The New York Knicks only made one change to their roster at the deadline, effectively swapping out Guerschon Yabusele and second-round picks for Jose Alvarado. And it only took one game for Alvarado to prove that the move was worth it, while also endearing himself to the entire New York fanbase.
Obviously, Alvarado is from New York, so it’s already pretty cool that he gets to play for his hometown Knicks. However, Knicks care about winning more than anything, so the fact that Alvarado was, in his first game after joining the Knicks, able to help them destroy the Boston Celtics was a perfect start to his tenure with the team.
It was as great an introduction as he could have possibly provided.
Jose Alvarado looked great in his Knicks debut
New York demolished the Celtics in Boston on Sunday afternoon, earning a 111-89 victory. And Alvarado played a big-time role for them off the bench, which should be a fairly regular occurrence moving forward.
Mike Brown gave Alvarado 25 minutes off the pine. He finished the afternoon with 12 points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 5-of-12 from the field and 2-of-6 from beyond the three-point arc.
Those are all fine stats. He definitely filled up the box score, which is a good thing for box-score-watcher fans to see when they go to check in on how Alvarado did.
But for Knicks fans who actually watched the game, what Alvarado was able to accomplish on the court showed exactly the reason the Knicks decided to trade for him.
All game long, Alvarado made it his mission to bother Boston’s ball-handlers. Whether it was Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Jaylen Brown, or anyone else, if they had the ball in their hands, Alvarado was there to make life difficult.
He even got a classic Grand Theft Alvarado steal on Brown. He missed a shot, waited in the backcourt, and then sprinted at Brown, who was dribbling up the court, and nabbed a steal.
Brown even saw it coming, but it didn’t matter. Alvarado still found a way to poke the ball free.
That sort of defense and hustle is exactly what the Knicks should want coming off their bench, especially at the guard position, and especially while Miles McBride is sidelined.
Alvarado’s first performance as a member of the Knicks should have been more than enough to make fans all over New York fall in love with him.