Steve Popper: Knicks' Jose Alvarado puts stamp on new team during rout of 76ers
Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns grabs a rebound over the 76ers' Adem Bona during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Wednesday in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Rourke
PHILADELPHIA
The Knicks gathered in the hallway in the bowels of Xfinity Mobile Arena and huddled up, giving last exhortations before taking the floor for the final game before the All-Star break.
Less than 24 hours earlier they’d dropped an overtime game to Indiana at the Garden and had to hit the road for one more night. And if they needed an energy boost, something to show that the break hadn’t arrived yet, it came early.
Late in the first quarter Mitchell Robinson grabbed an offensive rebound and as he rose up his shot was blocked and he was knocked hard to the floor. The newest Knick, Jose Alvarado, stepped into the chest of Philadelphia’s Trenton Watford, his face actually even with the 6-8 Watford’s chest. But the message was delivered, to the delight of the Knicks fans in the crowd who grew louder as the lead did, too.
Alvarado, just three games into his Knicks tenure, got a technical foul for the confrontation, and then added a season-high 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting, all from beyond the arc, and five steals, in just 19 minutes. Alvarado became the first player in NBA history to post that many points, steals and threes in a game off the bench.
By the time the Knicks’ 138-89 win over the 76ers was complete, it looked as if the biggest steal might have been the Knicks securing him at the trade deadline.
“As soon as I got here, that was the first thing they probably said to me: ‘We need you to be who you are, do not change that,’ ” said Alvarado, who was named the Knicks’ defensive player of the game. “This is Game 3 for me, but I’m slowly getting into it.”
“That’s what we need,” Josh Hart said. “That’s what we want from him. Obviously that toughness, ability to help us get organized, ability to knock down shots. And defensively bring energy, bring physicality, get in the passing lanes, those kind of things.
“That’s why he’s here. Honestly, I didn’t realize he had that many shots, that many threes, but it shows what he’s capable of. We’re going to need him a lot down the stretch.”
The infusion of nonstop energy was just what the Knicks needed. While Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were due for Thursday morning flights to Los Angeles for the All-Star Weekend, the Knicks, as a whole, were just looking for a chance to catch their breath.
Brunson never saw the court in the fourth quarter and needed just eight points to call it a night. Mikal Bridges had 22 points and Towns had 21 points and 11 rebounds in just 25 minutes. As a team the Knicks had 41 assists on 48 field goals and if they seemed ready for a break it didn’t show as they ran what looked like practice drills, cutting and passing for open basket after open basket.
After a long run through the postseason last year, the Knicks started the year in Abu Dhabi, then added an NBA Cup title into their schedule over the first 55 games. Mike Brown spent much of the first half of the season lobbying for more than Brunson and Towns to get sent to the All-Star Game, but a part of him admitted that the break might be more important to get some rest.
“It’s kind of mixed emotions thing,” Brown said. “As a coach you do want your guys to get recognized for the stuff they do on the floor. Even like in the summertime, come Olympic time, European Cup time, this Cup time or that Cup time, you want your guys to play on any stage they can and get recognition and success.
“But there’s always a part of you, too, like, let this guy get some rest, too, or that guy get some rest and hopefully he takes it a little easy. So again, I get pulled and tugged in both directions. At the end of the day you want as much individual recognition as possible for your guys as they can get.”
What Brown wanted was the team to head to the break with a better taste in their mouths than they left MSG with Tuesday, falling to the Eastern Conference’s last-place Pacers.
He knew this time of the season the players’ attention could turn to either the All-Star festivities for those invited or a chance to put their feet in the sand for those just looking forward to a weeklong break.
“It’s mixed . . . I know these guys are thinking about it,” Brown said, pointing to the assembled media.
“If they’re thinking about it everybody else is to a certain degree is and hopefully you can lock in just long enough to figure out how to get a win.”
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.
