{"id":181312,"date":"2021-02-18T07:17:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T04:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/knicks-dealt-harsh-reminder-in-buzzkilling-beatdown\/"},"modified":"2021-02-18T07:17:24","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T04:17:24","slug":"knicks-dealt-harsh-reminder-in-buzzkilling-beatdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/knicks-dealt-harsh-reminder-in-buzzkilling-beatdown\/","title":{"rendered":"#Knicks dealt harsh reminder in buzzkilling beatdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Knicks dealt harsh reminder in buzzkilling beatdown<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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For a while, this seemed like another snug-fitting chapter in a surprising Knicks novella. For a while, the Knicks were making every shot they looked at, they were defending with their customary ferocity, they were thrilling the small but vocal contingent of Knicks fans on hand at Orlando\u2019s Amway Arena.<\/p>\n

Eleven minutes into Wednesday\u2019s game<\/a>, Immanuel Quickley made a pair of free throws.<\/p>\n

The Knicks led the Magic, 32-21.<\/p>\n

And .500 was so close, you could smell it. You could taste it. Now, look: .500 isn\u2019t for everyone. Break-even feels like the worst kind of consolation prize most of the time. It\u2019s the definition of average. It\u2019s mediocrity. And there are few things less satisfying in sports than mediocrity.<\/p>\n

Still: the Knicks hadn\u2019t been at .500 after 30 games since 2017. They hadn\u2019t been at .500 on the 17th of February since 2013. This is a season of incremental steps and fractional gains. Getting to .500 wouldn\u2019t have commanded any dramatic conclusions \u2014 and, frankly, it would\u2019ve elicited no celebration from any of the Knicks, either.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s something. And it was in sight.<\/p>\n

And then, in a ghastly, ghostly haze, it was not.<\/p>\n

The Magic thumped the Knicks but good, 107-89, outscoring them by 29 points across the game\u2019s final 37 minutes, and more than a beatdown, more than a buzzkill, it was a two-hour reminder of an essential truth about these Knicks: They don\u2019t need to play perfect basketball every night. They don\u2019t have to maximize every last ounce of skill on the roster.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Knicks had a chance to reach .500 tonight.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But it\u2019s helpful to be close to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a team just like us, scratching and clawing and trying to make the playoffs,\u201d Quickley said when the carnage was complete. \u201cOur energy wasn\u2019t up to where Orlando\u2019s was.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was hard to identify anything the Knicks did well Wednesday night, apart from Julius Randle \u2014 and even his 25 points and seven rebounds felt muted, much of that damage coming in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Quickley scuffled through the most difficult night of his young career, misfiring on 11 out of 12 shots. His running mate, Derrick Rose, with whom he\u2019d established such immedia<\/a>te and evident chemistry, was 1-for-10. Few teams can survive two key players shooting 2-for-21; for the Knicks, that\u2019s gangplank territory.<\/p>\n

Even coach Tom Thibodeau, normally beyond reproach, had some head-scratching moments. On a night when the Knicks\u2019 bench (usually a reliable strength) could barely keep out of its own way, Thibodeau kept both RJ Barrett and Elfrid Payton \u2014 who\u2019d combined for 28 points through three quarters, the only Knicks besides Randle who reported for duty Wednesday night \u2014 fastened to the bench.<\/p>\n

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