The Knicks don’t want one other backup level guard. Their answer has been hiding in plain sight all alongside.
It’s the largest takeaway from the Knicks’ 114-113 comeback victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, lower than 48 hours after they defeated the San Antonio Spurs within the NBA Cup on Tuesday.
Sure, Jalen Brunson is Captain Clutch, the rightful proprietor of the league’s reigning Clutch Participant of the 12 months award who buried the Pacers with a step-back three with 4.4 seconds left on the clock.
However Tyler Kolek is prepared for his Madison Sq. Backyard second. Had it not been for Kolek, Brunson wouldn’t have been in place to seal the deal in Indiana.
The second-year guard out of Marquette is rising as a dependable possibility in minutes the crew captain spends on the bench. And he’s been thriving in his restricted alternatives on the court docket with the All-Star level guard and flooring normal.
Kolek posted fairly probably one of the best efficiency of his younger profession: 16 factors, 11 assists and 6 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench in opposition to the Pacers on Thursday. It’s the primary double-double of his younger profession.
The outing instantly adopted his standout recreation within the NBA Cup Ultimate in opposition to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday with 14 factors, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
“I want to thank the Lord for Tyler Kolek for saving me,” Brunson stated in his walk-off interview after the victory.
Kolek’s emergence has been a pleasing improvement for a crew that wanted a lift at his place.
The Knicks have been in want of one other playmaker ever since veteran level guard Malcolm Brogdon opted to retire in the course of coaching camp as an alternative of proceed his basketball profession on a one-year deal in New York this season.
Their want for an additional possibility within the backcourt intensified when Miles McBride joined Landry Shamet on the harm record with an ankle sprain forward of New York’s NBA Cup quarterfinal victory in Toronto.
Kolek has answered the bell. The Knicks sat Karl-Anthony Cities, Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart alongside McBride and Shamet for Thursday’s matchup in opposition to the Pacers, the primary leg of a road-home back-to-back earlier than internet hosting the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Sq. Backyard on Friday. The sophomore standout chosen with the thirty fourth choose within the 2024 NBA Draft responded with one of the best recreation of his early profession.
Maybe no play was extra necessary than a heady second in crunch time: Kolek rifled a one-handed cross to the fitting nook to seek out OG Anunoby, who made a 3 to tie the sport at 111 with lower than 90 seconds left in regulation.
Anunoby, sadly, discovered himself on an island in opposition to his former Toronto Raptors teammate Pascal Siakam on the Pacers’ remaining offensive possession of the fourth quarter. Siakam posted Anunoby on the fitting elbow, and stepped-back for a mid-range two that drew a taking pictures foul on the Knicks’ defensive stopper.
Siakam made each free throws to offer the Pacers a two-point lead earlier than Brunson got here again up the court docket and hit a side-step go forward three. The Knicks’ All-Star completed with 25 factors and known as his efficiency “garbage” after the sport.
The end result Thursday night time, nonetheless, was secondary to the method. The Knicks, in spite of everything, began 12 months 2 heart Ariel Hukporti and rookie Mohamed Diawara instead of Cities and Hart in opposition to the Pacers. Brown performed Trey Jemison III 18 minutes, Guerschon Yabusele 11 minutes and second-year ahead Pacome Dadiet 4 minutes. None of these three gamers have been common rotation gamers, except for Yabusele, who’s on the surface trying in.
What mattered most was one in every of Brown’s non-negotiable requirements: aggressive spirit. The Knicks had each motive to fold it in instantly after successful the In-Season Match.
However shorthanded, they confirmed up. And Kolek is an enormous motive why this crew can proceed to win video games lacking key gamers. Maybe the second-year guard is turning into a key participant himself for a crew that used to have a necessity for the companies he’s offering with the chance he’s earned.
