Kudo’s to the Knicks for not wasting anyone’s time on a Sunday afternoon — this one a 3:30pm EST start (just after noontime in LA) — the Knicks were down by almost 40 really early — like the 1st quarter it seemed. LA shot LIGHT’s OUT from 3 — 16 3-pointers in the 1st half — some of them contested, a few uncontested as the Knicks were late on switches, or missed some switches completely — Noah Vonleh and Kevin Knox to name two culprits.
You Shoot Light’s Out from 3 You Win
But even the contested ones LA made — they have some guys who can shoot the 3. Coming into this game, these were the 3-pt percentages of some key Clippers:
- Danilo Gallinari .425
- Landry Shamet .408
- JaMychal Green .398
- Lou Williams .357
Knicks were down 38, but scored the last 2 points of the first half to pull to within 82-46 at halftime. If you only watched the second half — the Knicks looked good! They had a strong 3rd quarter, outscoring LA 32-19, and also outscored them in the 4th, 29-27. They never pulled closer than 19 however; LA might have simply lost interest.
The Glass Half Full Part
But it’s not about wins now for the Knicks. It’s about losses, and player development, and team development. In this game:
Allonzo Trier continued to play Great. He is coming out of a period where — as we mentioned in articles on this site — he looked like he was purposely trying to pass first at coach’s instructions, and is now finding his way through that learning plateau. In an article published before the game by Marc Berman in the NY Post, he acknowledged this: “That’s what I’m doing right now. Struggling between finding a balance of looking to find my teammates more & being who I am — a basketball player doing what I do best…’’ In this game, Trier had 16 pts on 5-7 (3-3 from 3), and 4 assists in 25 min.
Mitchell Robinson was a Beast as usual. He had 16 pts on 7-8 (2-2 free throws), 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks. One of the few Knick highlights of the 1st half was when Montrezl Harrell — who approaches the rim like a Mack truck going 70 MPH, challenged Robinson by driving right at him at the basket, which resulted in a BLOCK!
Do your thing, @23savage____ 🤚 pic.twitter.com/oeHoxkAGwp
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 3, 2019
In the 2nd half, when the Knicks picked it up — the team of Trier, Robinson, Vonleh, and Emmanuel Mudiay played well together. When Mudiay gets the ball on the break you KNOW he’ll make the basket. It’s a sure thing — a complete opposite of when he came to Knicks last year when he always seemed to blow the layup.
Emmanuel Mudiay had 16 pts on 6-15; Vonleh had 17 pts (on 6-8), 12 rebounds, and 3 assists.
.@NoahVonleh 💪 pic.twitter.com/eCV7QbVlcV
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 3, 2019
Damyean Dotson played well — hitting 3’s in the 3rd to pull the Knicks back to respectability. He finished with 17 pts on 5-14 (4-8 from 3) in 29 min. Dennis Smith Jr made some nice plays but overall finished 3-11 for 8 pts, and 6 assists. Luke Kornet played well, especially on D, and 6 pts (although on 1-6 shooting). Henry Ellenson had 5 pts.
The Glass Half Empty Part
On the minus side, Kevin Knox continues to struggle. He seemed lax on defense, and lax on offense. He finished 1-6 for 6 pts in 24 minutes. John Jenkins had 0 pts on 0-5 in 12 minutes and Knicks fans on Twitter were asking why he was here and Kadeem Allen wasn’t.
Mario Hezonja, Frank Ntilikina, and DeAndre Jordan continued to be injured and did not play. It was reported Hezonja is going to be reevaluated in a week — which may mean he will never play again for the Knicks, said a media person on Twitter.
For the Clippers
The Clippers new uniform looks good — the HUGE “LA” on the front shouts out that they are an LA team. The players shot light’s out from 3 as previously mentioned:
- Danilo Gallinari looked good — hitting 3’s, driving to the basket for slams, layups, or pass-outs — he had 20 pts (3-6 from 3).
- Landry Shamet shot light’s out — 21 pts (7-11 from 3).
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s name barely fits on his uniform. He had 15 pts (2-3 from 3).
- JaMychal Green had 16 pts (3-4 from 3).
- Montrezl Harrell as mentioned above, plays high energy; like a Mack Truck coming right at you; he had 18 pts on 9-15.
- Lou Williams had 18 pts (2-6 from 3).
- Patrick Beverley had 3 pts (1-2 from 3), but 10 rebounds, and 5 assists.
- Ivica Zubac looks just like Willy Hernangomez, had 11 rebounds
Sam Cassell Sighting
There was a Sam Cassell sighting — on the Clippers bench as assistant coach. That son of a bitch cost the Knicks the 1994 title. Maybe THE MOST UNDERRATED point guard ever. Everywhere he went, he made the team a winner.
The boxscore:
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