Karl-Anthony Towns

Knicks Notes: Hart, Towns, Bridges, Payne, Thibodeau

April 28th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Josh Hart has maximized his value to the Knicks by putting aside any personal dreams of stardom, writes James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Throughout his career, which included stops with four teams in six years before he found a home in New York, Hart always believed he could be more than just a scrappy player who tends to make the right play at the right time.

He told Edwards that he adopted a new mindset this season and is now focused on finding ways to make his high-profile teammates better. That led to setting a franchise record with nine triple-doubles during the season and averaging career highs of 9.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists along with 13.6 points per game.

“I think it’s realizing … for me, I feel like I’ve grown in my faith more,” Hart said. “I’ve been trying to take on that servant mentality. I want to make sure I can cater to these guys and make sure that they’re successful and put in the right positions to blossom.”

Edwards states that Hart often points to Celtics guard Jrue Holiday as an example of sacrificing individual glory for the greater good. Holiday was a two-time All-Star who accepted a reduced role in Boston’s offense to help produce a championship, and he’s in a unique position to understand Hart’s value to the Knicks.

“Even though people might say, like, he doesn’t shoot the ball well enough or do whatever, he makes plays, and he makes the game easier for everybody else based off his play,” Holiday said. “And it’s not just his effort. He’s really smart. He gets to the basket. He offensive rebounds. Things that guys don’t really want to do, he’s excellent at it. Guys who really take that to heart and can really play that type of game, I feel like you can be in the league as long as you want to if you play that way.”

There’s more on the Knicks:

Karl-Anthony Towns scored eight of the team’s final 10 points in Sunday’s win at Detroit, and one of the clutch shots was a fadeaway he developed while working with Kyrie Irving last summer, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Towns said Irving taught him the finer points of the shot, including where to hold the ball and how to launch it above the defender “It’s something that I never really had,” Towns said. “And it didn’t look as good. And I was able to iron my game out watching a great like him. One of the most talented players the NBA has ever seen and just did it as best I could to add my little flavor to it. It may not look as good as his — I ain’t going to lie, I think it’s pretty damn ugly — but it’s effective when I need it to be.”
Mikal Bridges hit two late three-pointers Sunday after shooting just 1-of-10 from the field in the first three quarters, per Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Bridges said he drew inspiration from his teammates, particularly Cameron Payne, who has seen limited playing time since scoring 14 points in the series opener. “I think the biggest is Cam Payne,” Bridges said. “He’s big on voicing, helping me out. Sometimes, him calling me some not good names helps as well. It just feeds off that.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau deserves more credit for the adjustments he has made throughout the series, including getting more shots for Towns after he was shut down in Game 2, contends Ian Begley of SNY. Begley notes that Thibodeau’s job might have been in jeopardy with a first-round loss, but he has responded with a high-level coaching performance.

Knicks Notes: Towns, McBride, Anunoby, Brunson, Robinson

April 26th, 2025 at 11:58am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Knicks came away with a close win in Game 3 against the Pistons facing a loud Detroit crowd. It’s no coincidence that as the Knicks played faster, Karl-Anthony Towns had his best offensive game of the series, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic writes.

Towns scored 31 points on 10 made field goals, including a handful that came with over 14 seconds still left on the shot clock, according to Edwards, who says Towns was purposeful and imposed his will.

“In transition, KAT is someone I’m definitely trying to look for and find while he’s flowing into the half court, where he can knock down shots trailing or able to attack,” teammate Josh Hart said.

In a separate story, Fred Katz of The Athletic notes that Jalen Brunson and Towns ran 17 pick-and-rolls in Game 3, their second-highest single-game total since January. New York was able to take advantage of Jalen Duren guarding Towns as opposed to a wing.

We have more on the Knicks:

In the same story for The Athletic, Katz analyzes the play of both Miles McBride and OG Anunoby, opining that New York needs more from McBride in order to help secure a series win over the Pistons. McBride isn’t playing much, but New York’s reserves have only scored 39 points in the series, and that will likely need to change to keep the starters fresh. As for Anunoby, Katz explains why he’s prone to defensive ‘heat checks’ and why his attention to detail is standing out. Jared Schwartz of the New York Post observes that Anunoby helped hold Cade Cunningham to 10-of-25 shooting from the field in Game 3.
The Knicks were able to rely on their reserves in a come-from-behind Game 1 win, with Cameron Payne in particular standing out. Like Katz, Zach Braziller of the New York Post observes that New York’s depth has been outshone in the two games since then. With the Pistons getting massive contributions from reserves like Dennis Schröder and Malik Beasley, the Knicks’ lack of depth could become an issue, Braziller suggests.
Brunson reacted well to Detroit crowd berating him with derisive chants and responded with an impressive 30-point game to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds, Ian Begley of SNY writes. “I don’t think crowds understand, especially with pros and guys that are really good, they’re probably going to be really good when you’re chanting they’re name,” teammate P.J. Tucker said. “When you’re saying what they said, it probably gives them a little incentive to play a little better, play a little harder.”
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson missed Saturday’s practice due to an illness, but Thibodeau believe the big man “should be fine” for Game 4 on Sunday, according to Begley (Twitter links). Thibodeau added that Robinson is no longer on a minutes restriction.

Knicks Notes: Game 3 Adjustments, Toughness, Hart, Brunson

April 24th, 2025 at 6:25pm CST by Tristan Tucker

All eyes are on Tom Thibodeau ahead of the Knicks’ Game 3 against the Pistons, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes in a subscriber-only story.

New York should theoretically have an advantage as a team that went all-in on its roster last offseason against a less experienced Detroit squad. At the time of writing, the Knicks went on a quick early run to get ahead of Detroit. The series is tied at 1-1 entering Thursday’s game, though the Knicks were a late Mikal Bridges three-point attempt away from tying Game 2.

“If that [Bridges] shot goes in, we’re probably not talking about the other stuff. But that’s playoff basketball,” Thibodeau said. “And then, what do you learn from the game, and how do you reset and get ready for the next one. And I think all that stuff is important. Each game, take what happened in the previous game, study and get ready for the next one.”

As Bondy writes, the Pistons were able to exploit the Knicks with hard screens and box outs in Game 2, and so the onus is on Thibodeau to counter those moves. One suggestion Bondy adds is for Thibodeau to turn to the big pairing of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson more often. Pistons center Isaiah Stewart is out for Game 3, per The Athletic’s Hunter Patterson (Twitter link), and so going big could help counter Detroit.

We have more from the Knicks:

The Pistons’ run to the playoffs after being the worst team in the league last year is a testament to their grit and strength, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post opines. So far in their first-round series against the Knicks, they’ve out-muscled New York. Detroit’s Tobias Harris implied that the difference in the two teams’ physicality is a core tenet of the team’s playoff game plan, and the Knicks will need to respond appropriately in Game 3.
Josh Hart took accountability for part of what went wrong for the Knicks in Game 2, Bondy tweets. Hart said he needed to stop complaining to the refs as often due to it distracting from the game. “It definitely takes you off your game,” Hart said. “I think controlling it that just comes from within, kind of focusing on controlling what you can control. We can’t control what they’re calling. … We can just control how we respond to it. Last game I responded terribly. I have to make sure I fix that, [Towns] fixes that, and move on from it.“
Star guard Jalen Brunson won the Clutch Player of the Year award on Wednesday after averaging the most clutch points in the league. He spoke on the honor to SNY’s Ian Begley (Twitter link). “It means a lot,” Brunson said. “It’s a credit to us winning close games and my teammates and coaches having my back.”

New York Notes: Sharpe, Nets Offseason, Towns, Knicks

April 23rd, 2025 at 9:31pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer. Lucas Kaplan of Nets Daily predicts that the big man, who has developed his game considerably under first-year coach Jordi Fernandez, will be re-signed by Brooklyn.

Sharpe has grown significantly in traditional actions near the basket, Kaplan observes, adding that he’s able to hold his own defensively when he is switched onto guards and has evolved as a rebounder and defender.

Across 50 games this year, the 6’11” big man averaged career highs of 7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks in 18.1 minutes per contest. Kaplan believes that Sharpe, still just 23, could have a chance at evolving beyond being a career backup.

There’s more out of New York:

The Nets have an intriguing summer ahead of them, as Keith Smith of Sportac outlines in an offseason preview. This will represent the club’s first full rebuild cycle with a high lottery pick. The Nets boast $54.5MM in practical cap space. Smith predicts that Brooklyn will ink Sharpe to a three-year, $30MM deal.
With their first round playoff series against the lower-seeded Pistons knotted at 1-1, the Knicks have their work cut out for them to advance this year. Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link) outlines three key issues New York needs to address in this series, with most of them centered around getting All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns more involved.
The Knicks need to re-focus Towns in their offense against Detroit, Fred Katz of The Athletic agrees. Towns didn’t even attempt a shot during the fourth quarter of New York’s eventual Game 2 defeat on Monday. The Pistons have found some success pinning a smaller defender, often forward Tobias Harris, on Towns for much of their actions. “He’s getting touches. He’s making the right play,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “If he’s getting double-teamed, I don’t want him to shoot the ball over three people.”

Knicks’ Thibodeau Gripes About Officiating After Pistons’ First Playoff Win Since 2008

April 22nd, 2025 at 10:24am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons won a playoff game on Monday for the first time since May 2008, writes Chris Herring of ESPN, hanging onto a fourth-quarter lead in Madison Square Garden to defeat the Knicks by a score of 100-94 and even up their first-round series at one game apiece.

Detroit made just 44.6% of its field goal attempts, including only six shots from beyond the arc, but won the game with strong defense and free throw shooting. The Pistons went 28-of-34 from the foul line, compared to 16-of-19 for New York, prompting Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau to speak after the loss about how the game was called.

“Huge discrepancy in free throws. Huge,” Thibodeau said. “I don’t understand how, on one side, there are direct line drives with contact that just aren’t being called. Look, I really don’t give a crap how they call the game as long as it’s consistent on both sides. But if (Cade) Cunningham‘s driving, and there’s marginal contact that gets him to the line, then Jalen (Brunson) should be getting to the line.”

By the end of the game, Brunson had gone to the free throw line 11 times – compared to 12 for Cunningham – and Ausar Thompson, the primary defender on the Knicks’ point guard had fouled out. However, as Madeline Kenney of The New York Post observes, the Knicks didn’t shoot a free throw until the second quarter and took 11 of their 19 tries during the fourth quarter.

Despite the complaints from Thibodeau and the MSG faithful, who booed and chanted derisively at the referees throughout the game, Brunson said after scoring 37 points that the officiating wasn’t the reason why the Knicks lost.

“Regardless if fouls are being called or not called, we’ve got to adjust and I feel like we did that a little too late into the game,” he said, per Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press. “And so regardless of how it’s reffed, we’ve got to adjust and we’ve got to adapt to that and go on from there.”

Here are a few more Knicks-related notes from Monday’s loss:

Given the price the Knicks paid to acquire him last summer, Mikal Bridges will find himself under a bright spotlight this spring. As Stefan Bondy of The New York Post writes in a subscriber-only article, Bridges is off to a slow start in the postseason — after sitting out most of the fourth quarter during Saturday’s Game 1 comeback, he went 0-of-4 from the field in the final four minutes of Monday’s loss, including missing a game-tying three-point attempt with 12 seconds left.
Bridges wasn’t the only Knicks wing who struggled in Game 2. After a huge Game 1 performance, OG Anunoby scored just 10 points and went 0-for-4 on three-point shots in Game 2, Kenney writes for The New York Post. Anunoby also wasn’t as effective as he was in Game 1 at slowing down Cunningham, who scored 33 points on Monday. “They were running stuff to get me off of his body,” Anunobdy said of the Pistons’ Game 2 strategy. “Setting screens to get me off of him, doing stuff like that. They made some adjustments, we’re gonna make some adjustments ourselves.”
The Knicks will likely need more from Karl-Anthony Towns offensively in order to bounce back in the series, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. The big man scored just 10 points, tied for his second-lowest mark of 2024/25, and didn’t attempt a shot in the fourth quarter of Game 2, though Thibodeau said he didn’t have a problem with that. “(Towns) was getting touches, but he’s making the right play,” the Knicks’ coach said. “If he’s getting double-teamed, I don’t want him just shooting the ball over three people. That makes no sense to me.”
Thibodeau was more concerned about the Knicks’ issues on the glass. Despite missing injured big man Isaiah Stewart, the Pistons out-rebounded New York by a 48-34 margin, with 12 of those Detroit boards coming on the offensive end. “The rebounding was problematic the whole night, so that’s probably the whole game,” Thibodeau said, according to Kenney and Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Towns added that the Knicks need to match the Pistons’ intensity for “50/50 basketballs.”

Knicks Notes: Hart, Anunoby, Thompson, Brunson, Towns

April 21st, 2025 at 1:51pm CST by Rory Maher

Josh Hart was largely a non-factor in the first half of Game 1 of the Knicks‘ first-round series vs. Detroit due to early foul trouble, but he played a major role in New York’s second-half comeback, including a 21-0 run that sealed the victory, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Hart went scoreless, missing his two field goal attempts, in seven first-half minutes, but he went 6-of-8 after intermission, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 30 minutes — the Knicks outscored the Pistons by 20 during his time on the court.

“I think it’s just trying to stay ready,” Hart said Sunday. “I think growing up, I was always taught to play the game until the last whistle. At Villanova, Coach [Jay] Wright really got that instilled in us that you can’t control everything, you’ve gotta let stuff go, but you’ve gotta continue to push, continue to fight until the last whistle. For me, that’s just how I’m wired. You can box me out for 46 minutes, but if it’s not a habit, those last two minutes of a game is where I’m gonna make an impact or get an offensive rebound or get a loose ball or something like that.

“Obviously the foul trouble was frustrating. I was yelling at [head coach Tom Thibodeau] to keep me in but obviously I was doing idiotic fouls. Thibs is always making sure you’re staying ready and locked into the game.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

As Chris Herring details for ESPN.com, Hart is one of the top rebounders in NBA history for his size, is known for his tenacity and hustle, is a skilled secondary play-maker, and shot a career-best 61.8% on twos during the 2024/25 season. Still, while Hart’s all-around contributions are undoubtedly valuable, the Knicks’ playoff hopes may hinge on how he fares from behind the arc — rival teams dare him to shoot, and his three-point percentages tend to fluctuate wildly. He has converted 34.2% of his career triples, including 33.3% in ’24/25.
If OG Anunoby continues to play like he did in Game 1, the Knicks have a real shot at making a deep playoff run, contends Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post (subscriber link). Anunoby, 27, re-signed with New York in free agency last offseason, inking a massive five-year, $212.5MM contract. The defensive stalwart recorded 23 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two blocks in 44 minutes in the opening contest.
Pistons second-year wing Ausar Thompson said “nothing” came to mind when asked to name the most difficult challenge of defending Jalen Brunson, but later said the star guard was good at “selling” fouls, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required). Known for his excellent defense, Thompson committed five fouls in 23 minutes in Game 1.
Karl-Anthony Towns could become a franchise legend if the team has an impressive playoff showing, Vaccaro writes in another subscriber-only column. Towns is off to a good start after shining in his Knicks postseason debut, but he will have to continue to thrive on both ends for New York to have a chance at representing the East in the NBA Finals.

Knicks Notes: Payne, Brunson, Towns, Robinson

April 20th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Tom Thibodeau‘s decision to expand his rotation to nine players paid off Saturday as Cameron Payne came off the bench to spark a comeback victory over Detroit, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Payne scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks put together a blistering 21-0 run to pull out their playoff series opener.

“The thing about him, he knows exactly who he is,” Thibodeau said. “He comes in with great energy every game, carries himself well each and every day. He gave us a huge spark, that’s been who he is.”

Schwartz points out that Payne has more postseason experience than anyone else on New York’s roster, apart from P.J. Tucker, who didn’t play in Game 1. Saturday was Payne’s 59th playoff game in his 10-year career, and Schwartz notes that he brings a mixture of veteran savvy and youthful energy.

“I (am one of) the oldest guys on the team, so having somebody into the game, it’s a different kind of experience, especially for the rookies,” Payne said. “We’re in the NBA, sometimes people have the chill (mindset), just chilling. I’m happy to be in the league, I enjoy it, so I try to just have fun every single night. I could be doing something else, but I’m playing in the Garden. I gotta have fun. I just try my best to bring my energy and it’s infectious. Everybody feeds off it. That’s a good feeling.”

There’s more on the Knicks:

Thibodeau joked that Jalen Brunson “got his cape” when he went to the locker room prior to the start of the fourth quarter, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The star guard actually changed his shoes before delivering 12 points and three assists in the final nine minutes. That came after he missed 11 of his first 13 shots and struggled to find space to operate against an aggressive Detroit defense. “He’s a warrior. He’s going to battle for us,” Josh Hart said. “Obviously he’s playing through the ankle (pain). Can’t say enough about his toughness, his grit. Fourth quarter, end of the game, obviously he made plays for us.”
Karl-Anthony Towns had a memorable performance in his first playoff game with the Knicks, observes Madeline Kenney of The New York Post. Towns filled up the stat sheet with 23 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks in 39 minutes. “There’s no doubt about it: What (Towns) can do offensively changes what you do defensively,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He has that impact on both sides of the ball.”
Thibodeau experimented with a double-big lineup on Saturday, using Towns alongside Mitchell Robinson for a while in the first half, per Zach Braziller and Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Robinson was limited to 17 regular season games while recovering from left ankle surgery, but he gives the Knicks flexibility to try different looks in the playoffs. “The size, I think, is good,” Thibodeau said. “I thought Mitch during that stretch made some really good defensive plays, in the fourth, too. The steal that he had, the game was pretty tight, and that was a big play. He makes plays like that. That helps inspire the team, ignite the team. Those are great hustle plays, so defensively, I think he was very good.”

Atlantic Notes: Ujiri, Rajakovic, Raptors, Sixers’ Trio, Knicks Bigs

April 17th, 2025 at 10:03pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Raptors‘ front office, led by president Masai Ujiri, is determined to get the team back into championship contention, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes. In his end-of-season news conference, Ujiri expressed that he wasn’t able to enjoy Toronto’s championship in 2019 as much as he would’ve liked and that all he thinks about is getting his team back to that spot.

“[Our goal] is getting better and adding more players and building this team and growing to be a championship team,” Ujiri said. “A championship is the end goal of all of this, and when that comes, we don’t know, but we have to identify those players and build with those kinds of players.”

The Raptors took a big swing by acquiring Brandon Ingram at the deadline and giving him a multiyear extension before he played a game for the team.

“At the end of the day, you have to acquire talent,” Ujiri said. “We have to do it in a unique way in the market that we’re in and we’ve got to jump on opportunities that come our way, sometimes after we really study them.”

Ujiri’s comments this week represented a departure from the ones he made a year ago, when he expressed a willingness to embark on a multiyear rebuild, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Toronto did maximize its draft talent this year, with rookies Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Jamison Battle all stepping up and playing big roles.

“I was really happy with the way these guys played and hopefully their development comes up more and more,” Ujiri said. “Yeah, we tried to attack the odds in the lottery and see what we can do. It’s a good draft. And honestly, wherever we fall, we feel very confident. Our guys have done a lot of work all year. We’re extremely excited.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The pressure to win has been relatively low in Toronto with the team acquiring and developing so many young players, Grange writes in another piece. But with the Raptors‘ focus shifting toward winning, head coach Darko Rajakovic is ready for the team’s next phase and has the full buy-in of his players. “He’s a really good coach. He cares about us. He really does,” RJ Barrett said. “He comes in and he challenges us every single day. And it’s nice when you know that you have somebody that cares about you — makes you want to play even harder for them. Darko’s a guy you can have conversations with about anything, and he’s very helpful. Always teaching, but he listens to us and our ideas. Yeah. So, like, that stuff is great.”
Sixers wing Paul George wants the team’s big three – himself, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid – to spend more time together this offseason, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I think that’s very important,” George said. “We’ve already talked about seeing each other, where we’re going to be this summer. So we’ve already had those conversations about connecting once the season’s over. I think it’s very important. I don’t think it’s healthy to go two, three months before seeing each other, regardless of if we’re checking in over the phone. It’s just different seeing each other.“
The Knicks might turn to two-big lineups in the playoffs against the Pistons, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns only played 47 minutes together this season, but that two-man grouping outscored opponents by 9.2 points per 100 possessions. Head coach Tom Thibodeau said that despite the small sample size, he liked what he saw from that pairing.

Knicks Notes: Rotation, McBride, Robinson, Towns, Bridges, Brunson, Toughness

April 15th, 2025 at 9:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

How low will coach Tom Thibodeau go? In this instance, we’re talking about his rotation.

Thibodeau sliced his rotation to eight players in last year’s playoffs, then cut it to seven when injuries struck. The New York Post’s Stefan Bondy anticipates that Thibodeau will rely heavily on his starting unit once again in the opening-round series against Detroit.

Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson appear to be the only locks to get steady playing time off the bench. Landry Shamet, Cameron Payne and Precious Achiuwa are the other reserves who could be called upon but it’s likely only one will get rotation minutes, according to Bondy, who recommends that the hot-shooting Shamet should be the choice.

Here’s more Knicks news:

It’ll be the first postseason with the Knicks for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, the front office’s two major acquisitions to become a championship-level team. The pressure will be on that duo to produce, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post opines. “I think for me and Mikal, we just wanted to show our value to the team,” Towns said. “And I think that throughout the year, we’ve had the opportunity to do that, to our fans and our teammates and our coaching staff.”
Jalen Brunson, who returned from an ankle injury this month to play four games, says that past playoff experiences will help the club navigate this postseason, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. “I think for us, it’s, like any other season, it’s a roller coaster every year, there’s gonna be ups and downs, and it’s all about how you manage it,” Brunson said. “But now that the regular season’s over, it’s all about how we can move on and be better the next day. I know it’s a term that people don’t like to hear, but we learn from what we did in the past, good and bad, and move on and get better. That’s the name of the game at this stage of the season. … So we’re just focused. We still got a long way to go with preparation, still got a long way to go making sure we’re ready to go for Saturday. We’ll be ready.”
The talent is there but are the Knicks tough enough to make it past the physical Pistons and other potential opponents? Newsday’s Steve Popper explores that topic in a subscriber-only story.

Knicks Notes: Tucker, Achiuwa, Bridges, Playoffs

April 11th, 2025 at 1:17pm CST by Rory Maher

Veteran forward P.J. Tucker had only made one brief appearance for the Knicks this season heading into Thursday’s game in Detroit. However, with OG Anunoby and Josh Hart held for rest, he was surprisingly the first player off the bench last night, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.

Tucker received a heads-up that he’d be in the rotation on Thursday, but he wasn’t sure how much he’d play. He wound up logging 27 minutes, the most playing time he’s received in a regular season game in two years.

“Once I got through my first wind, it was really good,” said Tucker, who finished with three points and six rebounds. “I started to open up a little bit. I started to feel good, started talking, getting involved with the game and it’s like riding a bike.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

While Tucker was happy to be playing again, he was not pleased with the loss to the Pistons, who could be New York’s opponent in the first round of the playoffs. “They just out-toughed us. They did. The whole fourth quarter,” Tucker said (story via Bondy). “We kept it close but they just out-toughed us. That’s something we got to address. Obviously, not having OG [Anunoby], not having Josh [Hart], getting those guys back will help a lot. I just feel like down in the trenches like that in the playoffs this year, they’re not calling nothing. They’re letting a lot of stuff go right now and I like it. The refs are letting a lot of stuff go both ways. With that happening, guys got to play differently. We got to play different. We got to toughen up. It’s more physical. We got to toughen up.”
In a mailbag for The Athletic, James L. Edwards III answers questions about the Knicks’ playoff chances, the results of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, and more. One question is focused on the future of Precious Achiuwa, who will be an unrestricted free agent again this summer after re-signing with New York on a one-year deal. Edwards believes another reunion between the two sides is unlikely.
Iron man Mikal Bridges has yet to miss a game in his NBA career. In fact, he hasn’t sat out a game since he was in high school, Bondy writes for The New York Post. The 28-year-old is on the verge of playing all 82 regular season games in 2024/25.
In a subscriber-only story, Bondy lists which members of the Knicks have the most at stake entering the playoffs. Bridges and head coach Tom Thibodeau are likely feeling the most heat, according to Bondy. Bridges will be eligible for an extension this offseason.

Load More Posts