Knicks (33-19) at Celtics (34-18) Game #53 2/8/26

[86MaxwellSmart]

Knicks came to play, C's sleep walked from the opening tip once again...The Refs sucked as usual.

[ozgod]

PP was a -27 in 31 minutes and vuc was  a -24 in 25 minutes?they hunted Vuc big time on switches in that 3rd quarter and I think he got confused between when to switch and when to play drop coverage. And the Knicks took advantage when we did play drop coverage with pull-ups from the mid range. Vuc isn?t going to all of a sudden turn into Giannis defensively so Joe has to figure that out.

[satch]

If the C's play Knicks in playoffs the approach will be much different.

[SparzWizard]

If the C's play Knicks in playoffs the approach will be much different.

Hope it's not that same approach where they take a 20-point home lead and then blow it for two straight home games. They need to exorcise some of these demons

[ozgod]

well, the team can't win every game and sometimes they just have poor nights. this is one of them.

i have been puzzled by mazzulla's line ups for a while, but they seem to work. but as of late he is starting garza in a double big line up. I am not so sure that is a good move.

I think he might be doing that a) for experimentation and b) because when Hauser was out he was really left with only two wings in Walsh and Gonzalez (I suppose you could call Harper a wing) on the bench. But I think he?s just trying to get a better idea of what he can get with the two big lineup, specially, since New York went with the two big lineup at times during the game as well

[blink]

Today's loss was disappointing, but we didn't get much help for JB today.  NY's def collapses on JB when nobody else can make a shot. 

[G-Bones]

Vuc is terrible on defense. He will be hunted when used in the playoffs

[hardlyyardley]

worse game by PP in two years

[Roy H.]

Vuc is terrible on defense. He will be hunted when used in the playoffs

I think he's better than he has looked, but he's essentially coming in blind to our scheme. 

[Silas]

Vuc is terrible on defense. He will be hunted when used in the playoffs

Let's give the guy a break.  It's only his 2nd game and he's had very little practice with his new teammates.  You will have plenty of opportunities to critique his play once the playoffs have started.  Go Cs!

[Neurotic Guy]

Vuc is terrible on defense. He will be hunted when used in the playoffs

Let's give the guy a break.  It's only his 2nd game and he's had very little practice with his new teammates.  You will have plenty of opportunities to critique his play once the playoffs have started.  Go Cs!

Cs have a decent trio in the middle and with JT will have some competitive size. Q is playing competent if not good defense and I think it?s going to come down to who Joe feels is the right matchup/ combination at the time. But Vuc adds value and we certainly haven?t seen yet what we will see when he gets acclimated.

[ozgod]

Vuc is terrible on defense. He will be hunted when used in the playoffs

I think he's better than he has looked, but he's essentially coming in blind to our scheme.

Yes I think a lot of the breakdowns on defense that he was involved in (and he was involved in at least three when NY made their 20-3 run in the 3rd quarter) stemmed from communication lapses and confusion over when he was supposed to switch vs when he was supposed to drop back in coverage...on all 3 occasions it resulted in NY making an open shot. That's mainly on him, but he should be able to figure it out once he learns the coverages better.

That said, the team knew what they were getting in him both offensively and defensively, so they will probably not switch if the opposing team screens to get him on to the ball handler...they will probably have him in drop coverage like they did with Kornet and with Garza now, and give up the midrange two over a drive to the basket that might result in a layup or a kickout for an open 3.

[tenn_smoothie]

I saw a tired team that has been playing a lot of games.
tired team = tired legs = consistently short on perimeter shots (3's) = low shooting % = bad loss
Maybe it would not have mattered, but it would be nice to have alternative offensive schemes to attack with besides one pass/no pass and jack a 3.

[Phantom255x]

I know it's a hot take. Most teams aren't winning games when the 3-ball isn't falling. However it's still alarming to me the C's keep jacking them up when they are doing horrible and they choose to die by it. Same thing happened 2023 vs. Miami. Again last year vs. NY in the playoffs. This team has talent and an ability to win without needing the 3s but for some reason they just keep trying. In the 3rd quarter, Jaylen had 13 of the team's 15 points. He did that with mostly twos. Meanwhile it's brick city from everyone else behind the arc and the Knicks won the game that quarter.

I'm still worried it's gonna cost us in the playoffs even when JT returns. And I say this believing NY is a great team, but not invincible. But we make them look so much better with our own ineptitude sometimes.

[trickybilly]

I know it's a hot take. Most teams aren't winning games when the 3-ball isn't falling. However it's still alarming to me the C's keep jacking them up when they are doing horrible and they choose to die by it. Same thing happened 2023 vs. Miami. Again last year vs. NY in the playoffs. This team has talent and an ability to win without needing the 3s but for some reason they just keep trying. In the 3rd quarter, Jaylen had 13 of the team's 15 points. He did that with mostly twos. Meanwhile it's brick city from everyone else behind the arc and the Knicks won the game that quarter.

I'm still worried it's gonna cost us in the playoffs even when JT returns. And I say this believing NY is a great team, but not invincible. But we make them look so much better with our own ineptitude sometimes.

Were they mostly good looks though? Didn't see the KNicks game today