Rhythm or relaxation? The Knicks selected relaxation.
It’s the everlasting debate for playoff-bound groups: roll the cube for rhythm or protect our bodies for battle? For a Knicks crew stumbling into the postseason, it was a choice that felt extra like a concession.
Three straight losses — to Boston, Detroit, and Cleveland — left New York greedy for momentum. Sunday’s regular-season finale in opposition to the lowly Brooklyn Nets offered an excellent tune-up: an opportunity to recalibrate the offense, reestablish chemistry, and stroll into Spherical 1 with heads excessive.
As a substitute, the Knicks punted. On rhythm. On reps. On the sport completely.
They defeated the Nets, 113-105, however rested everybody.
Jalen Brunson (ankle), Karl-Anthony Cities (knee), OG Anunoby (thumb), Josh Hart (knee), and Mitchell Robinson (ankle) had been all dominated out. Mikal Bridges began, performed a ceremonial, singular minute to protect his excellent attendance streak, then hit the bench for the afternoon.
4 rotation gamers took the ground: Cam Payne, Landry Shamet, Treasured Achiuwa, and P.J. Tucker — all names who might issue into head coach Tom Thibodeau’s playoff plans. However the primary group, the one accountable for 50 wins and a lot of the crew’s offensive id, was in sweats.
That features Brunson, who simply days in the past had declared the Nets matchup a “must-win.” The Knicks modified course. They selected warning.
And with it, they selected uncertainty.
NOTHING TO PLAY FOR
The stakes weren’t standings. They had been synergy.
The Knicks had nothing left to clinch — the No. 3 seed was already theirs after Indiana misplaced to Orlando on Friday. However cohesion? Offensive rhythm? Consolation in mixtures? All of that is still up within the air.
New York will open the playoffs in opposition to the No. 6 Detroit Pistons — the identical Pistons who simply beat them on Thursday to complete the season 3-1 in opposition to Thibodeau’s squad. The identical Pistons who’ve but to see the Knicks at full energy however have uncovered lapses in transition protection, offensive rebounding, and late-game execution.
The Knicks received’t get a last check in opposition to one other crew earlier than Spherical 1. They received’t get extra in-game reps balancing Brunson’s ball-dominant brilliance with Anunoby and Bridges’ off-ball motion. They received’t see if Cities can proceed to thrive as a floor-spacing secondary scorer, or how Cities and Robinson can work in synergy on the defensive finish.
Except every week’s price of refining on the desk, the work, for higher or worse, is completed.
What you see is what you get: a Knicks crew that went 0-4 in opposition to the Celtics, 0-4 in opposition to the Cavaliers, and 0-2 in opposition to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder — the NBA’s prime three seeds — and 1-3 in opposition to the Pistons, however got here near working the desk in opposition to most different lower-seeded opponents.
The expertise on paper at Madison Sq. Backyard is plain. However have these items spent sufficient day trip of the field to correctly put this puzzle collectively?
GOOD BENCH PLAY
If there’s a silver lining, it’s the bench.
Landry Shamet continued his late-season capturing surge. Cam Payne lit it up from three, too. Treasured Achiuwa added vitality in transition and completed with 18 factors and 9 rebounds. Miles McBride regarded regular in his return to a bigger workload.
The three-guard lineup of McBride, Payne and Shamet mixed to attain greater than half (67) of New York’s 113 factors. Shamet made seven of his first 9 threes and completed with 29 factors off the bench, and McBride and Payne mixed to dish 15 assists.
The query now turns into: How far into that bench will Thibodeau go within the playoffs?
Shamet looks like a lock. Will Payne get actual minutes behind Brunson and McBride? Will Achiuwa’s measurement and flexibility play an element for Thibodeau in opposition to the bodily, rough-housing Pistons?
For now, all that’s clear is that this: the Knicks are strolling into the playoffs having chosen preservation over preparation.
Whereas the starters acquired a much-needed day without work, there was no relaxation for the second unit. Thibodeau turned again to Payne, Shamet and Achiuwa with 4 minutes left in a two-point recreation and rode them for the ultimate moments of regulation.
Hanging within the stability: the concept of year-over-year enchancment. That’s, going from 50 to 51 wins after buying and selling six draft picks and two key items for Bridges and Cities through the offseason.
That mission has been completed. The taller job stays one-upping two straight second-round playoff appearances.
The Knicks are more healthy than final yr. Deeper, too. However the street forward is brutal, and the margin for error is skinny.
The following time they take the ground, it’ll be for retains.
And after resting by way of the ultimate week of the season, they’ll must rediscover their edge in a rush.
