Jose Alvarado‘s first game with the Knicks came in Boston rather than at Madison Square Garden, but the New York City native said that representing his hometown team felt “like it was meant to be,” according to Steve Popper of Newsday (subscription required).
“This is a blessing,” Alvarado said. “I’m from here. My family never left the city. To be in that atmosphere, I mean, they’ve been Knicks fans since before me. To be with a team that’s trying to contend for something and me be a part of it is pretty special. … To be part of the city, it’s just a surreal feeling.”
After being traded from New Orleans to New York on Thursday, Alvarado played 25 minutes on his Sunday in his Knicks debut, a 111-89 win over Boston.
The newest Knick immediately supplanted Jordan Clarkson in the team’s backcourt rotation — even with Miles McBride on the shelf following surgery for a sports hernia, Clarkson logged just eight minutes. The veteran guard, who has had four DNP-CDs in the past two-plus weeks, said that besides getting accustomed to inconsistent playing time, he’s also had to fit into a new role.
“Offensively and defensively,” Clarkson told Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required). “They’re asking me to do things defensively as well. And then offensively, I got to figure it out and make stuff out of what comes in the offense in terms of opportunities. It’s not like I’m featured in the offense or anything. I’m playing hard, I’m crashing the glass, figuring out different things — little things to be effective on that end. So it’s a whole new thing for me. But I’ll continue to be a pro and stay in the gym and working on my craft and keep it going.”
We have more from across the Atlantic:
- Jaylen Brown acknowledged after Sunday’s blowout loss to New York that there will be an adjustment period for the Celtics while they get used to their new-look roster, per Jay King of The Athletic. New center Nikola Vucevic had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench against the Knicks, but the team was outscored by 24 points in his 23 minutes on the court. “We got to figure out the chemistry a little bit, the flow a little bit,” Brown said. “We want Vuc to be a little bit more aggressive, looking for him to get going and make him feel confident in taking those shots and where he can catch the ball. I think he’s still learning, but we need him to be aggressive. So we’ll make adjustments, we’ll communicate, we’ll watch film, and we’ll be better for it.”
- The trades that sent Josh Minott and Ochai Agbaji to Brooklyn were essentially salary dumps for Boston and Toronto, respectively. However, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes, the Nets will give both Minott and Agbaji an opportunity to earn spots in their rotation — and maybe even spots in the club’s plans beyond this season. “We know they’re very good players. That’s why they’re here,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “Show me what you can bring to the group, and if you can be part of this group, you can be a future Net.”
- Scottie Barnes is headed to his second All-Star game this season, but Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic sees an even higher ceiling for the star forward. “Scottie is Defensive Player of the Year. He’s an All-Star. He’s gonna be a Finals MVP. He’s going to be an MVP one day,” Rajakovic said after Barnes racked up 25 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, and four blocks in Sunday’s win over Indiana (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca). “Write down the date I said that.”
Anddd welcome to the Vucevic experience
yup. been a coach for 20+ years and I’ve learned 1 thing fit sure: you can work on shot selection with guys who shoot to much, but you can never get guys who are scared to shoot to take more shots. not in any lasting way anyway…
Oh I’m talking about the “outscored by 24 in 23 minutes”. Doesn’t matter what you do on offense if you’re doing the mannequin challenge on d.
It was one game you reactionist oddball. Pritchard was a minus 27, think they should waive him?
I have unfortunately watched far more than one game of Vuc
Then you know talking about one game of plus/minus stats is kinda silly.
Hey Buddy, he’s plus 23 so far tonight, does that mean he’s good?
Plus 27 now, does this mean he’s MVP? So confused.
Celtics are one of best D teans in L. Top 10 and top 10 rebounding. Vuc isn’t going to change that. He will be the one to change.
Nobody on Bulls plays D.
Bulls are 26th in defensive efficiency.
yup. been a coach for 20+ years and I’ve learned 1 thing for sure: you can work on shot selection with guys who shoot to much, but you can never get guys who are scared to shoot to take more shots. not in any lasting way anyway…
I tend to agree here.
The Celtics really missed having Simons out there in the 2nd unit, my guess is they will come to wish they had not made this trade in very short order.
I expect we’ll watch Boston fall in the standings for the rest of the year until Tatum decides he won’t be “hurting chemistry” by coming back and decides to push himself back early.
Mistake trade – it didn’t address a real problem, and ignored what was working, and so it broke things.
You seemed to miss the reason they made the trade, which was to get under the tax. Neither Simons or Vuc is under contract next year.
Everyone said how bad Simons was, until they traded him. Then it’s like, why did they get rid of Simons?
Agree, we had to get under tax.
Disagree, about Simons.
We saw how good he was and how well he fit us.
And we miss him already.
No. They don’t miss Simons already.
Alvarado played great. I know he’ll be psyched to play on Knicks. He’s more of a true PG than Duece. So can give Brunson more rest. And he plays good D. With NcBride out we need him. I just wish they would have asked for Looney too.
Clarkson has to remember why he was signed. So don’t over analyzing this. Just come in and score. Play smart and look for your shot. Thats why you are a Knick. I liked how Diawara played. He can help he keeps that up ….. get well OG.
This bootlicking by Rajakovic for his sub-All-NBA “Star” seems…unnecessary