Game thread: New York Knicks vs San Antonio Spurs 1/10/2021 7:30pm [Game #41]

The playoff fates of NBA teams aren't normally determined by a single nonconference game.

But whether or not the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs advance to the play-in tournament -- or beyond -- could be determined Monday night, when the Knicks are slated to host the Spurs in the final meeting of the season between the teams.

Both teams are coming off road losses that further weakened their grips on 10th place -- and the final berth to the play-in tournament -- in their respective conferences. The Knicks fell to the Boston Celtics 99-75 on Saturday while the Spurs will be completing a back-to-back set after losing to the Brooklyn Nets, 121-119, in overtime on Sunday afternoon.

The 75 points scored set a season low for the Knicks, who were routed just two days after they stormed back from a 25-point deficit -- their biggest comeback in more than 17 years -- to stun the Celtics 108-105. The loss Saturday dropped New York back into a tie with Boston for 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

The home-and-home split with the Celtics also continued a lengthy pattern of inconsistency for the Knicks, who are 14-20 since opening the season 5-1. New York has won consecutive games just twice in that span, though both instances -- a three-game winning streak and a two-game run -- have come amid a 5-3 stretch that began on Christmas Day.

"To win on the road, you have to play for 48 minutes," Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said after New York fell to 10-10 away from Madison Square Garden. "And we didn't do that."

The road has been unkind lately to the Spurs, who are 1-5 on a seven-game road trip that is scheduled to conclude Monday night. San Antonio earned its lone win on the trek last Wednesday, when it hung on for a 99-97 win over the Celtics after Jaylen Brown missed a layup just before the buzzer.

The Spurs almost earned a second win in resourceful fashion Sunday, when they outscored the Nets 10-0 over the final 4:01 of the fourth quarter and had the ball with a chance to win the game at the buzzer. But Keita Bates-Diop couldn't convert a tap-in alley-oop in the final second of regulation.

In overtime, the Spurs went scoreless on six possessions with the game tied. They couldn't get a shot off after Kevin Durant fed Cam Thomas for the Nets' tie-breaking basket in the lane with 1.4 seconds remaining in the extra session.

"If you wish and could make your wish come true, you don't want (Durant) shooting the last shot, that's for sure," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said afterward. "But we let (Thomas) go middle."

The loss dropped the Spurs to 15-24 and officially left them tied for 10th place in the Western Conference with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Game preview courtesy of:
--Field Level Media

(STATS / cbssports.com)

Down 3 points after the 1st quarter. Looking like its going to be a close game much of the way

Randle tells fans to STFU then scores 2 points in first half next home game?

SA played Nets last night? Pops has a small rotation, with depleted roster? 2 big guns played heavy minutes late night?. Hang in there and go pull away in the 4th?.

SA bench out scores our bench in first half. Unacceptable. IQ, Grimes, Toppin. Calling you out! Better be better in second half.

Enjoying a Pop coached team, Kiya?

Thanks for the Game Thread Rady .. The Spurs are a tricky team, this may be the 3rd consecutive season the Spurs miss the playoffs.

Half-Time .. Knicks 51 - Spurs 49
I missed the first half of the game ....
The Knicks are running a 9 Man rotation
While Spurs coach Pop runs a 10 Man rotation

The Best ball-movement team may win tonight !!!

RJ Barrett seems to like playing against the Spurs. The fans were cheering for him saying his name towards the end of the 2nd quarter. Then Julius air balled a 3 as time ran out and the fans were groaning lol

Randle set the bar higher for himself last year. If anything i think the fans have been slightly lenient on him

Barrett need to do more passing like the Dime to Taj, and start throwing the ball above the rim for MitchRob & Obi

Excellent block by Barrett.

Bout Time somebody throws the ball to OBI on offense, he been on the court for 5 min

The Knicks keeping the lead throughout the 3rd qtr. says "A Knicks WIN !!!"

Obi is fast like Sonic the hedgehog running the court. He has a tremendous physique (pause)

Gotta love the way RJ played tonight. I just hope to see him be more consistent

KingCharles34 said:

RJ Barrett seems to like playing against the Spurs. The fans were cheering for him saying his name towards the end of the 2nd quarter. Then Julius air balled a 3 as time ran out and the fans were groaning lol

Randle set the bar higher for himself last year. If anything i think the fans have been slightly lenient on him

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JR still our best player, 8 30 plus pt games compared to RJs 4 this season. Fans love RJ though, Harlow asked him how he feels about the RJ Barrett chants and he said he loves them, who wouldn?t LOL.

One thing about JR he?s played the most minutes of anyone in the league since the start of last season.

RJ Barrett somehow still only 21-years-old. Not even close to his prime and he is starting to show his elite scorer potential. If he can get more consistent, we?re in business.

RJ with his second thirty point plus game vs SA this season. Methinks Pops plan is to take away JR and let RJ beat them.

2-0.

Thanks.

RJ wants to be great and has NBA physique. Barrett at 25 should be a nice piece on a winning team.

I'm Curious, it looked like Fournier were the go to guy from tip-off, and was suppose to have a high scoring game. I don't understand why Thibs took Fournier out of the game seconds after Fournier hit a 3-ball in the 3rd qtr., and never put him back in the game?

mafra said:

RJ with his second thirty point plus game vs SA this season. Methinks Pops plan is to take away JR and let RJ beat them.

2-0.

Thanks.

RJ wants to be great and has NBA physique. Barrett at 25 should be a nice piece on a winning team.

Click to expand...

If SA offered Dejonte Murray for RJ would you trade RJ? Didn?t realize he was having the kind of year he was having until Breen and Clyde talked about him on the broadcast. In the past I called him a baller defensive beast but he?s expanded his game to become a decent scorer facilitator.

tiger0330 said:

If SA offered Dejonte Murray for RJ would you trade RJ? Didn?t realize he was having the kind of year he was having until Breen and Clyde talked about him on the broadcast. In the past I called him a baller defensive beast but he?s expanded his game to become a decent scorer facilitator.

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Yes-Yes .. Pops 5th season coaching Murray has made Murray into a all-around NBA Star PG ..
Pops would probably trade Murray for LaMelo Ball, but never for Barrett's type of performance.
Plus the Knicks need a young leadership PG having Murray's type of smooth skills with teammates.
This season Pops Spurs dont have a scoring Bigman !!!

Murray missed a year with injury. Looks like he?s hitting his prime? he?s 25?.

I wonder what RJ looks like at 25.

RJ beat Murray tonight, despite being 4 years younger?.

I?m using my RJ chip for a true star? not a guy who I believe will become a star.

mafra said:

Randle tells fans to STFU then scores 2 points in first half next home game?

SA played Nets last night? Pops has a small rotation, with depleted roster? 2 big guns played heavy minutes late night?. Hang in there and go pull away in the 4th?.

Click to expand...

Atleast when Javy Baez told fans to be quiet, he went on to bat over .300, play gold glove defense and dominate the bases (running, tags, steals). He was one of the hottest players in the MLB after that drama


Randle is a soft. He had this problem in LA, where he given the benefit of the doubt because he was young, but at 27, Randle is still soft and feels entitled to offense.

Even if Randle gets hot, plays well...I'm just not interested anymore in the idea of Randle being a catalyst for our team. His attitude and entitlement grosses me out. His apology for his actions also don't do it for me, just seems like a move to save his PR.

Knicks won, but what directon are we heading?

1. edge into the playoffs as a play in seed, lose first round and continue the cycle of Treadmill Basketball?
2. slightly might the playoffs and end up with a late lottery pick


Being in the middle is the worst. I don't believe we win 5 games over .500 I was wrong last year because I gave up on the team before Rose arrived and changed how we played, I may be wrong again. But we not even a playoff team 8-10 seed without Rose/Walker. Barrett will improved (Barrett doubters always been wrong, Barrett will continue to drop more 30 points and do well on defense, he's our best player when Rose is out)