Somone noted RJ looked winded in first period. He did but was able to recover. Looked like a fast pace for a few possessions and he was pushing the ball when he bought it up. His face looked very thin in the post game interview. Wonder if he is having some issues with maintaining condition to some degree which is why his legs don’t have the extra lift. He looked a bit thin.

Randle looked slow. Was he? or are the knicks pace so fast he just does not keep up at times? In any event his drives were key and off the ball he played well.

Obi at the fast pace will look good and it tired them out. Garland shrank and Josh messed up DM pretty good.

Thibs had his team ready to respond and they punched back HARD!!! Hope we can keep the Home court thing going and not fall into our typical sunday brunch malaise thing. Is it me or do we not play well on early afternoon games?

NYKBocker wrote:I think Big Mitch owning Allen and Mobley has been huge. He is just leaning on these guys and just doing whatever he wants down low. He needs to do something about the put backs though. Maybe head fake or something.

Not just Mitch. IHart has been wrecking them inside too. As for Mitch, I think he has an annoying habit of bringing the ball back down. And he's forgotten how to catch the ball.

Randle was criticized for his shot selection, disagree. Jules drove and dished lots of times. When on other nights, many of those drives would have resulted in a forced shot, or TO.

The misses were off of good looks. Partly why we won, Jules got his teammates involved. Crucial to this playoff run IMO. Randle will be getting the attention.

IQ looks like he's ready to play like he does in the regular season. Looked like he's been adjusting to the speed, and physicality of the playoffs.

Hope Obi gets mote minutes, in part to give Randle more gas for the final push.

Brunson made an effort to get his teammates going early, which was an important part of the good start to the game, and setting the tone. Ball movement is key.

blkexec wrote:I agree with everything and want to reiterate the importance of Brunson being a playmaker and floor general in the first half. He needs to make sure the team flow is good and key players are getting their touches. Then in the 2nd half he can see where the weaknesses are and start to attack more and bring it home in the clutch. As long as the ball is in his hands, we can beat anybody. Very smart player who is growing right before our eyes into a great nba player who should be mentioned with the knick greats.

I also think Randle hasn’t been too efficient lately and we are still winning those games. But as long as 2 of the 3 are on we have a good chance of winning every game. Our 3 headed team along with bench players that could start on any team (in the words of ihart) is a dangerous combination to have. On top of that, when Randle has one of those early efficient quarters it’s over. He’s still trying to get his legs back.

But if RJ and IQ can be impactful on both ends like they did game 3, we will repeat the same team effort and get a nice close win at home. Bing bong fans will be yelling championship 🤣. I don’t think they will lay down and allow another blowout. This is a classic boxing match between two great coaches and great players And Thibs / coaching staff is starting to show their dominance in this boxing match. Look out for dmitch to try and take over. Look out for garland to have a better game. This is when this team needs All Star Randle.

Agree. If JB can up his passing game and get people more involved, especially if that fosters more movement on offense away from the ball (something which we are dreadfully lacking) then perhaps he won't have to do so much, and put less wear on his body. If he can do that, this team will move up to the next level. We have several players that are not maximized.