“Knicks are utter trash now” – ESPN reacts to DiVincenzo drops 38 but Knicks lose to Pacers 140-12

“Knicks are utter trash now” – ESPN reacts to DiVincenzo drops 38 but Knicks lose to Pacers 140-12

Shortly and we knew this would be a challenge yep second of a back to back M major change in terms of the roster with the trade with Toronto with no RJ Barrett no Emanuel quickley and also Quinton Grimes under the weather didn’t play so the Nicks shortened their

Rotation and we knew the Pacers could have put up a lot of points and boy can they fill it up yes and and that’s what the scary part of this it was a back-to-back situation we’ve talked enough about the road and how long this team’s been on the road and how many

Road games played and all that stuff and then you have this trade happen and that shakes the team on the day of a game as well and then this game kind of gives you an idea of why exactly the Knicks made this trade they had a hard time

Keeping the Pacers in front a lot of running around a lot of scrambling and a whole lot of three-pointers that the Pacers put up and knocked down in this game that was the biggest difference in this game in that third quarter so now you understand why they looked at this

Trade as a priority important to get back to basics and get back to defensive-minded players that’s what this trade was about Nicks and the Pacers tight first half Knicks were only down by two at the half but the Pacers blew it open in the third quarter 41

Points in the third quarter for the Pacers Allen as they went eight of 13 from three in the third quarter alone it was really two players that did all the damage and certainly one of them you know like if you think about it in that quarter you had halberton with seven

Assists leading to 20 points off of assists with his own nine points as well Miles Turner though was the one getting it done from downtown as well as n Smith the two of them really got it going but it was all based off of the center of

The offense which is tyese Albert and everything that he does with the pressure puts on your defense they were lights out from downtown and the Knicks could not keep pace and that was the difference certainly in the game chasing the rest of the way all right Wally

Zerak on the game call now joins us from the court in Indianapolis Wally Tyrese halberton the first NBA player to record backtack games with at least 20 assists and John Stockton all the way back in 1992 after the game halton’s father came over and talked to you how did that go

And what did you guys talk about it went really well I told him my apologies that was not my finest hour when I called his son I WN toe fake Allstar he is an absolute Superstar and he showed it today it was on display John halberton

Was a great guy he said don’t worry about it we’ve all had moments like that and we forgive you my man uh and he he said I do a good job on TV so I really appreciated that but overall you know that was a big time performance by him

Nicks shot the ball really well Dante dienzo was absolutely outstanding Nicks were really under Mann in this one it’s been a tough road trip tough backto back that’s a good team over there that can really shoot the basketball score the basketball I have a lot of respect for

The 23 23 threes they hit on 41 attempts that is outstanding skill basketball and offensive basketball and um you know the Knicks now with this new trade it’s going to be New Horizons and uh excited to see the game on January 1 for the debut hopefully of all those players

Being ready to roll well I’ll give you credit for facing the music in that situation too right with Halbert and looking at you and all that stuff and I know from experience that you’re a guy that doesn’t mind trash talk so again all that stuff happens and you know it’s

All about the game and All About the Passion for the game but with this game when you watch that third quarter and you saw how halberton is just kind of the center but what makes it work are guys like n Smith and Miles Turner just knocking down three after three that

Third it felt like an avalanche it was an absolute Avalanche and you know it if you if you dish it out you got to be willing to take it and you know I’ve had my share of losses you bounce back and you figure out a way to bounce back from

Things that happen in life and you use adversity to motivate you but getting back to the game they were outstanding through the way they shot the ball Aaron n Smith has really found a home here in Indiana he’s an outstanding Defender that can guard multiple positions playing alongside Tyrese halberton who

What I respect so much about him as as a point guard he passes the ball right on target to his Shooters so that makes it so easy to just go right into your shot release and knock down that shot and he just didn’t miss from that right corner

And then Miles Turner also as a big man he can stretch the floor and makes it really tough with Halbert and flying off his screens you have to give a little bit of help and then when he kicks it over to Turner Turner was just cashing in with those deep triples and that

Third quarter is where the game got away for the Knicks and what you say too Wally as you watched again that the Knicks first of all short-handed as we know but also how difficult it is to guard a team like the Pacers who you got

To keep them in front you got to have the ability to switch and all those things close out does it kind of like remind you of you see now why they wanted to make this trade why they wanted to go get themselves a defensive a high-end defensive player to help them

At that end of the floor that’s what it’s going to do it really is what it’s going to do you lost your rim protector and one of the primary you know interior defenders in the NBA with what he can do to help you on the defensive end of the

Floor and Mitchell Robinson for the year and you get a a little bit of help in that spot with precious auua and also one of the elite Wing defenders in ogan anobi he’s a guy that you could slide over to guard Tyrese halberton for a bit I think the Knicks also missed Quinton

Grimes Quinton Grimes has done a great job on halberton in the past when he’s had the opportunity to guard him because he has that type of size and speed to fight through those screens and make his life difficult but overall this is a you know a loss for the Knicks they got to

Move on they got a lot of work to do to integrate these new players into the system in short amount of time and the Knicks have to start looking forward and try to figure out a way to start winning games and being able to match up with

Teams that can score the basketball and shoot the basketball like this well the expectation as you mentioned is that the new Knicks will make their debut New Year’s Day New Year’s afternoon against Minnesota and we know that Minnesota is the top team in the west what do you

Expect on New Year’s Day against the Timberwolves well the Timberwolves beat us pretty good up there in Minnesota in the Target Center so the Knicks are going to have to try to respond try to even that series they have some film on how to possibly stop them this Timberwolves team obviously the best

Defensive team in the league so it’s going to be tough to score the basketball and the Knicks are going to have to find a way to get a win you know they’ve lost three in a row uh they want to stop this losing streak the schedule’s been against them they’ve

Been on the road they’ve only had three games in December they got the best team in the west coming into their building they got to defend home court got to start feeding off those fans and finding a way to end this losing Street can get

A win on Monday all right Wally have a great frit back and happy New Year buddy you too guys I miss you all right we’ll see you soon all right uh one of the reasons I think behind the trade of RJ Barrett and Emanuel quickley is the confidence that with more minutes Dante

Dienzo may be able to elevate his game tonight season High 36 minutes by far his best game in the NBA uniform with 38 points he goes 15 of 21 from the floor and hit a seven uh 73 that’s career high yeah we keep forgetting that this was a

Guy who was a starter for the bucks in the year that they won their Championship now he got hurt early in that playoff and didn’t finish the season wasn’t there when they won the title but he was on a team that was a great team in the NBA throughout the

Regular season so he can start with really good players and he can be very productive he does have experience playing with Jaylen Brunson they already have that comfort zone between the two of them knowing each other all the way back to Villanova since he has moved into the starting lineup he has slowly

But surely got more and more comfortable and now he comes off of an 0 for five from downtown poor shooting night the night before in Orlando gets right back to it knocking down seven of 11 from downtown getting to the basket finishing 38 points career high playing 36 minutes

Is very productive very efficient also the four steals let not Overlook the defensive end as well so his fit with the starting five continues to develop and so the Knicks do feel very comfortable with him as a starter and we again new player to this team and not

Somebody that everybody in the NBA knows a lot about but don’t forget that he was a starter on a very good Bucks team just a couple of years ago now we talked in the pregame and it’s worth repeating what will a bench scoring look like without Emanuel quickley now tonight is

Not a great sample because Grimes was out and you’re short-handed but that could be a real challenge going forward scoring Off the Bench look with this trade with all the things we’ve talked about on the good side of the impact it should have and you expect to see it

Have the analytics tell you anobi fit is a terrific fit with the starting five what a chea can give you as a backup four and five as well those are good pieces but the biggest question mark of this trade will be Emanuel Quickly’s production who is going to step up now

And fill that void bench scoring in the NBA is critical those moments those minutes early second quarter late third quarter early fourth quarter those are critical minutes for bench players and if you don’t have somebody that can come off your bench and get you buckets that’s a struggle for you tonight it was

Proven Evan for Led You in scoring with 10 points Off the Bench you just didn’t have anybody to do that who is that going to be going forward for playing and only his second game all season Josh Hart by the way was a starter so his numbers didn’t factor into the bench

Contributions but Hart was excellent tonight with 10 and 10 Towery your tower has Destroyed team our Tower is under attack your tower has destroyed our base is under attack destroyed a tower drag and evolv have spawned an ally has been defeated have defeated an enemy enemy KY fore Spe you have been defeated our base Tower is under attack your tower has destroyed you have defeated an enemy your team has destroyed a tower your team destroyed a tower your team destroyed an enemy has defeated an enemy has defeated kill your team has destroyed a tower an ally has defeated enemy

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“Knicks are utter trash now” – ESPN reacts to DiVincenzo drops 38 but Knicks lose to Pacers 140-12