The New York Knicks are coming in mad. Or sad. Or maybe depressed. Friday was not a great night for the ‘Bockers, as they were rolled by 28 in Boston, totaling six technical fouls in the process. That meant ejections for Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Jennings, but at least Ron Baker was back from the D-League to help out in garbage time. (I kid, kind of, but I have an affinity for Baker from watching Fred VanVleet tape in the summer.)
The Toronto Raptors are on the second night of a travel-back-to-back Saturday, too, having narrowly defeated the Charlotte Hornets after coughing up a significant lead on Friday. While the Knicks were flattened and able to keep everyone’s minutes at 27 or under for the worst possible reason, the Raptors went full-bore to hang on, asking 36 minutes of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. This early in the season, that might not matter, but it’s worth noting that this is the team’s first back-to-back of the season.
It’s also the first Huskies night of the season! The Raptors will don their Huskies alternate to celebrate the 70-year anniversary of when they hosted the Knicks at Maple Leaf Gardens in the first ever game of the BAA, a predecessor to the NBA. That means a new alternate court, too, assuming it’s ready in time (the original debut of Huskies night was quietly pushed back). So the game should be aesthetically pleasing, and those going are probably in for a free shirt.
And maybe a victory. The Knicks are 3-5 and below average at both ends of the floor, while the Raptors are 6-2 with top-10 marks on both sides. Nothing’s ever given or easy, and the Raptors have a penchant in recent years for letting this type of opponent stick around way too long, but this is winnable. And necessary ahead of a very tough week.
The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on TSN 1/4 and Sportsnet 590.
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To help set the stage, we linked up with Jared Dubin, who writes for just about every site that takes good basketball writing, and whom you should pay to write for you.
Blake Murphy: We haven’t talked Knicks in a while. How are things? Life’s good? Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah as additions make sense to you?
Jared Dubin: Things in America are perfectly fine. Never been better.
I’ve said multiple times that I do not feel like trading for Derrick Rose was a good move in the grand scheme of team-building because there is no upside. The best case scenario is that he plays well, the Knicks go to the playoffs, and then have to decide whether to pay yet another 28-year old with a long history of injuries a big-money contract. That said, his actual play has been pretty good so far. I’ve been impressed over the last few games with his ability to make passes on the move, which is not something he’s normally done throughout his career. I hope it continues.
Noah makes more sense in theory than in practice. He can no longer play big minutes and he occupies Kristaps Porzingis’ optimal position. That said, he does bring a valuable perspective and can hopefully help Kristaps learn things about defense and the league as a whole. And he’s one of the few plus defenders on the team.
(Let’s inject some more positivity here. Courtney Lee was a really good signing and is working out exactly the way they wanted him to, I think.)
Blake Murphy: The early returns are pretty shaky. An average offense – they need to be much more than that – and the league’s second-worst defense. Small sample sizes and all, but is there a path to the Knicks having an above-average offense and a passable defense? I’m not sure you sneak into the East playoff picture without one or the other, and maybe both.
Jared Dubin: There is a path, but it involves a lot of breaks going their way. Among other things: everyone has to stay healthy (the biggest break); Carmelo’s shooting has to rebound; they have to get Kristaps enough touches (and his defense needs to bounce back); they need to find a way to overcome defensive deficiencies both at the point of attack and on the wing; and some other East teams need to fall back from where they were last year. The Knicks finished 12 games back, after all. They need to make a big leap forward to snag a spot.
Blake Murphy: Kristaps Porzingis’ usage is at 22.5 percent. While that’s higher than, say, Jonas Valanciunas, it’s not a significant increase from a year ago, at least so far. Is there a risk that bringing in more established names, one of whom requires a lot of touches, slows the growth of (extremely Latvian rap voice) Kristaps Porzingis? Or does this feel like a reasonable escalation of responsibility for the sophomore?
Jared Dubin: Kristaps needs to touch the ball more.
Blake Murphy: Holy, there are some fun names at the end of this roster. Justin Holiday is a legitimate thing now! Mo Ndour! Mindaugas! Hernangomez No. 2! We might even get Fred VanVleet vs. Ron Baker in garbage time. Are you happy with how the Knicks filled out the back end?
ZTHIS PASS FROM KUZMINSKAS TO HERNANGOMEZ AND BACK! pic.twitter.com/t2wjnZIyj9
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 12, 2016
Jared Dubin: I’ve said for a few weeks that the Knicks’ roster seems deeper than it is because it seems like they have a ton of options on the end of the bench. This is likely the case because none of them is proven in any way, so you can just project what you think they’ll be. Holiday, Ndour, Kuzminskas, and Hernangomez have all flashed usefull skills. That’s encouraging. We need to see them do put those skills to use with regularity before they can be counted on as valuable and consistent bench pieces, though.
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Raptors updates
Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross returned Friday, and head coach Dwane Casey made it seem as if that means both will be available Saturday, too. How the minutes break down is a more pressing question, as Lucas Nogueira closed out Friday’s game and Norman Powell’s play continues to demand more minutes. Having too many players playing well enough to justify lengthy run is a good thing, aside from the arguments it creates in the comments, and it puts an onus on Casey to keep his finger on the pulse of the game and make real-time adjustments, which I think he’s done a solid job of through eight games.
DeMarre Carroll’s played between 20 and 25 minutes the last couple of games, which feels like the right amount and has allowed him to really thrive when on the floor. The Raptors really need him for the Carmelo Anthony matchup, though, and they may need to extend his minutes in this one. Failing that, Patrick Patterson and Pascal Siakam could see spot duty on him, and the Raptors could roll the dice with Powell getting inside Anthony’s jersey and denying him the ball, so long as help is ready to come in the post.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross
PF: Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam, Bruno Caboclo
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
OUT: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger
Knicks updates
Nothing to report here. Everyone’s healthy and up from the D-League, it’s just a matter of not getting thrown out for techs.
PG: Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings, Sasha Vujacic
SG: Courtney Lee, Justin Holiday, Ron Baker
SF: Carmelo Anthony, Lance Thomas, Mindaugus Kuzminskas
PF: Kristaps Porzingis, Maurice Ndour
C: Joakim Noah, Kyle O’Quinn, Willy Hernangomez, Marshall Plumlee
The line
I know it’s a back-to-back for both sides, but it’s late Saturday morning, you can’t have a line up for this game yet? There aren’t even injury concerns on either side muddying the waters. I’m going to guess the Raptors come in around 7-point favorites with the over/under a shade under 200, but I haven’t had the greatest success picking games in back-to-back scenarios. Shrug. Huskies 102, Knicks 95.
