The New York Knicks defeated the Washington Wizards 114-92 on Friday night in DC. That will likely worry some Knicks fans as it drops the Knicks behind the Wiz and to 11th place in the draft lottery standings. Washington finishes its season with the Hornets on Sunday, so there’s little chance they’ll end up in a tie with the Knicks again in the standings.
Oh well. I’m sure head coach Tom Thibodeau will speak about the never-say-die spirit of his side, who played to win even if the season was lost. After watching this game I would say that this is mostly bullshit. The Wizards seeded Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kristaps Porzingis, relying instead on some of their younger players like Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija. The Knicks wiped the floor with Washington on Friday night because their young duo of Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley are much better.
Obi and IQ stole the show in DC. Hachimura showed a good game with 21 points. But he was no match for Toppin, who posted a career-high 35 points on 14-22 shooting.
The new and much-improved Obi-Springer worked overtime sinking 6 of 9 from beyond the arc.
IQ won’t make as many headlines, but he was clinically ruthless on his way to a 23-point, 10-assist, and 6-rebound performance. The IQ-Obi connection was unstoppable.
The only black spot in the game, aside from the tanking stuff, is the fact that RJ Barrett apparently injured his knee late in the second quarter. He didn’t play the second half and I’d be surprised if we saw him play in the season finale on Sunday. Hail, RJ. And let’s hope you get many more minutes with IQ and Obi next season.