Nets timeout, with just under nine minutes left in the second quarter. Obi Toppin has already offered his team a 27-point lead (50-23). Steve Nash, who got up from his bench, claps his hands in an attempt to remobilize his troops. The technician probably does not imagine the scenario that will follow…
His team will take the Knicks from dream to nightmare. After counting up to 28 points in advance in this second quarter, the locals sank in the second half. 8/26 on uncontested shots after the break, no points in transition after scoring 22 in the first period, 38 points against in the fourth quarter, their worst this season… ESPN compiled numbers each more terrible than the other.
Does Tom Thibodeau’s speech still pass?
Most significantly, it’s already the third time this month that the Knicks have squandered a 20-point lead, unheard of in 25 years. And that losing despite a 28-point lead is a first for them in 30 years.
” You have to play hard with a big lead.”, recalls Tom Thibodeau. “We have to figure out how to play with a lead, and we haven’t done that, not done well. We just talked about it, obviously, we are doing a lot of good things to build this lead.“
The New York technician cannot throw away his team’s good start to the match with a very successful Julius Randle – Evan Fournier – Quentin Grimes trio at the heart of a first quarter ended with 38 points scored, then 65 at the end of the game. pause. But only the end result counts.
” It is complicated “qualifies Taj Gibson. “Getting a big lead, as far as I’m concerned, is just a mental thing. It is not an organizational problem. It’s about having the resilience to overcome events and lately we haven’t been able to do that like last year.“
Despite a stabilized workforce, the 2022 Knicks no longer have much to do with the 2021 Knicks in terms of commitment and consistency. This tendency to squander large advances in February is proof of that.
Julius Randle, according to whom Tom Thibodeau’s speech ” still resonates clearly in the locker room “, describe ” highs and lows. We have good times, bad. But it’s hard. We feel like we should be better than we are right now. But this is not the case, it is not necessary to dwell on it. You have to keep one foot in front of the other and keep trying to turn things around. Keep trying to work things out.“
A fire schedule for recovery
Not the easiest for a team that has just conceded a third loss in a row, which is more against three private teams of superstars at the moment (Blazers, Thunder and Nets therefore). In mid-January, New Yorkers had turned back to positive (22 wins – 21 losses). Since then, the record is three wins and thirteen losses for the Knicks (25-34), relegated to more than six Top 8 games in the East.
To react after the “All-Star break”, Tom Thibodeau is likely to react to his copy. ” Everything is on the table now. It has to be merit-based. I’m not going to give minutes just to give minutes”warns the coach. ” It’s still time. We have to catch our breath, take a step back and take a good look at where we are. It starts with yourself, what can you do better individually? And then bring it to the group. Team spirit must be the priority on both sides of the pitch.“
His team has a week ahead of them to do this introspection. After the break, the Knicks will resume with a very complicated schedule: reception of the Heat and the 76ers, then their longest “road trip” of the year (76ers, Suns, Clippers, Kings, Mavs, Grizzlies, Nets)…
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Julius Randle | 56 | 35.7 | 42.0 | 30.1 | 76.2 | 1.9 | 8.4 | 10.2 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 19.6 |
| Rj Barrett | 48 | 33.1 | 41.2 | 35.4 | 69.5 | 0.9 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 18.0 |
| Evan Fournier | 56 | 29.5 | 42.6 | 39.6 | 72.3 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 14.5 |
| Derrick Rose | 26 | 24.5 | 44.5 | 40.2 | 96.8 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 12.0 |
| Kemba Walker | 36 | 25.8 | 40.3 | 36.7 | 83.6 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 11.7 |
| Alec Burks | 57 | 26.6 | 38.1 | 38.8 | 82.5 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 11.1 |
| Immanuel Quickley | 54 | 21.3 | 36.0 | 32.2 | 91.4 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 9.2 |
| Mitchell Robinson | 52 | 25.5 | 76.4 | 0.0 | 51.9 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 8.8 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 8.5 |
| Obi Toppin | 53 | 15.1 | 51.0 | 23.3 | 74.4 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 7.3 |
| Quentin Grimes | 38 | 17.5 | 41.7 | 39.5 | 64.7 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 6.4 |
| Cam Reddish | 8 | 11.4 | 34.5 | 15.4 | 94.7 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 5.0 |
| Taj Gibson | 38 | 18.1 | 53.8 | 38.1 | 75.8 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 3.9 |
| Kevin Knox | 13 | 8.5 | 37.5 | 35.7 | 70.0 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 3.6 |
| Nerlens Noel | 25 | 22.5 | 53.3 | 0.0 | 70.0 | 1.9 | 3.7 | 5.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 3.4 |
| Damyean Dotson | 2 | 10.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Miles Mcbride | 21 | 7.2 | 25.9 | 16.1 | 75.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.8 |
| Wayne Selden | 3 | 6.4 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| jericho sims | 18 | 6.5 | 72.7 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| Tyler Hall | 1 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Daniel House | 1 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Matt Mooney | 1 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
