The Knicks dig in, over and over again. And even when we say to ourselves that they can finally get their heads out of the water, they find a way to dive back in. Last night, when they had the game in hand against the Suns, Tom Thibodeau’s men once again cracked, bringing their total to 17 losses in their last 20 games.
Remember when the Knicks had a positive record? It was January 16. Evan Fournier and his buddies were on five wins in six games and we thought that the gang at Thibs might finally be on. Yes but no. Because since then, it’s downright free fall. 20 games played, 17 lost, all for an overall record of 25 wins – 38 losses synonymous with 12th place in the East while NY was still ninth a month and a half ago. In the lot, there were absolutely shameful defeats. We think of the one against the Blazers on February 12 when New York had no less than 23 points ahead of the Portland floor. The defeat at Madison Square Garden against the fearsome Thunder was also a stain two days later. And how not to mention the monumental choke against the neighbor of Brooklyn who nevertheless evolved without Kevin Durant (injured), Kyrie Irving (half-time) and James Harden (just transferred). In short, a very very violent free fall and the worst part of all that is that we still haven’t arrived at the landing. At the time of these lines, the Knicks are on seven consecutive defeats and the play-in tournament is therefore moving further and further away, they who are now 5.5 games behind the tenth – the Charlotte Hornets – with less than twenty games remaining. Mental arithmetic is not necessarily our forte, but at first glance it seems quite difficult to catch up.
The Knicks were 22-21 on January 16.
Since ? pic.twitter.com/o6HWfzL23c
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) March 5, 2022
“At the end of the match, we have no confidence, so we doubt a lot. It should be second nature, ‘Boom, boom, boom, that’s what we gotta do’. Until that’s the case, it will be difficult to win close games against good teams.
Sometimes we look at each other, and we wonder what system we are going to play, what should we do. Today, we expect nothing from each other because we have no rhythm and no confidence in the fourth quarter. So again, until we fix this, nothing is going to change. »
These words from our national Evan Fournier a few days ago perfectly sum up the mood that exists in New York today. The list of problems at the Knicks is as long as an arm, but the completely failed endgames are perhaps the biggest symbol of it. As we said in the intro, the men of Thibs still let out a big lead last night on the floor of the Suns, yet deprived of Chris Paul and Devin Booker. 34-21 for the Cactus in the fourth quarter, a Julius Randle out because sent off, and a 14-point advantage that flies in the space of ten minutes with Cam Johnson in the role of executioner. The latter, author of his career record with 38 pawns on the clock, took advantage of a miss from Alec Burks on the free throw line to plant the 3-pointer that kills at the buzzer, all… with the board. Really, when nothing goes, nothing goes.
The beautiful story of last year now seems very, very far away. We expected the Knicks this year to confirm their return to the fore in the Eastern Conference, the opposite is happening. And today, it is once again completely vague about the direction that the Big Apple franchise will take.
OH L’ASSASSINpic.twitter.com/xnfvrND4Oj
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) March 5, 2022
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) March 5, 2022
