Knicks go on offensive to put away Magic
New York Knicks forward Julius Randle reacts against the Orlando Magic in the second half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Knicks seemingly were coasting to a one-sided victory over winless Orlando on Monday when the youthful Magic began to chip away, cutting a 14-point deficit to six with just over four minutes left. The freewheeling offense the Knicks had been using to compile highlight reels suddenly seemed to disappear.
Jalen Brunson, who has served as the steady hand orchestrating play for the Knicks this season, picked up his fifth foul. He looked to coach Tom Thibodeau and got no response. The message was clear: Play on.
Brunson delivered, draining an elbow jumper and drawing a foul on the play. The defense tightened, the offense began to flow and the Knicks escaped with a 115-102 win at the Garden.
“He trusts me enough to stay in,” Brunson said. “I think I just yelled at him ‘Thibs!’ and he looked at me. We kept it rolling.”
“Just trust your gut,” Thibodeau said. “The way he can control and manage a game. I know I did the same thing in the first half when he picked up the two quick fouls. You still have room. I think a lot of the time you pull guys, you end up messing up their rhythm, too. So you take a chance and it worked out.”
Just about everything has thus far. The Knicks have quickly adapted to Brunson at the point and everyone has filled in smoothly around him. Freed up by Brunson’s playmaking, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett have been off to the races, looking for easy buckets. And the Knicks also are looking to do damage from long range.
Last season, Thibodeau put a goal in place for the Knicks in the preseason — try to attempt between 37 and 40 three-point field goals per game. In a disappointing season, that was at least one goal they reached. They put up 37 threes per game, which pushed them to 10th in the NBA, up from 30 a season before that, which ranked them fourth- worst in the league.
So Thibodeau, despite a reputation as a defensive coach who wants to drag teams into the mud, came to camp this season with a new goal: More threes.
Thibodeau wouldn’t put the number out publicly Monday, but when asked if it was about 42, he smiled and said, “42 is a little low.” When 45 was pitched to him, he said, “Still low.’’
In the Knicks’ first two games of the season, they attempted 75 — ticking up slightly higher per game than last season but still 10th in the league.
“Yeah, we nudged it up a little bit,” Thibodeau said. “But it’s how can we create more of those opportunities. It’s not just threes; I’m watching what’s going on in the league. So we have to make sure we’re not falling behind in that area. But it’s also your layups, your easy baskets, attacking the rim, the free throws and then the corner threes.
“Just watching what transpired, year to year, what’s going on in the league, what happened in the playoffs. Who were the teams that got to the final four? How were they playing? I anticipated what was going to happen in preseason and it did. I think scoring is continuing to go up. So you know the shots that people are trying to get to and how do they get to them.”
The Knicks don’t have a roster filled with sharpshooters. Evan Fournier set a franchise record last season with 241 made threes on a team-high 619 attempts. Those attempts ranked eighth in the league; Steph Curry led with 750. Barrett put up 404 and shot 34.2%, Randle took 390 and shot 30.8%.
“This is my 11th season,” Fournier said. “Last year was my 10th season and it was my first time shooting more threes than twos. You have to go with the flow of the NBA.”
On this night, the Knicks tossed up 37 attempts from beyond the arc, converting 11. They also slipped in the highlights that have come with increased pace.
Brunson (21 points) fed Randle (25 points) for a fast-break dunk. Obi Toppin caught up with a long outlet from Brunson and left a no-look bounce pass behind him for Barrett (21 points) to slam in.
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.
