NY Knicks vs. Mavericks: 3 key matchups in a heated game

NY Knicks: Immanuel Quickley can make an impact

The Mavericks have an interesting array of perimeter defenders. They have some nice size with players like Josh Richardson and Dorian Finney-Smith. Their defense as a whole has improved as the season has gone on. They still can struggle with smaller, faster players like Immanuel Quickley.

The Mavericks are around the middle of the pack in opponent 3-point %, they’re currently 17th in the NBA. The Knicks are not a team that takes a lot of 3-point attempts, but they’ll need to find a way to keep up with The Mavericks’ potent offense. Immanuel Quickley can certainly pick up the slack for them.

The Knicks will always rely on Julius Randle and RJ Barrett to pick up the slack, but this is a game where you need to play Immanuel Quickley heavy minutes. There’s not much Elfrid Payton can provide defensively in a matchup where he’ll be both smaller and slower than his defensive assignments. On offense, Quickley just being on the court will help Randle get the space he needs to dominate this game – It’s the breathing room that I eluded to before.

Quickley has looked more hesitant lately than he did earlier in this season. In a game where The Knicks should look to give Randle a lot of ball-handling responsibility, Quickley should be ready to be the beneficiary of a lot of looks. Quickley is shooting over 44% from 3 on catch-and-shoot attempts this season.

These are two teams with very different schemes and personnel. The NY Knicks got the better of the Mavericks in both of their matchups last season, and I expect this one to be a closely contested contest.