Steve Popper: Knicks rout 76ers now aim to rest most of players during All-Star break
Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns grabs a rebound over the 76ers' Adem Bona during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Wednesday in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Rourke
PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks gathered in the hallway in the bowels of Xfinity Mobile Arena and huddled up, giving last extortions before taking the floor for the final game before the All-Star break.
Less than 24 hours earlier they’d dropped an overtime game to Indiana in New York and had to hit the road for one more night. And if they needed an energy boost, something to show that the break hadn’t arrived yet, it came early.
Late in the first quarter Mitchell Robinson grabbed an offensive rebound and as he rose up his shot was blocked and he was knocked hard to the floor. The newest Knick, Jose Alvarado stepped into the chest of Philadelphia’s Trenton Watford, his face actually even with the 6-8 Watford’s chest. But the message was delivered, to the delight of the Knicks fans in the crowd who grew louder as the lead did, too.
Alvarado, just three games into his Knicks tenure, got a technical foul for the confrontation, and then added a season-high 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting, all from beyond the arc, and five steals, in just 19 minutes. By the time the Knicks 138-89 win over the 76ers was complete, it looked as if the biggest steal might have been the Knicks securing him at the trade deadline.
The infusion of non-stop energy was just what the Knicks needed. While Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were due for Thursday morning flights to Los Angeles for the All-Star Weekend, the Knicks, as a whole, were just looking for a chance to catch their breath.
Brunson never saw the court in the fourth quarter and needed just eight points to call it a night. Mikal Bridges had 22 points and Towns had 21 points and 11 rebounds in just 25 minutes. As a team the Knicks had 41 assists and if they seemed ready for a break it didn’t show as they ran what looked like practice drills, cutting and passing for open basket after open basket.
After a long run through the postseason last year, the Knicks started the year in Abu Dhabi, then added an NBA Cup title into their schedule over the first 55 games. Mike Brown spent much of the first half of the season lobbying for more than Brunson and Towns to get sent to the All-Star Game, but a part of him admitted that the break might be more important to get some rest.
“It’s kind of mixed emotions thing,” Brown said. “As a coach you do want your guys to get recognized for the stuff they do on the floor. Even like in the summertime, come Olympic time, European Cup time, this cup time or that cup time, you want your guys to play on any stage they can and get recognition and success.
“But there’s always a part of you, too, like, let this guy get some rest, too, or that guy get some rest and hopefully he takes it a little easy. So again, I get pulled and tugged in both directions. At the end of the day you want as much individual recognition as possible for your guys as they can get.”
What Brown wanted was the team to head to the break with a better taste in their mouths than they left Madison Square Garden with Tuesday, falling to Eastern Conference’s last-place Pacers, a fitting symbol of the up and down play the Knicks put on display through the first 54 games entering Wednesday’s finale.
He knew this time of the season the players attention could turn to either the All-Star festivities for those invited or a chance to put their feet in the sand for those just looking forward to a week-long break.
“It’s mixed. Different strokes for different folks. It is human nature. I know these guys are thinking about it,” Brown said, pointing to the assembled media. “If they’re thinking about it everybody else is to a certain degree is and hopefully you can lock in just long enough to figure out how to get a win.”
The Knicks had close to a full squad for this last test, missing only OG Anunoby (toe avulsion) and Deuce McBride (core surgery) for this final game before the break. They’ve avoided the lengthy absences of major injuries to their stars. In a league where already at the break many of the stars are being ruled out of contending for postseason honors by already missing the maximum allotment of 17 games, all five of the Knicks starters are still eligible.
That might have more than a little to do with the 35-20 record the Knicks take to the break. Philadelphia was without Joel Embiid once again, the 23rd game he’s sat out this season.
If there is anything that Brown would like to see when the Knicks return from the break, it’s that the starting five finds its way and develops chemistry in his system.
“Getting better,” he said. “The reality of it is teams put their [center] on Josh [Hart] and their four on KAT. And we’ve started to get a little bit more comfortable, starting with me, in dealing with that offensively. Like I’ve said, we’ve made some changes defensively. So both of those things, you’re starting to see a little bit.
“It would help if we could keep them all together. OG’s been out a couple games, KAT’s been out. So if we can keep them all together for a longer stretch of time.
"I know I’m getting more comfortable. I think the guys are, too, with what we’re trying to accomplish on both ends of the floor with that group.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
