Josh Hart, Dante DiVincenzo; New York Knicks (Petre Thomas/USA Today)
If I told you the team of Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, Bojan Bogdanovic, Miles McBride, and Precious Achiuwa just went on the road to face the two-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and got the W, you would tell me a few things. First off you would probably tell me to work on my commas because that sentence was a little longer than I wanted it to be. After that, we would start talking basketball and discuss how that ragtag squad looked like a well-oiled machine last night.
20 seconds into last night’s game, Jalen Brunson went down with a non-contact knee injury, which is never good. He went down and you could only assume the worst. With no news of his status until after the game, the rest of the team had to play the remaining 47 minutes with the thought that they just lost their MVP. Injuries have plagued the Knicks all year. 4 of their 5 starters are now on the injury report (Julius Randle, OG Annonoby, Mitchell Robinson, and now Jalen Brunson).
Even without Randle and Robinson, the OG effect was real after he arrived in New York. In his 14 games with the team, they went 12-2 with wins over the Timberwolves, Nuggets, and Sixers. After a February lull, there were questions as to how legit the Knicks were. But as they say, with February showers come March flowers (right?). Last night when everything was sure to come crashing down, the Knicks did exactly what we should expect from them…
They fought.
Donte DiVincenzo acted like he was back in the National Championship against Michigan. He had 28 points with 6 timely threes. Josh Hart put up 13 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists. If you aren’t familiar with the Knicks this year, both of these two are dawgs. They are the exact pieces you need to go very far in the playoffs. On top of that, acquisitions Precious Achiuwa and Bojan Bogdanovic both also put up great numbers in last night's win.
A team that has seen star after star go down with injury should not have as much heart as the New York Basketball Knicks do, but they do. Not fully sure what’s in the water over there or what Tom Thibodeau is preaching, but it’s working.
After the game, Brunson was diagnosed with a knee bruise, which was a massive win compared to what it could’ve been. Hopefully, that’s true and we get to see him back on the court soon. Once back, along with OG and Randle, the Knicks will be just fine.
The beauty of this roster 1-12 is you can see the grit as you go down the list. The physical chip on the shoulder is right there. When first signed, did anybody say that Brunson was worth his money, or DiVincenzo, or Hart? Did people say that OG was going to be a difference-maker? Did anybody say that acquiring Achiuwa or Bojan would have major implications down the stretch? The answer to these three questions is no, no, and no.
All this without even mentioning exactly what we love, second-round picks with juice. Hartenstein, Robinson, McBride, and Sims. For lack of a better term, this is a team of misfits that is quite possibly the scariest thing in the East.
There’s nothing scarier in sports than a team that has a chip on its shoulder, and the New York Knicks have a Tostitos Scoop perched right there on the shoulder.
Would anyone want to play a healthy Knicks team in the playoffs? I don’t think so. A second-round matchup with the Celtics would be Chefs Kiss.
Knicks fans, I know getting fired up in an injury-filled season is tough, but one step at a time, and this team could make some serious noise in the postseason. Don’t run through that wall just yet, but let it know you’ve got it in your sights, because if this team GETS HOT…
WATCH OUT.
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