Before their season opener last night, the New York Knicks raised the banner on their 2026 title, their first in 53 years. Between that and their bangingly blinging championship rings, the ceremony was top-flight stuff, an A-plus.
What about what came after? The main event? We've got grades for that, too. Spoiler: nobody got an A after losing 106-100 to Philadelphia.
Josh Hart: B
A little bit of everything from New York's MacGyver, though unfortunately not enough to pull out the win. Not an easy matchup for Hart as an undersized power forward against a team whose smallest frontcourt starter is Jaylen Brown. Bonus points as always for doing all that he does on an irrevocably warped ring finger.
Jose Alvarado: B
Not a heavy dose of minutes, but effective in small doses. Had the crowd buzzing in the second quarter after one of his patented backcourt steals led to a 3. Was out there for a lot of the biggest minutes, but couldn't quite make the magic happen.
Andre Drummond: B-
First-half double-doubles are impressive, and Drummond's 71 are more than anyone, ever. If Mitchell Robinson were still a Knick and put up 12 points, 14 rebounds (7 offensive), four assists and a couple blocks, many an ode would be dedicated to that effort. So how come Drummond doesn't grade higher?
First, because Drummond has a bit of the Enes Kanter to him, meaning roughly 50% of his offensive rebounds are him rebounding his own misses, given how often he gets his shot blocked and how imprecise a good deal of his follow-ups are. So the counting numbers get a bit inflated.
And it's not just what Drummond put up (or didn't), it's how he did (or didn't). He's a perfectly capable backup big. But he's replacing an exceptional one in Robinson. So it was hard not to notice how many times Drummond didn't finish at the rim when Mitch would have. Drummond failed to finish an alley-oop because he didn't have the hops for it. He was repeatedly stuffed down low because he can't jump quickly enough to power through; he went for lay-ups where Robinson would have dunked it.
To be fair, most of Drummond's struggles came in the fourth, when he wasn't the lead option but had to step in for Towns, who was in foul trouble. If the Knicks get something close to a double-double from him and he's using his big frame to set screens and make the opposition feel him, they'll live with any inadequacies around the iron. But they'd be happier still with less rebounding his own misses and more finishing strong the first time around.
Karl-Anthony Towns: B-
The Knicks' two centers combined for 31 points, 26 rebounds and four blocked shots. And yet the thought that wouldn't leave my head through most of it was, "James Wiseman better be ready this season." A lot of that had to do with Towns being so Towns-y.
KAT shouldn't have anything left to prove to the Knicks as he seeks the last big contract of his playing career. One question he invites is whether the higher level of play he ascended to last postseason was an exception or the new rule. For much of the playoffs, Towns avoided the ridiculous fouls that have over the years limited him more than any opponent. Last night, he didn't. With all the numbers that get scrutinized, analyzed, there's the big one: if Towns plays 34 minutes instead of 24, the Knicks probably win.
Jalen Brunson: C
Brunson was millimeters away from earning a B. Of the 13 shots he missed, about half bounced around the rim looking good but not falling. Wasn't able to facilitate as much as he usually does. Earned a grin and a groan in the fourth after drawing a charging foul on a full-speed, long-runway Maxey. Not a performance you'd group alongside last year's playoff efforts, but if there's a Knick none need concern themselves with, it's the captain.
Landry Shamet: C
Whether his shot's falling or not, you tend to know what you're going to get from Shamet as far as effort and intensity. Maybe deserved a slightly lower mark, but gets extra points for not backing down from the challenge of guarding LeBron and for getting in Embiid's face after some unappreciated bonus physicality.
Jordan Clarkson: C
No, he didn't do much. No, he wasn't given much of a chance to. No, that's not his fault. No, it's also not to his credit.
Miles McBride: C-
McBride didn't play his usual amount of time. Probably because he did so little with the time he was given. Even on a night so many of their guards struggled, the Knicks are too deep there to suffer any one of their struggles for long. Could Deuce's contract uncertainty be weighing on him?
OG Anunoby: D
There was talk in the preseason that if OG could average around 20 a game, he could be an All-Star for the first time. Last night he scored half that, missed eight of nine 3s and had a -20 rating, nearly as bad as the rest of the starters combined. LeBron and Brown are a tougher forward pair than most. If Anunoby is going to approach that level, he needs to return to starring on D instead of earning one.
Mikal Bridges: D
In 33 minutes Bridges took just eight shots, missing six. He didn't make a 3, didn't have a steal. He didn't attempt a free throw, the only one of the game's 10 starters not to. Bridges' place in Knick history is secure after his play the past two postseasons. If New York's title defense is to improve from here, they'll need Bridges to, too.
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