson, according to a league source, would not make his season debut Sunday. The Knicks have two days off before playing again at the Garden Wednesday against Philadelphia. . . Hart traveled to Boston Saturday and is listed as questionable for Sunday afternoon's game.
HOW TO WATCH THE GAMES
- Knicks, Rangers, Islanders and Devils games can be streamed through the Gotham Sports App.
- For households in Altice’s geographical footprint, MSG also can be accessed via Verizon Fios, DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and FuboTV.
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.
