Game Day: Knicks (8-8) @ Suns (9-6), Sat 11/20/22

[LazarusLong]

Okogie played well, yes.

Wainwright was 0-4 and looked overmatched ...

[The Bobster]

Booker and Ayton playing better this half, and Craig has been suprisingly effective offensively (14 points)

[LazarusLong]

Ayton showing a heartbeat ...

[LazarusLong]

Good run by Phoenix. Hoping they can keep the momentum rolling ...

[LazarusLong]

Phoenix outrebounding the Knicks, 41-31, at the end of three quarters.

[ShelC]

Suns broke away a bit towards the end of the 3rd to push the lead to 15. Craig with a good quarter, Book warming up, DA waking up. Knicks are out of sorts a bit and not really in any rhythm except maybe Brunson. Hope we can put them away in the 4th.

[The Bobster]

This bench group is really rough offensively.

[TOO]

This bench group is really rough offensively.

I'm gonna be the positivity.

To be fair the best 2 bench guys are currently starting.

[LazarusLong]

This bench group is really rough offensively.

I'm gonna be the positivity.

To be fair the best 2 bench guys are currently starting.

True.

Wainwright really is an end-of-the-bench reserve.

[LazarusLong]

All starters, plus Lee, in double figures.

Suns 44% from behind the arc. Booker, 5-8, Lee, 4-6.

Phoenix ruled the glass, 59-39. Ayton with 11, Biyombo had 10.

[The Bobster]

Good win.

They needed a decisive win, even if they didn't look that impressive for a lot of it.

[ShelC]

Really good win. A lot of back and forth in the 1st half but the team came out and stepped it up in the 3rd and took it to the Knicks, who had no response.

The starters were really solid with Payne the standout. He was great again and played with real nice pace. His 3 was working, he got into the lane with his quickness and used his length to bother Brunson. This win goes to the bench tho -Lee, Biz and Okogie were big difference makers for us. Great job by Monty adjusting to the Knicks size and physicality rather than just sticking with his usual reserves. Jock was the odd man out but it worked out well and having Biz is a real luxury for these kinds of games.

Okogie showed flashes of some offense; if he can gain confidence it'd go a long way to being able to keep him out there for his defense and hustle. Pound for pound he's probably one of the best athletes in the league.

Glad the starters got some rest. Mikal and Cam played 32 minutes, no one else over 30 which is nice balance. Again, good job by Monty pulling back on Book and Mikal.

[ShelC]

[LazarusLong]

Thanks for the content, Shel.

[Superbone]

Not a great 2nd quarter offensively, TC had 9 straight points but not much else going on. Grimes is doing a good job on Book plus the Knicks are doubling him early.

DA with 4 FTAs but has missed them all

And the second one was an easy dunk.

[Split T]

Missed the game again, but love to see what Payne did. It does seem like he’s got his mojo back. When healthy it does seem like we have 6 reliable guys(Starters plus Cam). Biyombo/Landale can give us decent minutes at the backup 5 and it seems like Lee is a rotation player. So that’s 8. Lee and Landale/Biyombo seem more like regular season rotation guys. Ideally I see them as 9th/10th men, not 7th/8th men. Craig and Shamet are also 9th/10th men. If we can turn Crowder into a true 7th man, I think we can make some noise…probably not a true contender, but maybe a shot if the luck bounces our way like it did in 2021.

I’d still look to move Ayton and find a better offensive partner for Booker. I wonder if Charlotte could be that. Like I assume we could get Plumlee/Hayward for sure, but I’d want Jalen McDaniels added on.

Paul/Booker/Bridges/Johnson/Plumlee with
Payne/Lee/Hayward/McDaniels/Landale

Then you’d add whatever you get from Crowder. Still don’t really love that though. Plumlee isn’t really someone I want on the floor in big moments in the postseason and this doesn’t give us a small ball 5 option. Maybe we just work on a Crowder/Saric/Shamet for Hayward deal instead.

[ShelC]

For the "trade for Randle" crowd, this happens a lot

[JeremyG]

Not a great 2nd quarter offensively, TC had 9 straight points but not much else going on. Grimes is doing a good job on Book plus the Knicks are doubling him early.

DA with 4 FTAs but has missed them all

And the second one was an easy dunk.

"If only he would go up strong for the dunk, he could at least get to the free throw line."

"If only he would dunk it, he could avoid getting to the free throw line and missing free throws."

Give it a break, y'all. Are you gonna complain about the and-1 layup too, because he could have dunked it and gotten 2 points instead of 3?

[TOO]

Why doesnt Toppin play more? Ayton didnt have great stats but I think he was pretty decent today. Cam Payne still blowing me away, he's just been a good starting PG since taking over for Paul. Gotta be the reason Paul isnt rushing back.

[ShelC]

He's kind of a tweener 4/5. Thibs and the FO are locked in with Randle for the time being. Then you have Mitch and Hartenstein at the 5. Can't really guard perimeter 4s and isn't great defensively as a 5. He's probably best suited for the 5 spot and you just live with his defense, but that's not something Thibs is willing to compromise on and he doesn't like pairing him with Randle (only 50ish minutes played together). He's also much more of a PnR threat which the Knicks don't run a ton of unless DRose is out there. They play really well together but Rose always misses 50 games a year.