If the Knicks win this season, they’ll do it with offense.
It goes towards the popularity and ideas of Tom Thibdoeau, however that’s the fact of those Knicks after 10 video games. They rating in bunches and so they surrender too many factors. That id was reiterated with Monday night time’s obliteration of the Timberwolves, 120-107, a 3-point parade with Julius Randle because the grand marshal.
The Knicks (5-5) had 76 factors on the break and largely cruised within the second half, dropping 19 3-pointers at a 40% clip. It was a role reversal from two nights prior at MSG, the place the Knicks allowed a record-breaking 27 3-pointers to the Celtics.
Randle was the catalyst in Minnesota, ending with 31 factors and flashing the 3-point proficiency that elevated him to an All-NBA choice two seasons in the past. He tied a career-high with eight treys on 13 makes an attempt. RJ Barrett (22 factors), Jalen Brunson (23 factors, eight assists) and Obi Toppin (15 points) have been the opposite prime scorers. Toppin is being talked about extra often with the highest gamers, as he expands his offensive repertoire past transition dunks.
The Timberwolves (5-6) dedicated too many turnovers and couldn’t sustain. It was an odd tipoff time (9:15 EST) because the NBA had all 30 groups in motion Monday and staggered the begins in 15-minute increments. The goal was to have Election Day off on Tuesday throughout the league to advertise voting.
The Timberwolves additionally an excellent case research to distinction the Knicks.
They have been a bit of higher than the Knicks final season however hardly near title rivalry. Then the Timberwolves went for it within the offseason, paying a hefty worth — 4 first-round picks and a decide swap — to accumulate Rudy Gobert from the Jazz.
It was the kind of all-in transfer that might backfire terribly, however the Timberwolves and half proprietor Alex Rodriguez have sufficient younger gifted items — most notably Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards — to justify the gamble. The Knicks, however, clutched their belongings and continued a wait-and-see method. Attempts to pry Donovan Mitchell out of Utah have been rebuffed as a result of the Knicks stopped wanting providing the mandatory draft-pick compensation.
So in a number of methods, the Timberwolves are what the Knicks might’ve been, the nice or the unhealthy. On Monday night time, the Knicks have been good and Minnesota was unhealthy. If that retains up, the Timberwolves are in bother as a result of they don’t have the parachute of future draft picks.
The do have a star energy ahead, Towns, who was thought-about a possible Knicks commerce goal earlier than signing a $224 million tremendous max extension in the summertime. Gobert, the previous Defensive Player of the Year, is already 30 years outdated. He entered Health and Safety Protocols final week and didn’t play Monday night time, which most likely contributed to Minnesota’s Swiss Cheese protection.
Thibodeau once more shook up his lineup. He started Jericho Sims at center to switch Mitchell Robinson, who’s out with a sprained knee. Sims was a shock selection contemplating he solely logged 11 complete minutes within the opening 9 video games. But he served his goal for Thibodeau as a rim protector and paint finisher.
The younger middle predictably fouled too typically and completed with 4 factors in 17 minutes.
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