Well, that was easy. Like, extremely easy. I knew the Wizards were awful, but I didn’t expect an ass-kicking like that. The Knicks, from the start of the game, completely owned the Washington Wizards, and you knew the game was over by halftime. I like to put most of my attention into Knicks games while I’m watching, but yesterday was so easy I didn’t need to. I was able to watch some Monday Night Football and WWE Raw while the Knicks were on my side monitor. But enough about how I watched the game, let’s get into how dominant the Knicks were.
After having one of his worst games as a Knick Sunday night, Jalen Brunson bounced back and was unstoppable against the Wizards. He went from shooting 3/14 on Sunday night to 9/15 last night. The Jalen Brunson haters had nothing to say because of how great he was shooting. Also, along with his game-high 26 points, he had the most assists with 11 (along with no turnovers). Brunson, who’s had some bad shooting nights, gets too much flack for “not having a good shooting season.” Sure, his numbers are down, but he’s still having a great season. He’s shooting 47% on the season while averaging a career-high 7.1 assists per game. He’s probably still getting used to KAT being added to this team and how to play around him. He will figure it out because he’s that good of a player. His three-point numbers will rise as the season goes on.
Speaking on the assists from Jalen Brunson, it wasn’t just Brunson who was dishing last night. The Knicks, as a whole, passed the ball really well. The Knicks had 37 combined assists, with Brunson, 11, and Cam Payne, 7, leading the team with assists. Cam Payne has been real solid since his return from injury. In his last 5 games, Payne is averaging 10 points while shooting 58% from three. And in the previous two games, Payne has had at least 6 assists. Payne has stepped up big time with Deuce McBride out with his injury/illness. Shout out Cam Payne.
Now, I’m going to write something I’d never thought I would ever write in a Knicks blog. Jericho Sims had a really good fucking game.
Never in a million years did I ever think I’d do this, but I’m going to write something nice about Sims. he was really impressive last night. He made some nice defensive plays and, of course, had the play of the night with his posterizing dunk over Kyle Kuzma. For now, Jericho Sims gets a two-game grace period from us Knicks fans not hating on him.
Finally, the best part of the game was when Thibs actually used his bench. With the game being out of reach, plus it being the second game of a back-to-back, Thibs emptied the bench of every eligible player. You know things are going either really good or really bad when you see Jacob Toppin on the court. It’s also nice to see players like Pacome Dadiet play some big minutes as he scored 9 points, all coming from the three. Thibs did do his normal nonsense when the game was out of reach for the Wizards and continued to play the starters. Thibs pumped and faked us all when he put Hukpori out there, thinking it was the end of the night for the star players, but then, out of nowhere, OG Anunoby reentered the game up 25. Nonetheless, it was a great team win against one of the worst teams in basketball.
Player Stats/Grades:
Jalen Brunson: 26 PTS, 9/15 FG, 5/9 3PT, 11 AST, 0 TO, A+
Karl-Anthony Towns: 24 PTS, 8/14 FG, 3/4 3PT, 12 REB 3 AST, A
OG Anunoby: 16 PTS, 6/12 FG, 1/4 3PT, 5 REB, 2 STL, A-
Mikal Bridges: 14 PTS, 7/14 FG, 0/4 3PT, 5 AST, B+
Josh Hart: 14 PTS, 6/9 FG, 2/5 3PT, 6 REB, 6 AST, A
Cam Payne: 17 PTS, 6/9 FG, 5/6 3PT, 7 AST, A
Jericho Sims: 7 PTS, 3/4 FG, 7 REB, 1 BLK, A
Pacome Dadiet: 9 PTS, 3/6 3PT, 3 REB, 2 AST, B
Tyler Kolek: 5 PTS, 2/6 FG, 3 AST, C
Now, let’s see what the Knicks have up next.
The Knicks will start a 5-game road trip Wednesday in Phoenix. 4 of the games will take place on the West Coast until the final game in Charlotte. The Suns are an interesting team because they started off the season red-hot. They started the season 8-1, looking like one of the best teams in the NBA, even winning 7 straight games. But, since that winning streak, they have lost 5 of their last 6 games and will enter the game against the Knicks on a 4-game losing streak. I don’t know much about how the Suns are this season, except the fact that everyone keeps on clowning Jusuf Nurkic on Twitter. He gets shit on every day, it seems, and because of that, I’m going to pick the Knicks to win. It should be a close game because both teams have one of the worst defensive ratings in basketball, but I like the Knicks offense a lot more in this game. The Knicks are #3 in offensive rating, so as long as they can stop the Suns, they should be able to win.
SmallDog Sports 
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