The Knicks had lost a couple of games in a row, on the road, to the two acknowledged beasts of the NBA East. They’d gotten steamrolled in Milwaukee in the quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament, getting trucked by 24 and surrendering 146 points, followed that up with a 133-123 humbling in Boston.
Much of the early speed of the season had sputtered away.
Then came the anvil on the head, on Dec. 11: Mitch Robinson, who’d landed awkwardly on his ankle in Boston, was out. For a time it seemed like a couple of months. Later that was revised to the whole season when it was revealed to be a stress fracture; later still it was announced Robinson would likely be back for the playoffs. He’s been back practicing in the last week.
Monday night marked the Knicks’ 50th game since Robinson went down. To celebrate, they were given the NBA equivalent of a buy game, a 124-99 breeze against the depleted Pistons. In those 50 games the Knicks have pieced together a 31-19 record. When Robinson went out they were in seventh place in the East — tied with the Nets, who were also 12-9.
(Yes. I had to look that last part up twice to make sure it was right.)
These 50 games could have sent things spiraling sideways, especially if you factor in that the other two-thirds of the Knicks’ starting frontcourt are missing, Julius Randle hurt since late January and RJ Barrett traded away in late December, and that Barrett’s replacement, OG Anunoby, has only played three games since late January.
“No season is perfect,” Donte DiVincenzo said the other day. “You’re always making adjustments, things you didn’t see coming, but we have a bunch of guys on this team who look forward for their number to be called and to step up. It’s been amazing watching us come together as often as we have.”
You can begin with DiVincenzo himself, who began the season coming off the bench and has emerged as an essential part of the Knicks’ core, averaging 18.7 points since Robinson’s injury, which happened in the same game that DiVincenzo permanently replaced Quentin Grimes in the starting five.
(DiVincenzo had the Garden eating out of his hands when he drained a team-record 11 3s Monday night on the way to 40 points — and actually had what would’ve been a 12th until replay revealed he shot it with his foot out of bounds. That’s when you know you’re scorching hot.)
Deuce McBride has also been a welcome find. Two weeks after Robinson went down, and immediately after the Knicks shipped Immanuel Quickley to Toronto, McBride signed a three-year, $13 million deal with the hope that he could maybe provide 85 percent or so of what Quickley did. But coming off a game in which he went all 48 minutes and scored 26 points (five days after pouring in a career-high 29 at Golden State), it’s fair to say he’s been an equivalent replacement for Quickley.
And also, for now, for Anunoby, who sat again Tuesday tending to his balky right elbow.
“I’ll do whatever’s asked of me,” McBride said after his complete game against the Nets. “Any way I can contribute, I will.”
What the Knicks are doing is not an easily calibrated dance. They are at the moment trying to take maximum advantage of a soft portion of the schedule as they inch closer and closer to avoiding the play-in round and also closer and closer to overtaking Cleveland for the No. 3 seed in the East (the Cavs beat Charlotte Monday, maintaining a half-game lead).
So much of what the Knicks are right now, you buy on spec. They still haven’t had a game yet where all their ideal rotation players are available, and that might not happen until just before the playoffs — and maybe not until the playoffs start.
rotation once everyone returns. USA TODAY Sports
That means Tom Thibodeau has to do some artful ego maneuvering. For now, it’s meant reducing the minutes of Precious Achiuwa, who spent a lot of nights in February and early March logging huge minutes but whose run has been diminished. When Anunoby returns, it means McBride will for sure exit the starting lineup; when Randle does it makes Josh Hart — another triple-double Monday, his sixth since Jan. 29 — the sixth man.
And of course there is Robinson, who started this whole carousel 50 games and 74 days ago. He has tried making the transition easy already, stating on social media he’d prefer to come off the bench. Thibodeau was already leaning that way anyway, given how well Isaiah Hartenstein has played in his absence (8.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 66 percent shooting) despite often playing through Achilles pain.
“You’re always going to prioritize the team,” Thibodeau said Monday. “So whatever contributions they can make to help the team, that’s where we’ll go.”
Given all the actual problems he’s had to deal with it’ll be a relief for the coach to get around to “good problems.” Like how to deal with a surplus of healthy players. That’ll be a nice change of pace.
