We continue to roll as the Knicks move their way up the standing after a 2-1 week. I expected them to go 2-1 in my last blog because of how easy their schedule was for their previous three games. I was slightly disappointed with the loss against Boston, but we can chalk that up to not having our best offensive player, RJ Barrett. What I love about the Knicks is they beat up on the bad teams like the Hornets. I turned the game off by the third quarter and was able to watch the rest of the early afternoon NFL games. The Knicks beat the bad teams, they can beat the average teams, but we still don’t know if they can beat the good teams.
As I said, I enjoy what I have seen from the Knicks so far this season. I wish we had a better record than 6-5. RJ Barrett has not played in four of the five Knicks losses this season. They need him to come back from this “deadly” migraine soon. The way the Knicks rotation works, they need him badly. I see Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle being overworked in these last two games Barrett has missed. Plus, 24 PPG is a lot of points to be missing. The Knicks needed Barrett’s 24 points in the game against Boston. The Knicks need RJ Barrett to return to give our other star players time to rest, but we have seen Julius emerging from his slump.
Over the last five games, Randle has averaged 25.4 PPG on a 44.4 FG% and 10.0 RPG. I guess I slightly jumped the shark on Randle, as he’s been balling out these last few games. It’s good to see Randle is recovering from the ankle surgery he had in the offseason. I thought he was a lost cause, but last night, he and his wife dunked on me and the haters.
The last thing I wanted to touch upon was Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes. It’s been going around Twitter, but I thought I should also give them their flowers. They deserve so much credit for being defensive DAWGS. In today’s NBA, you see a lot of complaining from players when they don’t get the ball enough, and they pressure the teams online and through their agents. I obviously have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, but you don’t see any complaining from Grimes or Hart on social media. They don’t care how many times they touch the ball. Grimes and Hart are there to play good defense, and when the time comes, they usually come through on offense.
Weekly Grades:
Knicks: B+
Jalen Brunson: B+
Julius Randle: B+
RJ Barrett: C
Mitchell Robinson: A+
Quinten Grimes: B
Immanuel Quickley: B+
Donte DiVincenzo: B
Josh Hart: B+
Isaiah Hartenstein: B+
Miles McBride: D
Now, let’s see what the Knicks have up next for the coming week.
The Knicks play their second In-Season Tournament game Friday against the Wizards. I can’t wait to see the Wizards’ mess firsthand. I’ve seen many funny things on Twitter about how chaotic their franchise has become this season. It’s going to be fun to watch a Wizards game in full. Hopefully, no baddies show up for the game for Jordan Poole. The Knicks should easily win this game, especially if RJ Barrett can return from his migraines. After that, the Knicks take on the Hornets for the fourth back-to-back game of the season. Even though the Hornets are one of the worst teams in the NBA, I am worried about this game. The Knicks have been awful on back-to-back as they are 0-3 this season, averaging 91.3 PPG. The only positive is that the Hornets are also coming off a back-to-back. The Knicks should get a dub, but the back-to-back worries me. Our last game next week will be on Monday against the Timberwolves. This should be a good one as the Knicks and Timberwolves are top 5 in defensive rating (Knicks #5 and Timberwolves #1.) This game could go either way, but the Wolves do scare me. After that, the Knicks are off until Friday. Let’s hope it’s another positive week and our star, RJ returns.
SmallDog Sports 
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