The sport was over earlier than it began.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown opted to relaxation his whole beginning lineup on Monday evening — together with key reserves Landry Shamet, Josh Hart (again), and Ariel Hukporti — leaving a shorthanded second and third unit to face the Washington Wizards within the fourth of 5 preseason video games.
Even in opposition to a Wizards staff projected to complete with the NBA’s worst file for a second straight season, the result wasn’t a lot of a thriller.
Washington cruised to a 120-103 victory at Madison Sq. Backyard, ballooning their result in as many as 36 factors earlier than pulling the plug on their very own mainstays, together with C.J. McCollum, Khris Middleton, 2024 No. 2 decide Alex Sarr, and Bilal Coulibaly.
The loss drops the Knicks to 3-1 within the preseason, with one last exhibition remaining earlier than the regular-season opener again at MSG on Oct. 22 in opposition to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
KOLEK SHINES, DADIET STILL SEARCHING
With restricted offensive firepower out there, level guard Tyler Kolek led the way in which for New York. The second-round decide scored a team-high 20 factors on 7-of-13 capturing off the bench, including six assists, 4 rebounds, and a steal in 23 minutes. Miles McBride chipped in 11 factors on 12 shot makes an attempt, whereas Guerschon Yabusele completed with 11 factors on 50% capturing.
However all eyes have been as soon as once more on Pacome Dadiet — and as soon as once more, the outcomes have been uneven.
The 2024 first-rounder received the beginning however struggled to search out rhythm in his 25 minutes, scoring eight factors on 2-of-7 capturing (2-of-6 from three) with two offensive rebounds and little else on the stat sheet.
Earlier than tipoff, Brown was optimistic in regards to the 6-8 wing’s potential however acknowledged the uncooked edges nonetheless displaying.
“He’s just gotta continue to understand how big he is. He’s long. He’s a big wing. At times he doesn’t utilize it. We always talk about playing big and he doesn’t utilize it all the time, and that’s just being young,” Brown stated. “And at times he’s a little quiet because he’s young and he’s unsure of what he should be saying or doing, so we keep trying to throw him into the fire as much as possible is something that I’d like to do.”
Dadiet has now shot simply 7-of-21 throughout 4 preseason video games, and his position heading into the common season stays unsure — particularly with New York dealing with troublesome cap choices.
Brown stated he isn’t positive what number of minutes Dadiet will get as soon as the video games rely, and there’s a situation the place his wage is included in a commerce to assist the Knicks stay beneath the second apron in the event that they select to maintain each Malcolm Brogdon and Shamet on normal contracts.
“I don’t know how many minutes [Pacome] is gonna get per game, but he definitely has a chance to be a player in this league for a long time, and you wanna help try to speed that development up because you see a lot of good things,” Brown stated. “You see he can run, he can cut, he’s big so he does a pretty good job of finishing, and he can shoot the basketball, and you couple that with his ability to play defense, and you have a pretty good prospect, especially for his age.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The Knicks shut out their preseason on Wednesday at Madison Sq. Backyard in opposition to the Charlotte Hornets. After that, the teaching workers will finalize roster choices — and shift focus to making sure the beginning 5 is able to open the season with a press release in opposition to a Cavaliers staff that gained 64 video games a yr in the past.
