Big win last night!
It wasn’t always pretty, it wasn’t always fun, but the Knicks have won their first playoff game since May 6th of 2013. Wednesday night’s game showed us why this iteration of the Knicks is so loved both within the city and beyond. They’re fighters, they’re gritty, they’re a little nasty, and they will never ever say die.
Randle finally found his stride in the 4th quarter, Rose was deadly all game long, and the rest of the squad really buckled down defensively in the second half. I repeat, this was not an overpowering performance, but this isn’t an overpowering team either. The 2020-21 Knicks are the scrappy underdog, and if they’re going to knock off an offensive virus-like Trae Young, they’re doing to have to do it with their teeth bared.
You have earned the right to celebrate New York, but don’t get ahead of yourselves. This series is far from over and the Knicks played nowhere near a perfect game. So what worked and what didn’t? What can we take away from this game as a team to help earn another victory in Game 3? What strategies can be tweaked, and which relied upon to prevail again?
Here are some things to keep in mind as we simultaneously toast the Knicks victory and plan for the war to come…
New York Knicks: Start Immanuel Quickley!
When the starting lineups were announced for both sides and our TV screens were graced by the beautiful face of Elfrid Payton, every Knicks fan grumbled about how their team was starting an offensive zero in a vitally important playoff game. Nothing against Payton, but he is who he is.
The logic behind starting Payton was simple. The Knicks generate most of their offense from Julius Randle, and with Trae Young being the primary creator for the Hawks the Knicks don’t mind sacrificing a little offensive capability in exchange for someone who can bother Trae.
So much for that. Payton was barely keeping up with Trae Young as the Hawks jumped out to an early lead, but even worse than that, the Knicks were held to just 20 points in that 1st quarter. Payton was a -7 in his five minutes of play.
That’s when Derrick Rose started heating up. Rose has been the focal point of the Knick’s bench offense all year, but once it started looking like New York was going to need him to show up big and play extended minutes, the question became who does he guard on the other end?
For all his strengths and lovable qualities, Derrick Rose simply cannot guard Trae Young at this stage of his career. But we needed him out there! So what choice did we have? Well, Immanuel Quickley answered that question when he started guarding Young in the second half. Trae had 20 points shooting 58% before halftime. In the second half? He was held to only 10.
At 6’3 with a 6’8 wingspan, Quickley’s length bothered Young as he hounded him up and down the court. And best of all, Quickly doesn’t have the same offensive deficiencies that Payton does. This allows the Knicks to play a really dogged defender on the Hawks leading man without having a non-factor on the other end.
He may not start Game 3, but he will be part of the closing lineup in this series. Of that, we can be certain.
Knicks: Julius Randle is alive!
After maybe the worst game he’s had all season to start this series, Randle rallied back with a solid enough performance in Game 2. He was far from the level Knicks fans have come to expect from him, but he was revived in that second half and really started making things happen.
The Hawks were sending double and triple teams at him from the get-go, and it was honestly an effective strategy. Randle has never had to deal with pressure and attention like that his entire NBA career, and that had to have been what threw him off so much in Game 1.
Because of the way the Knicks depend on Randle to get buckets, his initial reaction Wednesday night was to shoot his way through the Hawks’ defense. The team needed points from him and if he needed to take tough shots to get there then so be it. That’s what led to a 2-point first half for Randle on 0-6 shooting.
Head Coach Tom Thibodeau or somebody must’ve given him a good talking to in the locker room at halftime because the Randle that came out in the 3rd quarter was a completely different animal. Tapping into his roots as a playmaker, Randle wouldn’t hesitate to drive into double teams, only this time he would make the right read and swing the ball to the weak side and the open man. The defense would rotate, the ball would hum around, and often enough Randle would get it back for the finish.
That’s what he’s going to have to do in Game 3. The Hawks are clearly laboring under the impression that if they can stop Randle they can stop the Knicks. Now, they might have a point, but forcing him to be a playmaker rather than an iso scorer is what allowed the Knicks to come back in this game.
In Game 3, Randle is going to have to be the same willing passer he was in the second half of Game 2. He’s going to be double-teamed, but he’s skilled enough to be the hub of an offense whether he’s finishing the play or not.
The Hawks are going to try and take him out of the game, but if Randle plays smart and keeps his eyes up he’ll be able to share the sugar and elevate his entire team. That’s when he becomes a true star in this league, and that’s when the Hawks lose.
The New York Knicks won the mental game
The Knicks bench won game 2 and they did it with the little things. Yeah, Rose got hot, and yeah Bullock hit some big threes, but what was really valuable was that they shut the Hawk’s offense down.
In that first half, Atlanta looked like the 2017 Golden State Warriors. Trae was getting by anyone he wanted, Bogdan Bogdanovic was hitting crazy fallaway jumpers, and Deandre Hunter was spotting up like Ray Allen. 57 points in that first half despite only 45% team shooting for the Hawks. That fell on the heads of the Knicks.
The second half was a different story. New York came out the gates like gangbusters. They rotated hard to close out on shooters, they got chippy with their hands around the rim, and they harassed the Hawk’s ball handlers like they’d insulted their mothers.
Those are the Knicks we know and love! The crowd at Madison Square Garden chipped in too. Screaming DE-FENCE all game long, cheering on big shots, and yelling at Trae Young about the low quality of his hair. Classic.
Going into this series the national media had this to say about the Knicks chances:
"“The Hawks are a more talented team. Young, Collins, Capela, Hunter, that’s a better 4 than anyone the Knicks have. But the Knicks are just tougher. That’s their biggest advantage, and that’s how they can win this series.”"
If the Knicks want to win this they are going to have to be mentally tougher than the Hawks. They are going to have to fight and claw for every crap of an advantage they can find, not because they aren’t good enough, but because that’s what makes them so good.
Madison Square Garden might never have seen a bigger barrel of misfit toys than the 2020-21 Knicks. They will fight, because that’s what they’ve done their entire basketball lives. Randle, Bullock, Gibson, Burks, Quickley, Rose, Noel, Payton, even Barrett, they’re fighters. All of them.
That’s what the team has to do in game 3. More than any new strategy or twist or offensive scheme. The Knicks are going to have to show why they deserve to be where they are. And they will.