Knicks Can’t Complete Comeback in Overtime Loss to the Grizzlies

 

The New York Knicks lost their opening night game in an overtime thriller 115-112 to the Memphis Grizzlies. Despite poor play from RJ Barrett and pitiful shooting from three, the Knicks were unable to stop Ja Morant and the Grizzlies’ offense.

On nationally televised opening night game, Barrett did not do the best job of proving the doubters wrong. He shot a miserable 17% from the field and 0 for 6 from three. If the Knicks are going to make any noise in the NBA this season, Barrett can’t continue to have games like this.

Not only did Barrett not perform well on offense, but his defense was put into question as well. He was the primary defender on Morant the entire night land let up 34 points and 9 assists. I’m not saying that Morant is an easy defensive task or that he should be expected to be stopped, but Barrett looked visibly slow trying to guard the all-star point guard.

The other two players in the Knicks’ big three, Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson, had solid if not stellar performances. Randle looked more like his All-NBA self, finishing the game with 24 points, 11 boards, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He also scored with great efficiency, shooting a solid 56.3% from the floor. Randle was by far the best player in the game for New York. If he can continue this play, it would be a massive boost to the Knicks’ future success.

As for Jalen Brunson, he became the first Knicks starter in 2 seasons to have 9 assists and zero turnovers. He continuously looked to push the pace and find players running in transition. Brunson did not disappoint in the game and it looks like New York will finally have good play at the point guard position. He also added 15 points, albeit on less than great efficiency, averaging about 39% from the field.

The other main contributions to the loss came from Isaiah Hartenstein and Cam Reddish. Hartenstein had a solid game off the bench, finishing with 16 points and 8 rebounds, 7 of those being offensive boards. Furthermore, a lot of what he did doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. Hartenstein hustled seemingly every play, diving for loose balls and fighting for extra rebounds. He was a major positive, playing 40 minutes, as starter Mitchell Robinson got into foul trouble quickly.

Cam Reddish was a welcome surprise in the game. He had 22 points, 3 steals, and 1 block off the bench. He has often been criticized, rightly, for poor shot selection and efficiency, shooting 41.6% from the field and 25.8% from three last season. However, he seems to have matured over the offseason, as he had a fantastic 60% field goal percentage and didn’t force any bad shots. Reddish could be a great addition to this Knicks rotation if he can keep up this play.

One of the major factors that killed the Knicks’ hopes of winning this game was the team’s poor performance behind the arc. New York shot a putrid 24% from three in the loss. In today’s modern-style NBA, that just can’t happen if you want to have any hope of winning games. The only players to shoot above 35% on the team were Evan Fournier and Cam Reddish, each going 3 for 5 from three. The Knicks were in the upper half of the league in three-point percentage last year, so this game might just be a fluke. The team got plenty of good to wide-open looks - the shots just wouldn’t fall. Hopefully, this game is just a fluke and not an ominous sign of things to come.

As mentioned before, Barrett could not stop Morant. It looked as if Morant was playing at a different speed than the Canadian forward, easily getting past him and slicing into the paint. In addition to his 34 points, Morant shot 50% from three, which is a scary sight to see. Last year he only shot 34% from behind the arc. If Morant can develop into an above-average three-point shooter, he could make yet another leap as a player.

As a whole, the Grizzlies team greatly outshot the Knicks from three, almost doubling their makes, 9 to 17. Desmond Bane, Santi Aldama, John Konchar, and Tyus Jones all had three or more makes from downtown. Coach Tom Thibodeau needs to make adjustments before the Knicks’ next matchup. New York gave up seemingly endless open looks from behind the arc, it’s a miracle that Memphis couldn’t capitalize on even more attempts.

Although a loss is obviously not ideal, the Knicks showed that they have some fight in them. At a point in the third quarter, the Grizzlies had a 19-point lead, but New York refused to go away. They closed the gap and forced overtime, on a great drawn-up play by Thibodeau. The Knicks will look to bounce back in their home opener against the Detroit Pistons, a much easier task.