Tell the family band that Shane Mosley and his piano ain't stoppin' us this season!!! The pace of this game was absurd and the ball movement was really fun to watch. Melo played within the flow and ATE, KP struggled but the team had his back on this one, Rose extended his range which opened up everything and two bench pieces started the game to make major contributions to win. We had Kuz the Baptist send Cole Aldrich's soul up to the Lord and Kyle O'Quinn went Super Saiyan on a loose ball foul; then went Super Saiyan 2 on an offensive board. The team really showed out and won against a team they're supposed to beat, but the whole "beat the teams you're supposed to" is a step that you'll catch mediocre squads slipping on.
Rose: His adjustment in this one was a bit of taking off before further from the rack which stopped weakside help from changing his floaters and knocking down the midrange for a change. There were still moments of tunnel vision but there were also some really nice bits of offensive awareness like the jump pass over a double team to KOQ under the rack. He had 24,5 and 5 on 15 attempts and really took the game home in the fourth with his scoring. Dude had one of his best games so far for sure.
Holiday: He really filled in for Lee well. He found ways to score in spite of struggles shooting and he chased LaVine off the three point line consistently, though Zach was a terror still by stepping up for midrange knocks. A game removed from being abused on the boards, the Knicks had an SG come in and provide 7 rebounds, that's what I like to see. 13 points, 7 boards, 3 steals and it could have been even more impressive if he'd have knocked down a couple of open three point looks that just didn't fall.
Melo: Melo let everything flow and even passed up some shots where he had a bit of space so that guys with a lot of space could shoot intsead. This bumped his efficiency and gave him the easiest 29 points I think he's had in a long time. 9 for 20 plus 5 for 10 from three; 29 points, 5 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals with just a single TO...if he can get his numbers like this, he'll have legs for a longer time and his efficiency will go back to what it was before the three game collapse that just happened.
KP: This was a reminder that the kid is still just 21. He couldn't get much rhythm going, he shot 2-12 and at the line in the fourth you could tell he was gonna miss a second FT because of how down he got off missing the first. It was good to see him move the ball to the tune of three assists and great to see that having defenders stay home on him left the lane WIDE OPEN for Rose to abuse a pair of good defensive PG's though. KP's best impact on this one was at the rim, 3 blocks and plenty of challenges. He still had some rotation issues that gave way to free throws in the third, but it was a no easy baskets game for him. Growing pains'll happen and this was his worst game in a while, but he still posted 11, 5 and 3 plus those 3 blocks. Gotta watch the TO's though.
KOQ: It was obvious that this dude took Towns' 47 point game personally. He outworked everybody in this one and the moment where the fourth quarter squad calmed down and got back to handling their business was after Kyle grabbed an offensive board off of KP's second missed FT in a row (team's third of four at that point). So with Melo, Rose and KP out there; Kyle's board work brought an impact that only he could offer. The other stand out for him in this one is that he finished inside with poise that he hasn't shown consistently but that would take his game up a notch IMMEDIATELY. 20 points on 11 FGAs, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, a couple of demonic blocks and he was the energizer that we hoped Noah would be. He's been flirting with a performance like this all year, but this was the first time it all came together.
BJ: 2 points, 8 assists and 3 boards...he didn't have confidence in his jumper and the Wolves took advantage in the fourth, but his passing ability is absolutely absurd. The 4th quarter collapse was a result of some bad TO's, but they all came about from over passing which is the opposite of pretty much every other collapse the Knicks have had. Even with a ROUGH fourth, he was solid.
Sasha: For the most part he was under control, his 11 minutes included 6 points 2 assists and 2 steals; that's a lot of production in a short span. No hate from me on this one, he is what he is, but this was solid.
Kuz: Not as involved as he typically is, as the rock really worked through the bigs for most of the second unit's runs. Kuz did have a pair of stand out forays to the rack. One was an off ball cut for a gimme lay-up that showed how motion pays off when you share the floor with BJ. The other was when he took the lane dunked THROUGH Cole, which is a statement play. So even though it was fairly forgettable as a statline, he had some real moments out there.
Willy: 6 points, 4 boards and an assists on 50% from the field. He had a filthy post move where he barely missed completing the lay-up (double shoulder fake into a turn around lay-up) and he had another lay-up that he flat out rushed, otherwise his stat-line jumps from alright to impressive. What's held him back in the past few is that I feel like his defensive impact has been muted at best, but he's still productive and promising.
Lance: He only played 3 minutes and he did manage a 3 pointer in that span, plus an assist. It wasn't a 3 minutes where I wanted to see more, but it still somehow managed to be more promising than what he was doing before the injury break.
Hornacek: Good adjustments in the game plan saw better defensive rotations and improved ball movement as well as patience from the players. He deserves credit for the fact that the Knicks are treating the Garden like a place of pride. Just like last game where he had a short hook on Rose in the fourth; he gave BJ a short hook in the fourth when it wasn't working this time. Oddly enough, he kept everybody's minutes well under control besides KP who had a rough one...but the attention KP drew meant better ball movement for everybody, so I think I get it. This was a team with questionable depth heading into the season but the secondary guys have all developed comfort and chemistry that has sparked real production from them. He has inspired more confidence from me than any coach has in a long time.
Random: The Wolves have a lot of promise but something isn't gelling to me...I mean...defense is obvious but even on the offensive end, there's just something off about 'em. Zach LaVine has really turned a corner though, dude has had a pretty consistent progression. And shout out to my joke about Bjelica making me eat crow...dude played really well.
i just hope he can get them assist numbers up
