Well-rested Knicks might not be great hosts
CLEVELAND — After a 4 a.m. arrival at their Cleveland hotel Saturday morning, the Rockets expected to get to New York considerably earlier after playing the Cavaliers on Sunday. The Knicks, however, have been waiting for them since Friday morning.
In an odd bit of lateseason scheduling, while the Rockets play their final back-to-back of the season, the Knicks will have had three off days since playing in Orlando on Thursday.
Breaks that great in the schedule are rare. The Knicks lost at home to the Trail Blazers in overtime in their only other game after three off days this season, other than the season opener and the return from the All-Star break.
The Rockets, however, are 2-10 in the second game when playing on consecutive nights. They have a six-game losing streak against the Knicks, including a 108-88 loss in Houston on New Year’s Eve this season and each of their past three games at Madison Square Garden.
Here are five things to watch when the Rockets face the Knicks:
A Brunson burner?
The break in the Knicks’ schedule could help star guard Jalen Brunson get back from a sprained right wrist that forced him to miss Thursday’s game at Orlando. He is listed as questionable.
Brunson, who did not play against the Rockets in December, came back after missing three games, and five of six games, with a sore left foot to average 24 points and seven assists in the next three games before sitting out Thursday.
Brunson has averaged career bests of 23.8 points and 6.2 assists while making 48.9 percent of his shots, including 41.1 percent of his 3s. He’s a force in the lane; only Nikola Jokic has made more shots from 5 to 9 feet.
The Knicks have done well when needing to fill in when Brunson was out, with Sixth Man of the Year candidate Immanuel Quickley averaging 19.9 points and 4.8 assists in his 16 starts, including the 27 points with seven assists he had against the Rockets. In the past two seasons, he has averaged 21.3 points on 48.1 percent 3-point shooting against Houston.
Inside stuff
The Rockets need to score inside. They rarely have the perimeter shooting to reliably score from anywhere else, but they do attack the basket well.
The Knicks’ defense is built to take that away, and New York shut down the lane in the first meeting, holding the Rockets to a season-low 88 points.
The Rockets scored just 28 points in the paint in the loss to the Knicks, attempting just 25 shots in the lane. The Rockets average 54.7 points in the paint, sixth most in the NBA. They have averaged a league-high 61.1 since the All-Star break. The Knicks, however, allow an NBA-low 45.8 points in the paint per game.
The lack of 3-point shooting allows Rockets opponents to pack the paint, and Houston could not loosen things up against the Knicks, making 14 of 46 3s, slightly worse than their league worst (tied with the Hornets) 32.7 percent 3-point shooting this season.
Turnover troubles?
As much as the Rockets have been turnoverprone throughout the season, rarely has that been a greater shortcoming than in their loss to the Knicks.
The Rockets had 25 turnovers, one shy of their most this season, leading to 37 of the Knicks’ 108 points. Starting guards Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. committed five turnovers each, combining for as many as the entire Knicks team.
The Rockets have improved at that seasonlong shortcoming. Averaging 17 turnovers per game before the All-Star break, they had averaged 14.5 in the 16 games since the break going into Sunday’s game in Cleveland.
New York typically doesn’t force turnovers. Only two teams force fewer turnovers than the 12.6 the Knicks’ opponents have averaged this season. But they forced roughly twice that many against the Houston, leading the Rockets to attempt just 77 shots, their second fewest of the season.
Strength vs. strength
The Rockets lead the NBA in second-chance points per game, but for most of the season, they were second, behind only New York. The Knicks are tied with the Raptors for the second-most secondchance points per game, four-tenths of a point behind the Rockets’ average of 16.8.
Houston and New York are first and second in offensive rebounding percentage, but the Rockets get the rebound more reliably on the defensive boards (ranking 10th compared to the Knicks at 15th).
Emotional night
The game will be the first for the Knicks in Madison Square Garden since the death of Hall of Famer and franchise icon Willis Reed. Though the NHL’s Rangers and teams around the NBA paid tribute to Reed after his death was announced, the Knicks are certain to honor the captain of their 1970 and 1973 championship teams.
That will bring extra emotion to the game, preventing any inclination to look past the last-place Rockets to Wednesday’s rematch with long-time rival Miami.