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2023-24 Regular Season Thread II: March Toward Destiny

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We under perform in the second half of the season and playoffs. That screams fatigue (too many minutes for our starters). Not physical enough because not only do teams have a blueprint on us but are tougher and take advantages of mismatches. Remember everyone is jockeying for position for the post season
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
Morris is a power forward. We have Mobley starting with Niang and Wade competing for backup minutes. When is Morris going to play?

I suppose you could argue that he's a better player than Niang and has a lot more playoff experience than Wade.
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Mobley is hobbled and Dean has missed time.

He probably would have had an impact this afternoon.
 
We are missing Strus badly. He plays with force on both ends of the court. Even when his shot is off, he effects the game. We are also missing a healthy Mitchell and Wade. What all 3 of these guys have in common is that they can play with any lineup and make the whole team better. Donovan is the engine that drives the whole thing. Strus and Wade are connectors - Who are in the right places and make the right plays so everyone looks better. We are going to go the whole month of March without them being at their best if we have them at all. Brutal. I don't know if April is enough to get it back together.
 
Last two seasons Cavs are 28-9 without Garland. A 62 win pace team.


They are 65-47 with Garland. A 47.5 win paced team.


On the flip side, they are 16-16 without Donovan Mitchell the last two seasons. Or a 41 win paced team.

They are 77-40 with Donovan Mitchell. A 54 win paced team.

With both in the lineup, they are 55-34, a 50.6 win paced team.


The killer number: The Cavs are 22-6 in games with Mitchell but without Garland. A 64 win paced team.


They are 10-13 in games with Garland but no Mitchell. A 35 win paced team.



Now I'm not breaking ground here in pointing out that Donovan Mitchell is a better player who impacts winning and losing more than Garland.


But they've got this postseason to show these two should continue together based on the mounting evidence above. If they flop again and Mitchell stays, Garland is out the door this summer.
 
Given that Mitchell is going to miss some more time and OG is back for the Knicks, it's only a matter of time before the Knicks (just 2 games behind the Cavs) ascend to the 3 spot in the East.

 
Cement said:
Given that Mitchell is going to miss some more time and OG is back for the Knicks, it's only a matter of time before the Knicks (just 2 games behind the Cavs) ascend to the 3 spot in the East.

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The Kings are averaging 120 points per game at home and the Knicks held them to 91 on their home court last night - 29 points under their scoring average.

I don't think we can beat the Knicks even with Robinson and Randle out - the Knicks are 15-2 with this lineup.

In his last 10 games Josh Hart is averaging 14.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while playing over 42 minutes per game. Those are borderline All-Star numbers - for a center. Hart is a 6'4" guard.

The Knicks play with incredible intensity and physicality, and not just every other game like the Cavs. I watched part of their game against the Kings last night. The Kings' announcer was talking about how physical the Knicks were and how the referees were "letting them play". She said the Knicks were definitely "built for the Eastern Conference".

The announcer said that in the years she has been covering the NBA last night was the first time she was concerned somebody was going to get hurt because the game was getting so physical and the refs had lost control.

It looked to me like there was so much fouling the refs just gave up and said we can't blow the whistle on every possession or the game will go all night. It came down to the last two minutes; the Knicks made their shots and the Kings' didn't. For the game the Kings shot 35% from the field and 27% from deep. They just missed a lot of open 3's.
 
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Other than the 3 games against Charlotte and one at home vs Memphis, a pretty rough final 15 game schedule.

March 18 - at Indiana
March 20 - Miami
March 22 - at Minnesota
March 24 - at Miami
March 25 - Charlotte
March 27 - at Charlotte
March 29 - Philly
March 31 - at Denver
April 2 - at Utah
April 3 - at Phoenix
April 6 - at Lakers
April 7 - at Clippers
April 10 - Memphis
April 12 - Indiana
April 14 - Charlotte
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
The Kings are averaging 120 points per game at home and the Knicks held them to 91 on their home court last night - 29 points under their scoring average.

I don't think we can beat the Knicks even with Robinson and Randle out - the Knicks are 15-2 with this lineup.

In his last 10 games Josh Hart is averaging 14.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while playing over 42 minutes per game. Those are borderline All-Star numbers - for a center. Hart is a 6'4" guard.

The Knicks play with incredible intensity and physicality, and not just every other game like the Cavs. I watched part of their game against the Kings last night. The Kings' announcer was talking about how physical the Knicks were and how the referees were "letting them play". She said the Knicks were definitely "built for the Eastern Conference".

The announcer said that in the years she has been covering the NBA last night was the first time she was concerned somebody was going to get hurt because the game was getting so physical and the refs had lost control.

It looked to me like there was so much fouling the refs just gave up and said we can't blow the whistle on every possession or the game will go all night. It came down to the last two minutes; the Knicks made their shots and the Kings' didn't. For the game the Kings shot 35% from the field and 27% from deep. They just missed a lot of open 3's.
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The end of the game when Brunson blew by Monk( I think that was who was guarding him) was pretty good. This Knicks Squad is legit good.

 
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Sounds like Mitchell needs a stretch off. the PRP treatment didn't do the trick.

I'd sit him until at least the West Coast road trip.

Standings be damned, we're talking about the franchise player.
 
I’d sit Mitchell for another 3 weeks. I pay garland can keep us in line to not be in the play in. You have zero chance making it out the first if Mitchell is hobbling into it
 
We have no choice but doing everything to help Mitchell get better. Problem is that if you hold him out of all the remaining games he would enter the playoffs out of shape and rusty even if he does play.

This injury is scary for a player who relies on explosion and burst. Small guards who rely on explosive acceleration generally do not age well.
 
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