The Philadelphia 76ers just spoiled the New York Knicks’ ring ceremony on opening night. Shortly after raising their first championship banner in 53 years, the Knicks were knocked out on their home court, 106-100, on a pitiful 37% shooting night. Early fouls, poor shooting, and a late collapse led to the heartbreaking loss. Luckily, it’s just an 82-game season, and there is a lot to take away from this game.
This past offseason, the Knicks signed Andre Drummond to a veteran’s minimum contract to replace their longest-tenured Knicks player, Mitchell Robinson, who left for the Boston Celtics after eight years with the team. New York wanted a player who could rebound and finish in the paint at Robinson’s level without crossing the dreaded second apron. Drummond seemed to be the only player who fit both of those categories. After his first game in a New York uniform, it seemed as if they bet right.
Drummond had an amazing debut for the Knicks, scoring 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, plus a steal and two blocks. He made an early impact, scoring six points and six rebounds in the first quarter alone. Karl-Anthony Towns got into foul trouble early, and Drummond played his role perfectly. He went head-to-head with Joel Embiid, holding him down to 26% shooting and four turnovers.
Drummond’s main purpose as a replacement for Robinson has been fulfilled, to say the least. In the first game on the slate Tuesday, Boston faced the Detroit Pistons, and Robinson managed only four points and three rebounds in 18 minutes. He maintained his defensive presence with two blocks and a steal, but as anyone could have guessed, he got injured early and wasn’t very effective. If you compare the two players, Drummond outplayed Robinson and was the best Knicks player on the floor. The two bigs will face each other Friday night in Boston.
All things considered, Drummond is 33 years old and can’t play 24 minutes every night. Philadelphia was able to stop him in the second half, and he was noticeably more tired. Towns is often in foul trouble, so the Knicks need more front-court depth. Some of that depth is already on the roster.
The Knicks need a backup big man aside from Drummond. A trade is not necessary, though; they have Mohamed Diawara. He was drafted last season and played limited minutes, but showed a lot of promise when he was in. His stats don’t jump out because of his limited playing time, but his per-36 minutes show he is a threat on both ends of the floor. 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists, plus a steal. At 6’9″ and 230 pounds, he has the frame to be an effective defender, and can pair that with solid shooting from beyond the arc. He made four threes in a game three different times last season, which is impressive considering he only played meaningful minutes a handful of times.
It’s hard to truly evaluate Diawara given how little he’s played, but even with that limited sample size, there is no reason not to play him. He struggled with efficiency and confidence in the preseason, even being held to zero points and only one shot attempt for two straight games. He still has more to prove, but he never will if he doesn’t get in-game reps. The Knicks extended his contract this offseason, so they clearly like him.
Whether Diawara works out or not, center James Wiseman was signed with the last roster spot. The former No. Two pick has had a rough start to his career. He had a disappointing start in Golden State, missing all of his second season and half of his rookie year with a torn meniscus. The Pacers took a chance on him last season, but he tore his Achilles a week in. He fortunately impressed Mike Brown in the preseason and should get more minutes when the Knicks are in a pinch.
The Knicks have always been deep, especially at guard, but it was surprising to see their small-ball lineup, mostly bench players, perform so well. At the end of the first and into the beginning of the second, New York was running a lineup with Jose Alverado, Landry Shamet, and Jordan Clarkson all in at the same time. The team switched the power forward role between Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, both undersized for the position, and Drummond played center. It was really noticeable in the first half of the second quarter how well this lineup was working.
While they were in the game, New York built their biggest lead (eight). They weren’t just playing against the bench; LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown were on the floor for most of this stretch. Although it’s a flawed stat, Shamet, Clarkson, and Alverado all finished with a positive plus-minus, while almost the entire team finished negative.
| Landry Shamet +/- | +11 |
| Jose Alverado +/- | +6 |
| Jordan Clarkson +/- | +8 |
Drummond was the only big man in this lineup, and he did most of the damage during this stretch. He grabbed six rebounds in just the second quarter, three of them on offense, which more than made up for what the Knicks lost in Robinson. The defense was intoxicating for Embiid, who turned over the ball three times, and Shamet went right at both Embiid and James, jawing at them up and down the floor.
The bench goes deeper than this, too. Aside from the aforementioned Wiseman and Diawara, the Knicks didn’t even play Tyler Kolek. Entering his third season, Kolek has shown flashes of solid scoring and playmaking, plus above-average rebounding for his size. If the Knicks don’t trade him this season, he should get more minutes to facilitate the offense off the bench. He’s shown what he can do on several occasions, including a 16-point, 11-assist performance against Indiana last December. With a bench like this, the Knicks should always be contending – as long as the starters are hitting their shots.
The Knicks were clearly rusty Tuesday night. Their starters shot 22/58 (37.9%) combined, and they’re still finding their go-to rotation with Robinson gone. Coach Brown likes to experiment with lineups, as seen in the Alvarado, Shamet, and Clarkson lineup. They clearly had the opening-night jitters. OG Anunoby is an x-factor for the Knicks lineup, and he shot a horrendous 25% (even worse than Brunson’s 31.6%). In the championship run, he averaged 20 points on an insane 56% field goal percentage. Once he and Brunson get their shooting touch back, and KAT stops with the silly early fouls (two within first four minutes) their offense will improve.
Despite the horrendous shooting, they still lost by only six to one of the East’s top threats. If (or WHEN) the Knicks find their footing, there is no reason they can’t win the East again. The other top teams in the East have hidden flaws that will surface in the playoffs, and the Knicks are no stranger to regular-season woes. This could all be overreactions to just one game, but the season just started. What else are NBA fans supposed to do?
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