Collapse, failure, disappointment. Those are three words describing the New York Knicks’ performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday evening. New York regularly dominated bad teams prior to losing to Minnesota, falling by just one point, bringing up a problem that has plagued the team this season. While the Knicks play suffocating defense, their offense has been lackluster, and their ability to hit clutch shots at the end of games is non-existent.
Even All-Star Julius Randle has struggled to put away buckets to finish off games, but Minnesota, who has won just 12 games this season, had a plan in mind to beat a Knicks team who previously lost a tough matchup against the Miami Heat.
The Knicks had the final possession of the game, an opportunity to win a close one and extract a victory against a team that had won 11 games prior to their win over New York. Minnesota small forward Anthony Edwards made an interesting statement after the game, indicating they desperately wanted RJ Barrett to be the one with the final shot.
“We told Jaden [McDaniels] try not let Randle catch the ball, we’re going to make someone else beat us,†Edwards after the game. “Gladly RJ caught it and if he made the shot, we would’ve lived with it. Because that’s who we wanted taking the shot. We didn’t want anyone else taking it.â€
The Knicks need a clutch shooter:
The Timberwolves got the ball in the hands of RJ, who threw up a shot on a step-back jumper that nearly air-balled. While Barrett was fantastic in the game, scoring 23 points and hitting on 8-of-17 shots and 3-of-4 from downtown, entrusting him with the final bullet was always optimistic.
Barrett is better when driving to the rim, utilizing his fantastic speed and strength to outmuscle defenders. Despite hitting on 75% of his three-point attempts in the game, he’s not an elite shooter. The Timberwolves wanted to keep the ball away from Randle, who was shooting over 50% and is one of the game’s best baseline shooters.
Ultimately, this loss brings up a major problem, the Knicks’ inability to hit clutch shots. Just recently, they lost to the 76ers twice and the Brooklyn Nets on close-possession games, and eventually, the Knicks will have to add a player who has ice in his veins.
It could end up in Barrett or even rookie Immanuel Quickley one day, but they can’t wait around to find out if they want to be a playoff-contending squad.