In make-or-miss league, Knicks sure do miss a lot
IT WAS Abe Lemons, the funny and folksy basketball philosopher who spent much of his life winning a lot of college basketball games, who summarized this splendid game as well as anybody ever has.
“There are really only two plays,” Lemons said when he was coaching at Oklahoma City University. “‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘put the darn ball in the basket.’ ”
Yep. It really is that simple. Tom Thibodeau has another phrase that he wrestles to death every year, one that strips the humor from the sentiment but says the same thing even more starkly.
“It’s a make-or-miss game,” goes the Gospel of Thibs.
There was a lot of missing Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, particularly by the gentlemen wearing the home blue (boooo!) uniforms. The Knicks shot 34.8 percent from the floor. They shot 16.7 percent from 3. They only shot 66.7 percent from the foul line, for goodness sake. They lost to the Cavaliers, 95-89, and the only reason it was that close was because the Cavs were missing two starters — Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen — and because after torching the Knicks early and then finishing them off late, Donovan Mitchell went into witness protection for almost two full quarters.
It was that bad. It has been that bad. The Knicks came into the game shooting a paltry .413 from the floor and a pathetic .701 from the line to begin with — and both numbers went down. Julius Randle — shooting 27.6 percent for the season — was 3-for-15 (0-for-6 from 3). Jalen Brunson — at 37.9 — shot 8-for-23. Josh Hart (.367) was 5-for-14.
If making is contagious … well, so is missing.
And the Knicks, five games into a new season, could use some basketball penicillin.
“Their defense was tough, it was a tough defensive-type game,” Thibodeau said. “We needed more easy baskets and didn’t get them. And the third quarter (in which the Knicks were outscored 22-13, shot 6-for-24) was a problem.”
Only Donte DiVincenzo, who made half of his 10 shots, and Deuce McBride (1-for-2) were even at 50 percent on the night. That’s a hard script to follow. RJ Barrett’s absence (knee) didn’t help, but the Cavs were short, too, and were also scuffling with their shooting.
“We’ve got to find a way to win,” Thibodeau said. “That’s the bottom line. We had more than enough to do that. We just didn’t get it done.”
Of particular concern is Randle, who’s been off all season though the fact that he’d piled up four double-doubles in four games before Tuesday had helped minimize the concern. But he looked out of sorts against the Cavaliers, and the shooting was only one element of it. He only had six rebounds. He had three turnovers. He looked listless.
Part of that is probably the aftereffects of offseason ankle surgery, part of it the result of two back-to-backs in six days. Like a baseball player who starts the season in a 1-for-20 funk, early-season slumps tend to look worse than ones that happen in January and March. And that slump would be easier to hide if everyone else wasn’t scuffling too.
“I don’t think any of us is really in rhythm right now,” Randle said. “We have to get easier baskets, help each other make it easier. We’re working too hard.”
It’s early everywhere. The Bucks got smoked by the Raptors on Wednesday night (and so ought to be in a fairly salty mood Friday when the Knicks get to Milwaukee). The Timberwolves clobbered the Nuggets, handing the defending champs their first loss of the season, with feeling. The Heat fell to 1-4, losing to the Nets, back on schedule to maybe rope-a-dope their way through another season.
It’s early here, too. Randle put it right. They’re working too hard, and they are making the simple act of shooting a basketball look too hard. That ought to correct itself. Until it does …
Well. It can make a pretty game look awfully ugly sometimes.