A pair of road losses in Los Angeles means the New York Knicks are 1-2 on their current road trip, with two more games separating them from a return to the hallowed grounds of Madison Square Garden.
New York dropped back-to-back games to the Clippers and Lakers over the weekend, in a similar fashion — only compounding concerns for the fanbase’s leading pessimists about the team’s direction and/ability to contend.
I’d put a pause on that for now. No two regular-season losses have ever determined a postseason outcome for any team in NBA history.
Deep breaths.
Even still, the Knicks are 41-25. They’re 23-9 at home, and 18-16 on the road. Karl-Anthony Towns is coming out of his shell. Mohamed Diawara looks like a real contributor. And with Jalen Brunson, this team can beat anyone.
Let’s separate the good, the bad, and the ugly from a pair of Knicks losses in L.A.
Good: Mohamed Diawara
We’ll start with a palette cleanser.
Anytime you think Mohamed Diawara’s hit a rookie wall, he breaks through in a big way. And on a team with title aspirations, the silver lining storyline of his development is the gift that keeps on giving.
Watching young players like Diawara do things for the first, second, and third times will never get old. He had his first dunk of the season against the Clippers.
Diawara played 14 and 17 minutes in the last two games, but New York notably won his minutes by four according to Pivot Fade. They lost all other minutes by 25.
He’s got a defensive focus and motor that rivals the starters at times. His three-point shot is real, even now that teams have scouted and adjusted coverage.
And he leads all rookies in net rating since the start of the calendar year.
Mike Brown took the concerns of Jeremy Sochan taking Diawara’s minutes out back and put them down like Old Yeller.
Sochan couldn’t even touch the floor in a game where they were down Mitchell Robinson. His seat on the bench should stay warm for the rest of the year, barring catastrophe.
Diawara is the real deal. Start penciling him into your projected playoff rotation.
Bad: Jose Alvarado’s role
Speaking of newcomers, Brown is freezing trade acquisition Jose Alvarado out of the rotation in real time.
After playing 19.7 minutes over his first 10 games with the Knicks, the backup guard has played just under 10 minutes a night over the last four.
In the losses to Los Angeles, Alvarado played just four minutes across both second halves. Conversely, Brunson played 38. This isn’t a sustainable trend.
To revert to devil’s advocacy, Alvarado hasn’t been lighting it up for New York.
His play out West has left a lot to be desired, and he looks nothing like the guy who hit eight threes in a game not even a month ago against the 76ers.
He’s become timid with his shot. If the first floater or three doesn’t go in, he’s hesitant, not hasty, for the rest of the game. But the team made him their midseason add in a year with title hopes.
Furthermore, Alvarado still gives the team playmaking juice, regardless of whether his shot is falling.
He recorded four assists and one turnover in the two losses on 0-for-6 shooting.
Alvarado has got to play, regardless of the output. The comfort Brown wants him to play with is on the other side of the discomfort that comes with playing him.
Ugly: Mikal Bridges’ latest disappearing act
The first five-round pick conversation is swirling again after Mikal Bridges went missing in Los Angeles.
New York’s two-way wing extraordinaire went 3-for-14 from the floor and 1-for-7 from downtown in the pair of losses.
Bridges finished with seven points, nine assists, 12 rebounds, three steals, and one block over the back-to-back, but the Knicks were outscored by 21 in his 54 minutes of play, according to Pivot Fade.
Brown reacted in real time, benching him down the stretch against the Clippers.
Once an integral member of any closing lineup for New York, Bridges’ efforts against the Lakers saw him lose his seat at the crunch time table.
Look, this isn’t new.
All of the criticisms surrounding Bridges remain the same, and as true as ever, 148 regular-season games later.
A fun stat for anyone who tuned into Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point game on Tuesday night: his 43 free throw attempts in that one game are as many as Bridges has attempted over his last 41 games.
That’s not an officiating issue or a case of partiality towards the Knicks. Bridges refuses to play with any semblance of physicality on the offensive end of the floor.
New York is 4-5 in games he scores single digits and 37-20 otherwise.
Now, I know it’s not that black-and-white. But it is inarguable that Bridges has to be a featured part of the offense, not just playing free safety on the other end of the floor, in order for this team to reach its ceiling.
Two-way play runs the NBA. It was a key component in the Knicks’ journey to the Eastern Conference Finals last year. It will once again be required if they’re to repeat, if not exceed, last season’s success.
Seeking an optimistic outlook? Bridges didn’t exactly go into last year’s playoffs on fire. We all know what happened next.
But in a new year, with a new coach and a new system, some confident and comfortable reps beforehand would be really, really nice to see before May.
More good news: New York’s next game is against the tanking Utah Jazz.
This is a prime opportunity for Alvarado to stretch his legs–and Brunson to rest his–while Bridges can take shots aplenty until they start falling. And of course, Diawara should see plenty of run.
Tip-off at the Delta Center is scheduled for 9:00 pm EST on Wednesday.
