As birthday presents go, this ranked someplace between the gag cake made from mud as a substitute of chocolate and a used pair of sweat socks. Really, given the selection, Tom Thibodeau most likely would’ve agreed to a mouthful of that fake cake, with these previous socks used as napkins.
Something apart from this.
The Knicks misplaced to the Hornets in a Backyard matinee Monday afternoon, 97-87, and it wasn’t precisely the Sixty fourth-birthday current that Thibodeau would’ve ordered up. It wasn’t one of the simplest ways to play leadoff for the NBA’s annual slate of video games on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It wasn’t something near acceptable.
And on this season of puzzles proceeds.
This one was laborious to see coming. The Knicks had been enjoying properly recently. They’d gained 5 straight on the Backyard. They’d gained 10 out of 15 general, scratching their method again over .500 at 22-21. The Hornets are one of many groups you’d prefer to imagine the Knicks have quite a bit in frequent with after the Nets/Bulls/Bucks/Sixers elite quadrant within the East.
And as a bonus, LaMelo Ball sat out with a non-COVID sickness.
Alas. The very best-laid plans …
“We acquired in a gap early, and that’s the problem particularly once you play an early sport, you have to have a readiness to play,” Thibodeau stated. “We didn’t get going, they have been troublesome to cease, and once we lastly acquired our protection collectively, it was too late.”
This was a radical thrashing. The Hornets led by double figures for every of the sport’s closing half-hour. As per league guidelines one of many Bridges — Miles this time — did as he was required to do, reminding the Knicks that each he and the Suns’ Mikal (no relation) have been accessible within the 2018 draft when the Knicks opted as a substitute for Kevin Knox at No. 9.
Knox is a Hawk now, so the Knicks are attempting to overlook that forgettable choose and transfer on. Miles made it robust, scoring 22 first-quarter factors, 38 general, making 14 of the 20 photographs he tried. It was back-to-back drives from Bridges that gave the Hornets a 45-33 lead on the halfway level of the second quarter.
And because the nice Warner Wolf used to say: “You could possibly’ve turned off your units proper there.”
“No person needs to lose,” stated Mitchell Robinson, who had 10 factors and 6 rebounds. “Plus, it’s Thibs’ birthday, so I really feel type of dangerous.”
These Knicks, proper now, are simply unimaginable to determine. The sold-out Backyard crowd was uber-energized for the 1 p.m. begin. The Knicks, who’d handled their dwelling courtroom so usually this yr the best way Oscar Madison handled his bed room, had gotten themselves collectively in entrance of the hometown partisans — and on the good time, as a result of the schedule is about to take a flip for the toothy very quickly.
After which … this.
Forty % taking pictures. Ten missed free throws. The Hornets have been permitting 115 factors a sport and many of the afternoon it appeared just like the Knicks have been going to settle within the low-80s. Even with out Ball, the Hornets have been quicker, faster, extra aggressive, extra attacking. It was a blightful sport. They occur within the NBA.
That doesn’t make a protracted afternoon really feel shorter.
Doesn’t permit a awful birthday to really feel any higher.
“We all know how good they're, they’re an excellent offensive crew, put fixed strain on you, play for 48 minutes,” Thibodeau stated. “Each crew on this league can beat you should you aren’t enjoying in addition to you'll be able to. You noticed that tonight.”
Tuesday evening it will likely be Thibodeau’s previous crew, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who've performed more and more higher as they’ve develop into entire. Quickly sufficient it will likely be a season-defining western swing. We’ve seen traces of what the Knicks may be throughout the previous few weeks; Monday was an instance of what else they are often, when issues go sideways. The season of puzzles proceeds.
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