New York Knicks: Despite the loss, encouraging signs emerge
As much as Monday night’s heartbreaking 104-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers should sting New York Knicks fans, the game itself offered encouraging takeaways.
Monday night’s game was a heartbreaker for the New York Knicks. After building a 23-point lead against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Knicks slowly let the lead slip away. The Cavaliers ultimately took the lead for good in a 104-101 Knicks loss.
New York outscored 43-25 in the fourth quarter, and had a chance to tie the game after James missed two clutch free throws, but they couldn’t secure the rebound.
Despite the loss, there were a few positive things that should make fans even more excited about the future.
1. The Knicks Built A 23-Point Lead
While they ended up blowing it, the Knicks did build a 23-point lead, and that’s nothing to scoff at. Yes, the Cavaliers have had their struggles so far this season, but they still have LeBron James.
Any time a team can build a 23 point lead against The King, it demands some attention.
The Knicks were able to build up that lead by getting contributions from multiple players outside of their 7’3″ unicorn. Speaking of:
2. It’s Not Necessarily Porzingis Or Bust
The Knicks have had a fairly surprising run since the beginning of the season, going 7-6. A big chunk of that can fairly be attributed to the play of Kristaps Porzingis, who has averaged 29.8 points on 49.8 percent shooting to go along with 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
Yet, on this particular night, Porzingis just didn’t have it. Maybe the Cavs defense did a good job contesting his shots, or maybe it was just one of those nights.
Either way, it was not KP’s best game. Despite Porzingis scoring only 20 points (I’m loving how that’s considered low for him) on 7-of-21 shooting, however, other Knicks picked up the slack.
Enes Kanter scored a season-high 20 points to go along with 16 rebounds and four assists. Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.
And, despite not producing much offensively, Frank Ntilikina produced six steals in just 24 minutes of action, and gave Knicks fans what was arguably the best moment ever (more on that in a bit).
In the future, the Knicks will need Porzingis to play better in order to win big games. But it was nice to see that, at least for one game, the Knicks weren’t totally dependent on Porzingis in order to compete at a high level.
3. The Players Have Each Other’s Backs
Earlier this week, LeBron James’ comments about how the Knicks should’ve drafted Dennis Smith Jr. didn’t sit well with certain Knicks players. Both Porzingis and Kanter immediately voiced their support of Ntilikina, saying how they wouldn’t trade him for anyone.
And after Ntilikina got into a little skirmish with James, Enes Kanter had clearly gotten fed up with James’ antics and immediately rushed to Ntilikina’s side, not allowing James to “son” the young rookie.
It was a beautiful moment of support for a team that has developed great chemistry.
They clearly enjoy playing with each other and, more importantly, they have each other’s backs. It’s great to see this team showing support for each other, no matter the circumstances.
Having that type of chemistry with teammates is what separates the good teams from the great ones. It motivates them to play hard and compete. So far, the Knicks look like one of the more cohesive and competitive squads in the league.
4. Frank Ntilikina
Oh my God. Who knew Frank Ntilikina had a mean streak like that? After LeBron James scored on an alley-oop, the ball began to bounce towards half court. Ntilikina picked it up, but standing in his way was the King himself.
Ntilikina tried to shove him out of the way not once, not twice, but three times!
It was beautiful. It’s like when that kid who never says a word in school drops the funniest line of the year. Ntilikina showed that, despite his quiet demeanor, he’s not going to back down when he feel’s he’s been wronged.
This mild aggression from someone normally so reserved will hopefully bring out that side of him moving forward. All in favor of aggressive, mean streaking Ntilikina, share this article.
Just because a team loses doesn’t mean nothing good came out of the game. Moving forward, this Knicks team can become something special.
Must Read: Keys to victory against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 15
If the New York Knicks can build off the intensity and self-confidence they played with against the Cleveland Cavaliers, they’ll be headed in the right direction.