Scottie Barnes took one dribble, coated half the courtroom in two lengthy strides, and elevated for an uncontested, two-handed, showboating dunk.
It’s precisely the type of play that has triggered a Mike Brown rage-timeout greater than as soon as in his first yr as Knicks head coach. Brown refuses something wanting full effort. If he senses slippage, he’ll burn timeouts on consecutive possessions with out hesitation.
However this time was totally different. There was no whistle. As a substitute, applause — a nod of approval from a coach to a gaggle beginning to look much less like a staff that cracks beneath high-pressure moments and extra like one which sharpens in them.
Barnes’ dunk represented two of simply 13 factors the Raptors mustered within the second quarter of New York’s 117-101 NBA Cup quarterfinal win. His spotlight paled compared to the method that surrendered it: a Knicks protection that shifted into a better gear the second they misplaced the primary quarter, 39–35.
And the reality is that this: The Knicks might have a horrible highway file. They could have their lapses, their inconsistencies, the weak spots they need to compensate for as a gaggle.
However they’re harmful after they care.
The NBA Cup — with all its quirks, constraints and questions — has a approach of pulling that care issue out of groups. Not for the cash. Not for a soon-forgotten banner or a shiny cup-shaped trophy.
It’s about December video games feeling like they really matter, as a result of when the video games matter, the Knicks play for retains.
And if their protection is lastly catching as much as their offense, the poker chips and high-stakes moments received’t be the one souvenirs these Knicks can acquire this season.
“We’re starting to figure out who we are,” Brown mentioned after the victory on Tuesday. “I do know it sounds loopy, however we nonetheless have rather a lot too to develop on each side of the ground. We could possibly be an especially excessive degree defensive staff, and two of our prime defenders in Landry [Shamet] and Deuce [Miles McBride] are out, they usually’re phenomenal on the ball. They usually deliver a degree of physicality on the ball that not many guys across the league can deliver, however we generally is a phenomenal defensive staff.
“That second quarter we were really good defensively. To hold a team like that to 13 points in a quarter, that was the difference in the ball game.”
IN SYNC
After all Brown can stay with Barnes gliding in for a walk-in dunk halfway by the second quarter. How might he not? It was Toronto’s ninth scoring motion of a 30-second possession after the swarming Knicks protection erased the Raptors’ first eight tries.
Brandon Ingram tried to lose Mikal Bridges on a excessive display, however Karl-Anthony Cities reduce off his driving lane. Ingram then tried to take Cities one-on-one, however Bridges recovered to deliver the arduous double. Ingram, beneath duress, lofted an entry move to Jakob Poeltl, who had the scale benefit on the low block towards the smaller Josh Hart, however Jalen Brunson darted in from the nook to knock the ball free on his first dribble.
“We were definitely on a string, and every time the ball moved, all five guys moved,” Brown mentioned. “All five guys were in sync.”
Three scoring actions down. Three extra adopted in fast succession: Poeltl recovered the free ball and kicked it out to Ingram for a clear take a look at catch-and-shoot three, however Bridges — who had already leaked out in transition — exploded again into the image for a rear-view contest. Ingram declined the soar shot and put the ball on the ground, and Bridges funneled him in the direction of Cities on the rim, then peeled off to remove the skip move to the nook shooter.
And with the shot clock winding down, Ingram attacked Cities and missed the layup on the rim.
“I just thought we played much better defense than we played in the first quarter. Their fast break points in the first quarter were great. We did a great job of recovering in the second,” Cities mentioned after the sport. “We did a good job playing Knicks basketball, getting turnovers, playing fast, getting out on defensive rebounds and steals and capitalizing it into points.”
The Raptors secured the offensive rebound. On possessions like this, in fact they did. Ochai Agbaji thought of a put-back, however Jordan Clarkson beat him to the thought. As a substitute of taking pictures the ball, Agbaji left his ft and kicked it out to the perimeter.
And that’s how the ball lastly discovered Barnes on the three-point line for Toronto’s eighth and ninth cracks at a discipline purpose in a single possession.
Brunson sprinted at him for the closeout. Barnes pump-faked, put the ball on the ground and walked into the paint for an uncontested dunk. That play occurred on the 6:56 mark of the second quarter. The Raptors didn’t make one other discipline purpose till greater than three minutes of sport time ticked off the clock. And their ensuing basket didn’t come till the ultimate minute of the primary half.
By then, the Knicks had blown the NBA Cup quarterfinal wide-open. They did it with a protection bettering beneath strain, one which could possibly be nicely on its method to catching as much as a potent offense already main the league in 40-point quarters.
And if these Knicks might be proficient on each ends of the ground, an NBA Cup banner may not be the one new piece of cloth hanging from the rafters at Madison Sq. Backyard this season.
“With the weapons and skill sets we have offensively, we can be a phenomenal offensive team, too,” Brown mentioned. “So I don’t think it’ll be just one side of the ball. I think we have a chance to be a high level team on both sides, and it’ll be interesting when we get there.”
