Causes for Concern in NY Days Away From Season Opener

It is not all sunshine and rainbows in Knicks Land...

Final Score: Knicks 117 - Wizards 118
Final Preseason Record: 4-1

The Knicks lost their preseason finale to the Wizards Friday night, and while it may have been a bummer not to end the exhibition season with a perfect record, the final score was relatively meaningless. 

And there were some encouraging signs in DC last night, which we'll detail in a bit. However, it is not all sunshine and rainbows in Knicks Land as they prepare to ship up to Boston for the season opener on Tuesday. A few developing situations have fans understandably uneasy. 

First and foremost, although the Knicks starters escaped unscathed from the preseason action, another important reserve got dinged up. In the fourth quarter of Friday's loss, Precious Achiuwa went up for a dunk and immediately clutched at the back of his left leg when he landed. Achiuwa took a few awkward steps before signaling to the bench and walking directly back to the locker room, accompanied by a trainer. 

Unsurprisingly, Thibs did not have an update on the situation after the game. The Knicks aren't practicing on Saturday, so I assume we won't have any further details until Sunday at the earliest. It's unwise to speculate, but it seemed Precious was dealing with some hamstring discomfort. If that's the case, depending on the severity of the injury, that could be a significant issue for New York. The Knicks bench was already thin before Shamet dislocated his shoulder (more on that below). The team's best backup big being sidelined for the season opener and possibly beyond… ain't good.

Hamstring injuries tend to linger if not allowed to heal completely, so doctors typically suggest erring on the side of caution before clearing a player to return. At this point, we have no choice but to wait for an official update.

The other topic causing angst amongst the Knicks fanbase is Mikal Bridges' jumper. The team's presumptive starting shooting guard (whom they traded six first-round picks for a few months ago) came into the Wizards' game having converted just two of his nine three-point attempts over the team's first four contests.  

On Friday night, Bridges clearly wanted to show there was nothing to worry about. He took ten 3-pointers in DC. The problem is he missed all ten attempts. So, Mikal finishes the preseason shooting under 11% from downtown (2-for-19).

There were some clips floating around social media during the summer of Bridges attempting to tweak the form of his shot. Although the jumper looked far from fluid, I wasn't overly concerned. It's not uncommon for NBA players to get in the lab with a shooting coach/trainer and get under the hood in an attempt to finetune their jumper in the offseason. Think of it as a professional golfer who works with a swing doctor, constantly making minor adjustments to their shoulders, feet placement, club velocity at the point of impact, etc.  

For Bridges, the mechanics of his jumper have been a constant work in progress since being drafted. "Ever since I got into the league, been trying to fix it back to when I was in college," Bridges told reporters after Friday's loss. "So it's been seven years of just every day."

"When I came out of college, I kind of tweaked it a little bit. And then my second year in the league, I had the hitch, and tried to build back from that ever since," said Bridges. "So, just trying to get it right. Pretty much it… Get the misses out now and get ready for the 82-game season."

While some fans will look at his preseason percentages and panic (I had a couple of people tweet me last night arguing that Mikal should come off the bench vs. Boston), Bridges doesn't seem overly concerned. And rightfully so. 

As Mikal stated himself, he's tweaked his form and release point frequently throughout this career, yet has consistently been one of the NBA's best long-range snipers. 

Dating back to the start of the 2020-21 campaign, Bridges has shot at least 37% from downtown every year. During this four-year stretch, he shot 38.4% from downtown (638-of-1,661) and over 85% from the free-throw line. That's a significant sample size. 

Over the past two seasons, Bridges has made more corner three-pointers (170) than anyone else in the NBA, converting more than 42% of his attempts. In fact, he's made 50+ more corner treys than any player in the league this decade. 

He's also (recently) gone on stretches where he's been dominant on the offensive end. In the final 20 games of the Nets 2022-23 campaign, Bridges averaged 28.5 points while shooting 46.3% from the floor and 88.6% from the free-throw stripe.

He's also shown he can produce late in games when the pressure is ratcheted up. Bridges ranked sixth in the NBA in 'clutch' points scored in 2023-24, trailing only Steph Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Damian Lillard, Nikola Jokic and De'Aaron Fox. (Rounding out the top 10, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Trae Young, Brunson and Giannis Antetokounmpo finished behind Bridges). 

Furthermore, Bridges is a rare player who can positively impact games even when he's not putting up points due to his remarkable defensive versatility. Obviously, we don't want to read too much into preseason plus-minus numbers, but Bridges tied with OG Anunoby as New York's +/- leader at +27.   

Nevertheless, Bridges' wounded jumper and Precious' injured hammy aren't the only causes for concern amongst the Knicks faithful.

Easier this week, I wrote about Josh Hart's lack of involvement on the offensive end and how it could potentially lead to some turmoil. 

Well, it appears to have already boiled over. 

Josh Hart took a shot and scored Friday night. Why was this notable? It was his first and only bucket this preseason. Over the 90 minutes he logged in four appearances, Hart finished the exhibition season with two points on 1-of-6 shooting. 

Speaking with reporters after the loss, Mr. Hart let it be known he's not content with the status quo.  

"I'm lost. I have no idea," Hart said. "There's a couple days before we have until Boston. So whether that's trying to get a rhythm with that starting unit or we give somebody else a look and my role changes and comes off the bench and go with that unit. So, I'm just trying to figure it out right now. I pretty much have no idea. But we'll see what happens in Boston."

Not great, Bob.

As I noted in the previous post, after Hart went public with his unhappiness last November, his teammates made a concerted effort to get him more looks. But with Bridges, OG and Towns now in the mix, there aren't enough shots to go around.  

We'll see how this situation plays itself out over the days and weeks ahead, but it's not the type of quote you want to see before the team has played a single regular-season game. 

Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes:

🏀 It wasn't all doom and gloom on Friday. 

Before the game, the Knicks announced/confirmed that Landry Shamet did suffer a dislocated right shoulder in Tuesday's victory over Charlotte. The team didn't provide a timetable for his return, stating that he "will be re-evaluated at a later date." However, Ian Begley of SNY reported last night that there "is initial optimism" that Shamet will not need surgery. If Shamet can avoid surgery (which would have sidelined him for months), the Knicks can keep him on the roster as he rehabs.

The issue for New York is that if Shamet is on the roster on opening night, they can not sign another veteran to the minimum, as they don't have enough cap space under the second apron.

🏀 The other bright spot for New York last night was the impressive performance from rookie Pacome Dadiet. The 19-year-old Frenchman finished with ten points, two treys and three rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench vs. Washington. 

Over NY's final two preseason contests, he tallied 26 points (10-of-18 FGs), eight rebounds, and five three-pointers (55.6%) in 43 minutes of action. 

The kid can shoot. And although he's a little less athletic/explosive than you'd prefer, his game is smooth. He has a solid basketball IQ (a good feel for when to cut and where to rotate on the defensive end), especially for a teenager, and excellent form/mechanics on his jumper. 

I found it surprising/interesting that Dadiet played alongside Brunson and OG for stretches in the second half last night.

If New York were missing just Shamet, Dadiet probably would not be a part of NY's nine-man rotation to start the season. However, if the Knicks hold onto Shamet (meaning they don't bring in another rotation-ready vet) and Precious cannot suit up next week, Dadiet could see some action Tuesday night in Boston.   

🏀 Jalen Brunson played well last night (scoring 27 points on 10-of-15 FGs) and looks locked in… KAT is still trying to find his stroke from deep but still racked up 22 points (7-of-16 FGs, 8-of-10 FTs), 12 rebounds, four assists, and one blocked shot vs. the Wiz… OG continued his impressive play, stuffing the stat sheet with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. It's a literal joy watching this man play defense…  Deuce McBride was a healthy scratch. 

🏀 To no one's surprise (who has watched the kid at Marquette, in the Summer League, or previous preseason games), Tyler Kolek hit a pair of big buckets down the stretch to give New York the lead late in the contest. Kolek finished with 13 points (3-of-5 FGs, 6-of-6 FTs) and two assists but did turn the ball over four times.

🏀 In the most recent episode of their "Roommates Show" podcast (posted Friday), both Brunson and Hart discussed the dustup with "I just wanted to address that family fight. Things were said. Sh*t should've been handled better on both sides, but here we are," Brunson said. "Everyone thinks the world's crumbling. Everyone thinks. …It is what it is at this point. But I just feel like it should've been handled way better."

Hart tried to explain that emotions were high. "When you get traded, sometimes you feel unwanted. Whenever you play a team, whether it's the preseason, you always go at that team. Like, it's always personal for you," said Hart. "Everyone is like, 'It's a business, it's a business,' but we're actual people, we have emotions, we have feelings. But at the end of the day, it's always love because you've grown relationships and you went through adversity with those people."

🏀Next Up:
New York at Boston on Tuesday at 7:30

We got games that matter, folks!! The Knicks have a delicious opportunity to spoil ring night for the C's. 

🏀 Lastly, while we are waiting for the Knicks game to tipoff, there is another incredible stretch of sports over these next few days in New York:

Saturday 8:00 pm: Yankees at Cleveland for Game 5 of the ALCS

Sunday 1:00 pm: Giants host the Eagles (Saquan's return)

Sunday 8:00 pm: Mets at Dodgers for Game 6 of the NLCS

Sunday 8:00 pm: Liberty host Lynx in winner-take-all Game 5 of the WNBA Finals

Sunday 8:20 pm: Jets at Steelers (Davante Adams debut) 

Monday 5:00 pm (if necessary): Yankees host Cleveland for Game 6 of the ALCS

Monday at 8:00 (will be necessary): Mets at Dodgers for Game 7 of the NLCS