Knicks and Nets conclude preseason ahead of next week’s opening night
The Knicks and Nets played their final preseason games last night (Wednesday) and will continue their preparation for next week’s opening night when play takes on greater significance.
The Knicks hosted the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden and the Nets were in Miami to take on the defending Eastern Conference champion Heat. The Knicks and Nets were both 1-2 before their final games.
The Knicks lost twice to the Boston Celtics, including a 123-110 defeat on Tuesday night on the road and the Nets fell to the Philadelphia 76ers 127-119 on Monday evening at the Barclays Center. Nets star forward Mikal Bridges did not play but the team’s potential X-factor, Ben Simmons, logged 29 minutes, while posting 8 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds.
The glaring flaw was the 27-year-old Simmons’ eight turnovers playing his usual point-forward role.
An encouraging sign for the Nets is that he appears to be healthy after dealing with back injuries for the past several seasons. He was limited to 42 games last season with a nerve issue in his back and since being drafted No. 1 overall by the 76ers in 2016, he has played in only 317 regular season games out of a possible 574.
At highest level of play, Simmons has earned three All-Star game selections (2019-2021), All-NBA Third Team honors (2020), two NBA All-Defensive First Team spots (2020, 2021) and was named the 2018 Rookie of the Year after missing the entire the 2016-17 season due to a broken right foot.
Along with Simmons, the Nets as a whole were careless with the basketball versus Philadelphia, committing 27 turnovers to the Sixers 10. Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn was also disturbed by what he viewed as a lack of collective sustained intensity.
“I said to some assistant coaches earlier today is I really want this team to be known for playing hard, and that starts now,” said Vaughn. “It doesn’t start versus Cleveland the first game of the year…I should never have to go into one of our huddles, timeouts, talk about effort and playing hard.”
The Nets will start the regular season at home next Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Knicks will also be at home next Wednesday to begin the regular season when they’ll face the Celtics. Three of their four preseason games have been at the Garden. Last Saturday at MSG, the Knicks took a 121-112 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
RJ Barrett, who like Simmons could be the difference in the Knicks taking a step up and becoming a serious threat to the East’s top teams—currently the Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks– or being stagnant, led them in points and minutes played with 23 and 26 respectively.
In Tuesday’s loss to the Celtics, Quentin Grimes was the Knicks’ top scorer with 22. He and Robinson were the only two regular starters that saw time. Barrett, Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson were held out by head coach Tom Thibodeau.
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