I really wanted this one. Especially for RJ. He was in the zone all game long (44 points on 14/20, 6/6 from three). He's playing so good right now.
Like it's finally clicked and understands the pace he needs to play with. It also helps he's shooting and hitting the three with confidence. He's finishing a lot better too. That dunk over Vucevic was insane! I thought that last shot where he faded away and hit the one hander over LeVine was it. Ball game. We should have made more of an effort (him too) to get the ball and shoot those last FTs. He earned that opportunity.

Missing FTs in the final minute happens. It's happened to the best players in the league. It sucks. I feel for Brunson. You know it killed him. Grimes too. Gotta learn from it and move on. Credit to the Bulls. I knew they would were going to bring it. They played like the more desperate team. LaVine showed why he was a former All-Star and why he got that contract. And DeRozan did what DeRozan does. Imagine having a guy like that on this team.

Second straight game where Brunson struggled. Have to wonder if that foot is bothering him a bit. Give Donsunmu credit. He made it tough for Brunson with his length. I did like how Brunson did not force it when he was clearly not feeling it and made an extra effort to get RJ and Randle the ball. But we need Brunson to play well at a high level. I thought Robinson had a poor game. Left Vucevic wide open for threes all game long. It's a bad match up for him. Grimes was poor too. Didn't defend as well one on one and missed wide open shots. Randle was outstanding. Also loved how he made an effort to defer to RJ on some plays. That pump fake on the three drive baseline for the And1 was so good!

Losing sucks. We have to get back to our bread and butter. We are not an offensive run and gun team. We can score but we are not going to win that way. We gotta start defending like we were doing. Stop turning the damn ball over and hit your damn FTs!

LivingLegend wrote:Bulls shot ~50% from 3, we had only 2 steals, Bulls only 4 turnovers = Knicks played NO D.

Seen this so many times where teams will defend with great success but they don’t have willingness to sustain effort required and ultimately fall back into trying to out score teams. Loser mentality.

Conditioning, playing with nagging injuries, not enough rest, are going to catch up. They know they can do it now. The confidence is still there. This is a MUCH better team than it was 3 weeks ago. They are building a winning culture. Sustaining that effort in todays nba is near impossible. There are going to be ups and downs. I’m not worried……yet

Brunson/McBride
Grimes/IQ
Barrett/Reddish
Randle/Sims
Robinson/Hart

I think when guys get tired they lapse on defensive. I think that’s the real cost of such high minutes for the starters.

We’ve also been keeping two of the starters on the floor at all times. I don’t hate the strategy, but you have a lock down defense squad behind the starters that can pretty much just shorten the game with their D and could use that time to develop a bit.

I really think Reddish can be special despite the mistakes and want to see him get some opportunities. Now that the win streak is over, let’s get Reddish back in the rotation.

Need to stay vigilant on shot selection and get a new streak running.

HofstraBBall wrote:

Kemet wrote:Two losses in a row by small ball teams running a 8 man rotation ..
Our 3 centers (MitchRob/Hart/Sims) combine for less than 6 FGA ..
Barrett's 44 pts still say Barrett is not a CLOSER!
Christmas game vs Embiid I refuse to watch

Think you never have.
But can you refuse to watch the rest of the year?

And miss coach Tom Thibs backward coaching, not on ur life.
The Knicks played 4 games in 6 days using a 8 or 9 man rotation.
Only two bench players received decent minutes in the 4 games,
coach Thibs put all the pressure and strain on the starter lineup players.

Guess what?
Brunson hit the wall during the first half of the Toronto Raptors game.
Coach Carlyse & coach Kidd never played Brunson the high (39 then 38) minutes coach Thibs been giving Brunson game after game.
It should be a NBA crime for not adding D.Rose & Cam Reddish to the Knicks rotation the last 4 games.