San Antonio – How bad was the Knicks' attack in the first half?
In the 22-minute opening of UGS on Wednesday night, no starters other than Karl Anthonytowns reached field goal.
It's not just one.
Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, Miles McBride and OG Anunoby missed 20 attempts, including Bridges' airball midrange jumper, as Spurs took a 28-point lead in the second quarter.
A 120-105 victory on Wednesday night at Frost Bank Arena was enough for the Spurs.
The spurs are exhausted and face defeat.
Victor Wembanyama (Clots), De'aaron Fox (Finger Surgery) and Gregg Popovich (Stroke) all take place during the season.
The Spurs relied heavily on young people like Sandro Mamkelashvili and Blake Wesley.
They had dropped 10 of 14 games before playing New York.
That wasn't a problem.
The Knicks played the sixth straight without injured Jalen Branson and were unable to hit the Hudson River with a penny from the railing of the Staten Island Ferry.
They shot just 31% in the first half, including a 19-4 on the tray.
And without Wenbagnama towering on the court, the Knicks were still overtaking 52-44 for the game.
To their credit, the Knicks didn't just roll after a terrible start.
They started the second half with a 22-6 run, reducing the seemingly insurmountable deficit to single digits in just a few minutes.
They threatened the biggest comeback not only this season, but at least in the history of the Knicks franchise from 1991 to 92.
But that wasn't enough as Seton Hall's product Mamukelashvili produced the game of his life with 34 points and dominated the fourth quarter by hearing “MVP” chants. Rookie of Year frontrunner Stephon Castle added 22 points to Spurs (29-39).
The town, the only Knicks offensive weapon, ended with 32 points, including a 19 in the first half. Hart is just two points in 35 minutes with a quarter shooting, following a triple double two nights ago.
The Bridges shot 5-13 with three turnovers.
Except for Branson's lack, the Knicks (43-25) had full power.
Mitchell Robinson was listed as suspicious in “Injury Management,” but was declared available and scored 13 points on 11 boards from the bench.
Thibodeau didn't rule out Robinson against the Hornets on Thursday, but the center previously sat one game of a back-to-back set with the Lakers earlier this month.
“Tomorrow, tomorrow, we'll deal with it,” Thibodeau said. “Today we're just dealing with it.”
Still, logic suggests that Robinson will not thrust in succession.
The 26-year-old's plan, not playing within 10 months before returning from ankle surgery on the last day of February, was to always strengthen his conditioning and plan a playoff health course while operating at a few minutes' limit.
The Knicks have four more consecutive sets this season, including next week with the Mavericks (Tuesday) and the Clippers (Wednesday).
Thibodeau said Robinson is running at around 24 minutes of “guidelines,” which “probably increases a few.”
