Spotlight on Grizzlies' Ja Morant, but Knicks excited about opener
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant dunks during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Credit: AP/Carlos Osorio
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As the Knicks took the court for warmups Wednesday night they found the FedEx Forum adorned with T-shirts on every seat and if they turned on the television in their hotel earlier they could have watched Ja Morant playing the starring role, talking about the Memphis Grizzlies approach in the wake of last year’s 56-win season and his own aspirations — to become the Most Valuable Player in the NBA.
With the game on national television, it might have felt a little like a sacrificial lamb role for the Knicks, the Washington Generals facing the Harlem Globetrotters. But for a Tom Thibodeau coached team on opening night, you could be certain that if they didn’t have the star attraction they were not going to concede and play a secondary role.
The Grizzlies entered this game with issues of their own, missing Jaren Jackson Jr., Danny Green, Ziaire Williams and adding Dillon Brooks to the sidelined players before the game, piecing together a lineup with little-used pieces and rookies. But they had Morant and that meant that they were going to be the team with the eyes on them.
And for the Knicks, maybe that’s for the best right now. This spotlight show on the road to start the season is followed by three home games against teams that most predictions have below them in the standings — Detroit, Orlando and Charlotte. So if they were prepared and ignored the high-flying acrobatics of Morant, they could see their way to a surprising start to the season.
For Thibodeau, it was opening night and that meant everything was possible.
“Love it. I think we all do,” Thibodeau said. “If you love the game, the start of every season is exciting. I love where our league is, I love the guys we have on our team, so we're looking forward to the challenge.”
The Knicks were different from last year’s 37-win team, even if the expectations aren’t much higher. Adding Jalen Brunson to the starting lineup and Isaiah Hartenstein to the bench has solidified the team, filling in gaping holes.
“Both guys have fit in seamlessly thus far,” Thibodeau said. “We know this is different. Preseason is preseason. And you deal with that as it comes to you and now the regular season we know the intensity will go up higher.”
Just how the Knicks would prepare for the Grizzlies was hard to imagine. Memphis was not revealing whether Brooks would play until game time or just how coach Taylor Jenkins would make up for the missing players. The Knicks were missing one important piece, second-year wing Quentin Grimes, with Thibodeau saying that Cam Reddish would get first crack at filling those minutes off the bench.
“[You get] the information from your games from the last year, but personnel has changed so it makes them different,” Thibodeau said before the game. “They have guys that are out, too, but Morant is Morant, so you know you have to deal with that. Their depth is very good. They play off each other very well.
“So we understand the challenge that we have, the speed of the game, the ability to get into the paint and break a defense down. Then when the ball is up on the board, then defensively they’re terrific. They go after the ball and they turn you over. When they get into the open floor it’s hard to stop. So you have to take care of the ball. You’ve got to defend. You’ve got to be low turnover. You have to do all those things.”
As the spotlight was on Morant, Knicks wing RJ Barrett, who was selected one spot behind him in the 2019 NBA Draft, took it as an opportunity to prove himself again.
“It’s an interesting question,” Barrett said. “I would say that he’s a really good player, just like a lot of other players in the league . . . Like I’ve always said I’m always trying to motivate myself, so the motivation of that draft class. Everybody is trying to be the best. Everything is a motivational kind of thing. I always get excited to play against them.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
