Schmeelk: Knicks Must Bottle Effort Against Nets For Rest Of Road Trip
By John Schmeelk
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The Knicks played the first game of their seven-game road trip in the friendly confines of Barclays Center on Monday. It will only get harder going forward.
The next half-dozen games will take place outside of the Eastern time zone, starting with a trip to Memphis on Wednesday. What happens over the next 10 days will likely impact the trajectory of their season.
Right now, the Knicks are 20-24, four games in the loss column out of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference and just four games in the loss column away from having the fifth-worst record in the entire NBA. In games not played New York City this season, the Knicks are a miserable 3-15. Their road woes need to change during this trip.
Only two of the games are against teams with records above .500 (Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets) and the excursion closes on the only back-to-back of the group, against the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns. The quality of the competition hasn't meant much to the Knicks this season on the road. However, the team has shown strong chemistry, which might serve it well given that the players will be exclusively in each other's company for more than a week.
The way the Knicks played against the Nets was a good way to start such a pivotal stretch. The offense flowed well for the second straight game (despite the loss it looked good against New Orleans, too), with the ball moving instead of getting stuck in Kristaps Porzingis' hands in the post.
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The change in philosophy was reflected in Porzongis' best shooting game since Nov. 7. Despite a great height advantage over whomever the Nets threw at him, Porzingis was used as a screener in pick and rolls and was found repeatedly off picks off the ball. He caught the ball on the move or in open spaces, making for much easier shots than he got isolating in the mid-post.
Frank Ntilikina also benefited from the renewed style. The team allowed him to handle the ball and run some screen and rolls, which helped him get three assists away from a triple-double. Unlike in prior games, he was not simply tasked with bringing the ball up and handing it to either Kyle O'Quinn or Michael Beasley. You even got to see Ntilikina play with Porzingis more, something head coach Jeff Hornacek has shied away from most of this season.
Of course, the Knicks led the game by double figures for most of the fourth quarter. Many of their issues this season have come in close games on the road when they've reverted to bad habits and have been unable to score or get stops down the stretch. Odds are the Knicks aren't going to be on the good side of many blowouts during the road trip. They are going to have to win close games for them to keep their season alive.
Once the trip ends, the Knicks will play the Nets for the final time this season on Jan. 30 at Madison Square Garden before playing in Boston the following day. By that time, there all be eight days until the trade deadline and we should know if they have a better chance of contending for a playoff spot or a top spot in the draft lottery.
A .500 mark over the next six games would be an unbelievable success. A 2-4 record would send the team back to Madison Square Garden at 22-28. The season would be on life support. Anything worse than that and a pulse would be hard to detect, which would mean a lot of tough decisions for the Knicks' front office.
Schmeelk's Snippets
-- Jarrett Jack took the fact that he only played 13 minutes on Monday in stride. He understood how well Ntilikina was playing and why the Knicks ran with him. Enes Kanter, however, did not take it so well. He has expressed displeasure with his playing time recently, especially in fourth quarters. To Hornacek's credit, he explained that the reason O'Quinn plays in place of Kanter is defense-related. Porzingis also played a fair share of center against the Nets. The one thing the Knicks can't afford is dissention in the locker room. They've avoided it so far and that has to continue. Kanter has been a great teammate, and he needs to keep that up, even if it means doesn't see the floor much during crunch time.
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