Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Quickley, Walter, Clarkson
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum played a season-high 35 minutes — including the entire fourth quarter — in Wednesday’s victory over Oklahoma City, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com. Tatum, who finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists (five turnovers), three steals, was making his ninth appearance in 2025/26 after missing most of the season due to a torn Achilles tendon.
“It definitely feels different,” Tatum said. “Just from the standpoint, it’s been a while since I’ve been in certain moments. And sometimes the best moments when I don’t have a chance to think, when I’ve just got to react and I got to move, whether it’s coming off a ball screen or on a close out or you get a rebound and you’ve just got to take off with the ball. And it will be moments like that and afterwards I’d be like, ‘All right, that felt good. That felt normal.’
“So these are things you can’t simulate in workouts or scrimmages or things like that. Just got to be in the moment. So just from the standpoint, it just feels like it’s been a while and each game I kind of surprise myself with encouraging things, certain plays that I just tally up in my head.”
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- Starting point guard Immanuel Quickley will miss his third consecutive contest on Friday when the Raptors face New Orleans, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Quickley, 26, is dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Second-year guard Jamal Shead has started the past two games with Quickley out.
- In 17 games since the All-Star break, Ja’Kobe Walter is shooting 48.6% from long distance while playing strong defense, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, who says the second-year wing seems primed to deliver a breakout performance in the playoffs — assuming the Raptors can make it in. “He’s shooting at an insane rate. He’s not gonna shoot like that forever,” RJ Barrett said. “But defensively, the things he’s doing every single night with steals and deflections (are important). And then on offense, he’s making the shots, but he’s just making the right plays. He’s taking the right shots. He plays like a player way above his years already.”
- Veteran guard Jordan Clarkson was out of the Knicks‘ rotation for a prolonged stretch earlier this season, but he wasn’t discouraged by the lack of minutes and kept working until his next opportunity arose, per Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link). Clarkson has not only provided his typical scoring off the bench over the past couple weeks, he’s also been a play-maker and has improved defensively as well, Popper notes. “Yeah, for sure,” Clarkson said. “I mean, being able to get comfortable. I know everybody wanted it to click like immediately when I got here. But, you know, I’ve got to feel out a new coach, new system and everything, so, I’m getting a chance to watch the D-N-P’s and learn. It was pretty big for me and you know I continue to stay ready and just kept playing and figuring stuff out.”
Knicks Notes: Playoffs, Bridges, Clarkson, Kolek
The Knicks enter Tuesday’s game against the Pelicans on a six-game winning streak as they continue their push for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, five of those six victories came against some of the worst teams in the league, and the sixth was against the slumping Warriors. If New York is to claim the runner-up spot in the conference, they need to be ready for things to get more difficult, Stefan Bondy writes for the New York Post.
With the Thunder, Rockets, and resurgent Hornets on the horizon, Bondy says this stretch of games could impact whether or not the team has home-court advantage in a second-round Game 7.
As has been the case in past seasons, one key factor in determining the Knicks’ playoff ceiling is whether the bench can provide relief for the starters when it matters. While coach Mike Brown uses his bench more than former coach Tom Thibodeau did, the Knicks still ranked just 27th in total bench minutes heading into Sunday’s win against the Wizards, James L. Edwards III notes for The Athletic.
Edwards notes that the load management plan Mitchell Robinson has been on seems to have helped him stay healthy this season, while top reserve Miles McBride will have to hit the ground running once he returns from injury to get his rhythm back in time to be impactful in the postseason.
One benefit of the team’s improved depth is the different amount of mixing and matching Brown can do depending on what a particular series calls for, Edwards writes, though he predicts that the eventual playoff rotation will end up looking almost identical to last season’s.
We have more Knicks notes:
- Mikal Bridges‘ offensive struggles in recent games have drawn plenty of scrutiny and even prompted questions about his spot in the starting lineup, but teammate Josh Hart believes that Bridges is in a difficult situation given his role in the offense, according to Bondy. “Last year, he didn’t have many plays called for him. This year, he probably has even less plays called for him,” Hart said. “So obviously there’s a mental hurdle he needs to get through and that’s something where some of us can help him. I think he gets some of that unfair flak just because he’s doing what’s asked of him. And if we were to sit there and say, go shoot 15 shots a game, he would be efficient and he could do it. But that’s not what’s been asked of him.” Brown gave Bridges his own vote of confidence, saying, “He works at it very hard. And he cares at a high level. Usually when you have that combination from a veteran guy that’s produced the way he’s produced in the NBA, it tends to lead to good results, eventually.”
- Jordan Clarkson‘s inconsistent role with the Knicks could have led to a destructive situation, Bondy writes in a separate piece, especially as the 33-year-old began turning to social media to respond to critics in February. Instead, the veteran guard kept his head down and worked. That professionalism and positive attitude paid off, as guards like Bridges and Landry Shamet started struggling offensively. Over the last two weeks, Clarkson has been the Knicks’ most reliable shooting guard, Bondy writes. Beginning when he scored 27 points against his former team in Utah on March 11, he has averaged 12.7 points on .545/.438/1.000 shooting splits in 22 minutes per game. He was even named the Knicks’ defensive player of the game twice in that stretch. “When he’s doing that he’s playing with that fire and that passion he has, there’s not many players in the NBA coming off the bench you feel better about,” said teammate Karl-Anthony Towns.
- Second-year guard Tyler Kolek had a basketball day for the ages on Sunday, scoring 42 points on 9-of-14 from three for the Westchester Knicks before being recalled to the parent team and scoring 11 points on 3-of-3 from deep in the fourth quarter of the win over the Wizards. “We have a lot of guys on this team that are very high character, very good work ethic and he’s one of them,” Jalen Brunson said, per Jared Schwartz of the Post. “That’s just who he is.“
Knicks Notes: Hart, Bridges, McBride, Diawara, Clarkson
With Jalen Brunson (right ankle injury management / neck strain) inactive on Tuesday, Knicks forward Josh Hart stepped up to carry some of the offensive load, pouring in 33 points against the Pacers while making 12-of-13 shots from the floor, including all five of his three-point attempts.
As Ian Begley of SNY.tv writes, Hart had been slumping lately and there had been some calls to remove him from the starting five, but Tuesday’s performance showed why head coach Mike Brown wants to keep him in his current role. While the 33 points were the most he has scored in any game as a Knick, he also contributed seven rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals.
“I think the main thing…is him connecting the group. I’m not saying he is Andre Iguodala or his game is like Andre Iguodala’s, but there are a lot of similarities where you watch him…he’s really good in a lot of different areas,” Brown said on Tuesday. “But more importantly, he connects the group and having a guy like that, especially to start games, is huge.
“… He’s been fantastic giving us that energy, giving us the connectivity we needed with that starting group and then doing the little things. Offensive glass, pushing the pace, getting off in transition. He’s a switchable guy, he’s a physical guy and (he does) a lot of things that don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet that … help with connectivity as well.”
Prior to Tuesday’s game, Hart had made just 10-of-38 three-pointers (26.3%) since the All-Star break. His 5-of-5 outing in a win over Indiana represents a positive step toward reversing that trend.
“I think I’m kind of in my head with a lot of stuff,” Hart said of his post-All-Star shooting. “So I just got to trust my work and go out there and shoot my shots.”
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- Brown still hasn’t ruled out tweaking his starting lineup, notes James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. If Brown does decide to make a change, Mikal Bridges should be the one moving to the second unit, according to Edwards, who argues that the optics of benching a player after giving up five first-round picks to acquire him shouldn’t matter if the move makes the team better.
- The Knicks announced on Tuesday that Miles McBride is “progressing well” in his recovery from sports hernia surgery, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. McBride has advanced to taking contact on the court, though Brown was reluctant to set any sort of specific target date for the guard’s return. “I try not to hear (the updates on McBride’s recovery), because does that mean he’ll be back in two weeks, three weeks, a week, 10 days? I don’t know,” Brown said. “Deuce was playing well for us when this happened. It’s part of the season, so keep fingers crossed, allow our medical crew who has done a fantastic job, and when he comes back we’ll all be excited.”
- Rookie forward Mohamed Diawara played just six minutes on Tuesday, his lowest single-game total in nearly a month, with Jordan Clarkson taking his spot in the rotation. After the game, Brown told reporters that he likes what he’s seen from Clarkson on offense lately and praised the veteran guard for staying ready amid a handful of DNP-CDs in recent weeks. “We’ll continue to see what happens going forward,” Brown said, per Begley. “We’ve all had the pleasure of being able to see Mo at a young age contribute a lot. He just has to keep himself ready like Jordan did. Go out there when your number’s called, don’t do too much but do what you can do and perform at the highest level in terms of your work ethic, focus and attention to detail and just go from there.”
- In another story for The New York Post, Bondy examines what the Knicks’ playoff rotation might look like, identifying the reserves who are locks to play regular roles and those who might only be used in certain situations or matchups.
Knicks Notes: Bridges, Starters, Brunson, Clarkson
Veteran wing Mikal Bridges has played 625 consecutive games to open his NBA career, by far the longest active streak in the league and one of the longest in history.
While the 29-year-old has publicly downplayed the importance of that streak, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link), Bridges’ recent stretch of poor play and repeated fourth-quarter benchings led a reporter ask head coach Mike Brown whether it might be best for him to give Bridges a night off.
“If our performance group says this guy needs a rest or that guy needs a game to get their body right, mind right, whatever it might be, 100 percent, I’ll give anybody a game,” Brown answered. “That’s something that’s done collectively. I’m not going to say, ‘You sit; you play; you sit; you play,’ because not everybody is the same. But we all have to play better than the way we’re playing right now, especially to start games.”
Bridges is averaging 6.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 blocks on .320/.208/.667 shooting splits in just 26.0 minutes per game across his last six outings. For context, he played at least 31 minutes in 39 of his first 43 games this season; over his last 26 games, Bridges has played 30 or fewer minutes 16 times.
Bridges was benched in favor of Landry Shamet for the final seven minutes of Sunday’s comeback win over Golden State, Bondy writes, and even Jordan Clarkson has played more than him in two of the past three fourth quarters. Both of those players are on minimum-salary deals, while the Knicks gave Bridges a four-year, $150MM extension last offseason after trading five first-round picks to acquire him in the summer of 2024.
“We all have to play better. It’s no secret Mikal has not shot the ball well,” Brown said. “But he’s given us life, at times.”
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- In a related story, Bondy points out that Brown has been unhappy with the team’s poor starts in recent games, but the team’s coach isn’t ready to make a change to the starting lineup. New York trailed the injury-ravaged Warriors by 21 points in the first quarter before pulling out a three-point victory. “Right now I don’t feel the need to,” Brown said Sunday. “But like I said, if I felt the need to, I would. I don’t feel the need to right now.” Brown reiterated that his focus was more on the overall group rather than Bridges, Bondy notes, but didn’t rule out potential tweaks down the line. “It’s not too late to do anything. And if I feel the need, I will,” Brown said of a lineup change. “I’m not thinking that right now. I’m not concentrating on each individual because, like you said, we’ve started different people at different times.”
- Star point guard Jalen Brunson has been listed as questionable for Tuesday’s matchup vs. Indiana because of right ankle injury management and a neck strain, as Bondy relays. New York has gone 1-4 without its captain and leading scorer this season, Bondy observes, but the Pacers might be without several key players and have lost 13 straight games, though they’ve played hard against the Knicks this season after eliminating them in last year’s Eastern Conference final.
- After Sunday’s game, in which the veteran guard had 14 points in 22 minutes, Clarkson discussed staying prepared for his opportunity after being out of the rotation for most of the past several weeks, Bondy writes.”I’ve been doing the same thing my whole career in terms of my consistency of, coming to the gym, getting shots up, getting ready,” Clarkson said. “The work’s been solid and consistent, and I think I just hold my hat on that and let the cards fall where they may.”
Knicks Notes: Clarkson, Halftime Meeting, Lineup, Issues
A return to Salt Lake City brought out the best in Jordan Clarkson. The Knicks reserve guard scored a season-high 27 points against the Jazz, his former team, in a 134-117 win on Wednesday.
He played 26 minutes, the most court time he’s seen since Christmas Day. He had only played a total of 20 minutes in his three other March appearances.
“For him to go out and perform the way he did, you couldn’t ask for anything better,” coach Mike Brown said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “And it goes to show he’s not just keeping his body right but his mind is in a good spot to go after coming in when you’re down [18 points] in the first half. So just to see that, you couldn’t ask for anything better. Especially from him, who is a veteran who hasn’t been playing or in the rotation and all of a sudden we need him.”
Clarkson will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
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- A halftime challenge helped perk up a team that had lost its previous two games. The Knicks outscored Utah 78-52 in the second half. The coaches and players both spoke up during the break, Bondy writes. “It was our halftime speech, in terms of how we came at each other, where we tried to hold each other accountable,” Clarkson said. “And then just came out here and wanted to win.”
- Slow starts have been a major problem for the Knicks since the All-Star break. In the last 11 first quarters prior to Wednesday, their usual starting five had a net rating of minus-15.3. Landry Shamet replaced an injured Josh Hart in Utah but the results didn’t improve. Jared Schwartz of the New York Post argues that making changes to the lineup of Jalen Brunson, Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns probably won’t make much of a difference. Inserting Mitchell Robinson wouldn’t make much sense either, considering his load management plan.
- ESPN columnist Vince Goodwill breaks down five issues confronting the Knicks prior to the playoffs. Getting the most out of Towns and getting Brunson back in form are two of the biggest items on Goodwill’s list.
Knicks Notes: Brunson, Bridges, Playoff Seeding, Offense
The Knicks brought in more depth at the trade deadline, but that additional depth doesn’t appear to have eased the burden on star point guard Jalen Brunson, Stefan Bondy writes for the New York Post.
A cold spell for new addition Jose Alvarado has led to a downturn in minutes for the pesky point guard, which has led to Brunson averaging a league-high 37.8 minutes per game over the Knicks’ last five contests coming into Wednesday’s matchup with the Jazz. Brunson has struggled to find his rhythm offensively during that stretch, shooting just 40% from the field.
Head coach Mike Brown has turned to his reserves in search of backcourt help for Brunson, trying Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek out at various times over the last couple games.
“My career is about growth and getting better,” Kolek said. “So I need to learn from those experiences and learn from every one — good or bad. Those were good experiences. But me, personally, I’ve had some bad experiences on the floor. From my play. So learn from both of those things and just continue to grow, continue to get better.”
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- Mikal Bridges says his recent offensive struggles aren’t about a lack of confidence, Bondy writes. “I think it’s just the game of basketball,” Bridges said. “Sometimes you try to get open and sometimes it doesn’t find me. Just try to find ways to stay aggressive. That’s it.” Since the All-Star break, Bridges has been averaging just 11.4 points per game coming into Wednesday night while hitting 34.1% of his threes, down from his pre-All-Star marks of 15.9 PPG with a .386 3PT%. “I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to win, trying to find opportunities, try to do all the right things and be aggressive.” the veteran wing said.
- James L. Edwards III of The Athletic takes a look at potential playoff seeding for the Knicks and which spot would likely be the most beneficial to the team. While the No. 1 seed isn’t mathematically out of reach, it seems incredibly unlikely that New York will catch up to Detroit, making a spot in the 2-4 range the likely outcome. While any seed lower than No. 2 would likely feel like something of a disappoint, Edwards makes the case that No. 4 could actually be the best outcome, since it could result in a first-round matchup with Toronto, a team New York has had little trouble with this season.
- The Knicks’ defense is much improved since the All-Star break, but the offense has shown signs of dysfunction, slipping from fourth in the NBA to 10th during the past 26 games, Edwards writes. The Knicks put up a lot of threes, which are a high-variance shot, and have been burned several times of late by their inability to get hot from deep, as well as more frequent turnovers. Karl-Anthony Towns says the right ingredients for success are all still there. “The last two games, we’ve done a great job of giving ourselves chances to win games, but we just haven’t shot well,” he said on Wednesday. “Then we weirdly shoot well at points in the game to give ourselves a chance. It’s just sometimes how the game goes. We just have to stay confident.“
Jordan Clarkson Talks Jazz Reunion, Plans For Asia Cup This Summer
Jordan Clarkson is set to face off against his former team on Wednesday as the Knicks take on the Jazz, and despite his reduced role in New York, he’s looking forward to the “happiness and joy” of facing the team for whom he won a Sixth Man of the Year award, Stefan Bondy writes for the New York Post.
According to Clarkson, he’s not bothered by his inconsistent playing time because the Knicks were up front with him when he signed with them.
“I ain’t coming in expecting anything, honestly,” Clarkson said. “A lot of people made expectations on my arrival and what I can do and what I’ve done my whole career. But not knowing anything, I came here with an open canvas. I just knew one goal and what we wanted to do, and that’s to win.”
Clarkson added that he has nothing but positive feelings about the Jazz.
“That’s a home for me. I loved the organization. I love the coaching staff. Yeah, I love the city. All I had was love there,” he said. “… I’m going to try to keep my cool in terms of not feeling [emotional], just all the gratitude and everything that the city is giving me.”
The veteran guard also recently spoke to Mark Medina of Essentially Sports about his hopes to lead Team Philippines in this summer’s Asia Cup.
“For us and for me, not making the Olympics and not fully accomplishing what we want to accomplish in the World Cup,” he said, of what was driving him. “Reaching the goal of having a chance to make the Olympics, I think, is a big thing for me and to represent the country.”
He went on to say he thinks the Filipino team has a good shot at the next Olympics, reiterating his hopes for his own role and the team as a whole.
“We just got to figure out how to mesh the guys together and play the right combinations and figure it out from there,” he said. “We got a lot of talent on the team, from older dudes to younger dudes as well. Hopefully, they let me play as a naturalized player and give me some leeway on things so we can continue to get more talent and we stay loaded.”
With the influx of more players in the league with Filipino heritage, such as Jalen Green (Suns), Dylan Harper (Spurs), and Jared McCain (Thunder), Clarkson hopes that his time with the team can help inspire the next generation and build the program up moving forward.
Knicks Notes: Bridges, Clarkson, Diawara, Turnovers
Knicks forward Mikal Bridges has continued to be an iron man since arriving in New York, but has struggled at times with his offensive consistency. This was exemplified in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers, as Bridges went scoreless for the first time this season and the third time since joining the team in 2024, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.
According to Bridges, while his lack of offensive production was glaring, it stemmed from defensive issues.
“Being in foul trouble takes me away from being out there to try to help my team win,” he explained. “I’ve got to be better, starting off the game fouling a shooter from three.”
Bridges had hoped Monday’s game against the Clippers could serve as a bounce-back opportunity, but the team lost again and Bridges once again struggled to impact the game offensively, scoring seven points on eight shots. The lone starter not to score in double digits, he didn’t make a shot until midway through the second quarter.
However, head coach Mike Brown had Bridges’ back after the game, according to Bondy.
“He’s human and he’s going to have some nights (when he struggles to shoot),” Brown said. “His track record shows that he can go get it done. It’s not anything I’m concerned about or I’m looking at. And like I said, when he does have nights like that, how else can you impact the game, and he’s shown that he can do that.”
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- With his team struggling to put together any offensive rhythm against the Lakers, Brown turned to Jordan Clarkson in the fourth quarter. Clarkson played 10 minutes, his highest single-game total since February 11, and scored nine points on four shots. “He’s a guy we can lean on. He can put the ball in the hole,” said Brown, as relayed by Bondy. “We were struggling to do that. So I threw him out there to see if we can mix it up. He definitely helped us. But it was too big of a deficit.”
- Clarkson will face off against the Jazz, with whom he played for five and a half seasons, on Wednesday, but is unsure what reaction he will receive, or what he will feel himself, Mark Medina writes in an interview for Essentially Sports. “I don’t know what my emotions are going to be,” Clarkson said. “I’m going to try to keep my cool.” While the veteran guard’s role has changed with the Knicks, he has stayed ready and his teammates have appreciated his attention to detail and professionalism. “Being a teammate of his has been great,” Jalen Brunson said of Clarkson. “Being able to talk to him all the time and consistently has been great for me. I love him and everything that he’s done.“
- Mohamed Diawara grew up hearing all about the Clippers’ Nicolas Batum, another lanky French forward who could shoot and pass well for his size, Bondy writes in a separate story. On Monday, the Knicks’ rookie got the first poster dunk of his career, and it just so happened to be on his fellow Frenchman. “I was just driving and dunked the ball and fortunately (Batum) was there,” Diawara said. “… Funny to see that. My first dunk — my first poster — was against him.” Diawara finished the game with five points, four rebounds, and two assists.
- Brown was frustrated by what he calls “self-inflicted wounds,” especially on the offensive end, as the Knicks lost their two games in Los Angeles, Kristian Winfield writes for the New York Daily News. New York turned the ball over 19 times against the Lakers and 20 against the Clippers as their offense felt largely out of sorts. “[Nineteen] turnovers on the road, and this is not a knock on [the Lakers], but they’re not gonna trap and double team and all that stuff,” Brown said after the first loss. “But we get into the paint and jump in the air and turn the ball over.” Brunson noticed similar issues on Monday, Bondy notes. “We were getting downhill and trying to make plays. But we got to be better playing off two feet obviously, playing more controlled,” Brunson said. “But (the Clippers) got a lot of guys on their team who are steal guys, who are long wingspans, play passing lanes. That’s what they do. We played to their strengths.”
Knicks Notes: 15th Man, Anunoby, Diawara, Alvarado, Clarkson
At the trade deadline, the Knicks were able to free up enough room below their second-apron hard cap to sign another player to the roster immediately rather than having to wait until late in the season to do so.
While they’re prohibited from adding a free agent whose pre-waiver salary was $14.1MM or higher, the Knicks can bring in anyone waived by March 1 and still have them be playoff-eligible. With that in mind, The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III breaks down five potential Knicks targets on the buyout market, singling out Chris Boucher, Marvin Bagley III, Haywood Highsmith, Drew Eubanks, and Mason Plumlee.
Edwards views third-string center as one of the remaining holes on the roster, hence the ample big man representation on his list. He also notes that the team could try to add another wing who can guard ball-handlers. Highsmith is one such name, as is Jeremy Sochan, whom he mentions as another player to keep an eye on — his article was published before news broke that the Spurs were waiving Sochan.
Given rumors that the Knicks had checked in on potential deals involving Sochan before the trade deadline, it stands to reason that the versatile defender, who is significantly younger than anyone on Edwards’ list, could be of interest to the team that is thin on bench forwards with size.
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- OG Anunoby is missing his fourth straight game tonight with a toenail avulsion on his right foot, and head coach Mike Brown says there’s no clear timeline for his return, per Edwards (via Twitter). Anunoby is considered day-to-day as a result of the injury. The Knicks are 1-2 during his absence heading into Wednesday’s game against the Sixers, having been blown out by the Pistons on Friday and then losing to the Pacers in overtime on Tuesday.
- One player benefiting from the absence of Anunoby is the Knicks’ lone rookie, Mohamed Diawara. While the 51st pick in the 2025 draft has been impressing offensively, he showed out defensively in Boston on Sunday and turned some heads while doing so, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. In that game, he guarded both Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown equally well and was rewarded by the team by being named the defensive player of the game, a tradition the Knicks have started under Brown. “It was tough because they’re both great players, but I was ready to take the challenge to guard them,” Diawara said. “And I was happy the coaches put me on them because that means they think I’m a great defender, and I appreciate it.” Brown noted that it’s the little things Diawara has shown the willingness to do, such as diving on the floor, making the right pass, and defending hard, that have impressed him the most.
- Jose Alvarado called his first game for the Knicks in Madison Square Garden “one for the books,” Dan Martin writes for the New York Post. “Playing for the Knicks is a huge thing, but I’m literally a kid from the same streets the fans are, and to be part of everything here, it’s a blessing,” the newly acquired point guard said. “It’s something I had to get used to and to get it out of the way, let’s get the ball rolling.” It wasn’t Alvarado’s best performance, as he finished with four points and five assists in 18 minutes as the Knicks lost to Indiana, but he believes it helped him calm the nerves related to his much-anticipated homecoming. “I was nervous today, for sure,” he said. “There was a lot going on. I was glad I got it out the way. I can’t wait to come back and get better and win some games here.“
- Jordan Clarkson, who spoke recently about adjusting to his diminished role with the Knicks, took to social media to vent some of those frustrations, Stefan Bondy writes for the Post. “Stop saying my minutes, I never had minutes,” Clarkson wrote in response to someone posting a question about how Collin Sexton would look with Clarkson’s playing time. Clarkson is playing the fewest minutes of his career and has struggled to find consistency, especially with his outside shot.
Atlantic Notes: Alvarado, Clarkson, Celtics, Nets, Barnes
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.”
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- 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.”