{"id":142306,"date":"2020-12-27T15:11:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T12:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/knicks-point-guards-struggle-in-brutal-shooting-night\/"},"modified":"2020-12-27T15:11:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T12:11:33","slug":"knicks-point-guards-struggle-in-brutal-shooting-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/knicks-point-guards-struggle-in-brutal-shooting-night\/","title":{"rendered":"#Knicks point guards struggle in brutal shooting night"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Knicks point guards struggle in brutal shooting night<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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The injury to rookie point guard Immanuel Quickley haunted the Knicks in their home opener Saturday \u2014 a dispiriting 109-89 loss to the 76ers.<\/p>\n

The Knicks\u2019 play at point guard was a shambles against the Sixers. Starter Elfrid Payton was brutal. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau tapp<\/a>ed Dennis Smith Jr. as the backup after not playing him in the opener against the Pacers.<\/p>\n

Smith didn\u2019t help matters. At times, Thibodeau went with Alec Burks at the point, but nothing seemed to get the offense jelling the way Quickley had.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn term of the point guards, the main responsibility is to keep us organized, run the team, play great defense, share the ball,\u2019\u2019 Thibodeau said. \u201cAs a team, we struggled. We got to do better.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Who would have thought the loss of Quickley, the 25th pick in the draft, would impact the offense so deeply? He suffered a hip pointer in the opener Wednesday and looks doubtful for Sunday\u2019s Garden match against the Bucks, with Thibodeau saying he\u2019s \u201cmost likely out.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Elfrid
Elfrid Payton<\/figcaption>
NBAE via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Payton, a surprise to re-sign last month, had one of his worst game<\/a>s as a Knick, going 0-for-6 \u2014 including 0-for-3 from 3-point range \u2014 and dishing out just one assist. He was a minus-15.<\/p>\n

After being bypassed in the season-opening loss at Indiana, Smith was put in late in the first quarter. He finished the night 1-for-5, missing both of his 3-point attempts in 17 minutes. Thibodeau used Frank Ntilikina to clean up in the final 2:28 of the blowout loss, and he missed his lone 3-pointer.<\/p>\n

Adding it all up, the Knicks\u2019 three point guards \u2014 Payton, Smith and Ntilikina \u2014 combined to shoot 1-for-12. On the night, the Knicks shot just 8-for-29 from 3-point range \u2014 a predicted weak point.<\/p>\n

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