The NY Knicks continue to look impressive in the pre-season, again handily winning their second of 2 games so far. In this one the Knicks manhandled the Wizards in Washington DC on a Saturday night.
NY jumped out to an 11-point lead in the 1st half, then allowed Washington to get back within 1 point in the 3rd quarter, before pulling away easily later in the 3rd on the strength of defense, ball movement, and a lot of 3’s.
Essentially the Knicks manhandled the Wizards with:
1. Good Defense
The Knicks played good defense all evening, highlighted by the 2-way play of RJ Barrett, who locked down Bradley Beal.
Ro workin' 🗜 pic.twitter.com/FsQUkzisWC
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 10, 2021
With Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and Nerlens Noel all out — 2nd round pick Jericho Sims got a lot of action. He was active on the glass (13 rebounds in 26 minutes and a +15) and took a jump shot in the lane (1 more than Mitchell Robinson has done in his whole career) but did not impress on defense — he was constantly out of position and allowed the lane to be a sieve. He picked up 3 steals (very active player) but his shot blocking did not impress the way Robinson’s did when he was a rookie (Sims had 1 block).
2. Ball Movement
The Knicks scoring point guards — Kemba Walker, Derrick Rose, & Immanuel Quickley — pressured and opened up the Washington defense all night, and then initiated ball movement. NY was constantly making the extra pass, at times the team passing was poetic.
Swing it around. Knock it down. pic.twitter.com/pkoxlTQPNH
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 10, 2021
New Knick Evan Fournier is a ready passer and can shoot the 3 well — he finished with 14 pts. His shooting was a tad off at 3-9 (2-7 from 3) but he made up for it by going 6-6 from the free throw line.
Obi Toppin got aggressive with his offense in the 2nd half — taking it to the rim and popping 3’s. He had 13 pts and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes.
3. Raining 3’s
RJ Barrett looked very comfortable knocking down 3’s all evening, especially from the left corner.
Kevin Knox had himself a game as well — at one point he was 4-5 from 3 for 12 points and a +16 in 12 minutes. He finished with a +8 in 20 minutes and the 12 points.
Knox down shooter pic.twitter.com/z8OY5TkMPP
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 9, 2021
Immanuel Quickley was penetrating, stopping, and popping 3’s as is his game — he finished with 11 points in 20 minutes.
Knicks 1st-round draft pick (#25 overall) Quentin Grimes came into the game in the 4th quarter and immediately knocked down 2 three’s — he finished 2-2 from 3 for 6 pts in 2 minutes.
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