By Jake Brown
After losing six straight games and eight of nine, the Knicks all of a sudden have won three straight games after beating the Grizzlies Sunday night, 103-98.
The Knicks came into Wednesday night's game against the Celtics at 4-14 with a long road ahead. They had a dominant double digit win in Boston Wednesday. They came home to win a tight game against the Pelicans Friday. Then they go on the road against the 12-6 Grizzlies and won in gutsy fashion Sunday. It's only three games, but what a turnaround it's been for the Knicks...even if they are still 7-14 on the season.
Emmanuel Mudiay threw down a facial with an and one to go with it, which turned out to be the dagger for the Knicks Sunday night. Mudiay has been tremendous of late as he dropped 17 points Sunday, following his 27-point sensational game Friday. Enes Kanter was a machine Sunday, finishing with 21 points and 26 rebounds. Trey Burke only shot 3 of 15 from the field, but he was 8 of 8 from the line and made a couple big shots down the stretch to seal the Knicks win. Tim Hardaway Jr. led all Knicks scorers with 22. Allonzo Trier also was in double figures with 10 points. David Fizdale has to be ecstatic beating Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies, the team that fired him 15 games into a season after he took them to the playoffs the season prior.
The down side tonight? Frank Ntilikina only played 13 minutes, Mitchell Robinson played 13, and Kevin Knox only played seven minutes. Some of the young guys that will be a big part of the Knicks future have been wildly inconsistent, but it's all part of the growing process. They aren't going to play 30-plus minutes every single night. Robinson is so young and so raw that he wouldn't be on any roster in the NBA. The only thing he can do on the offensive end is dunk. There will be nights that those three guys might not be on.
Fans need to realize that Coach Fizdale is not just getting paid to develop players and play the young guys. Ownership wants him to win games. As much as this is supposed to be and it will be a "tank" season, you still coach to win basketball games. If certain guys are on and others are not, you play the guys who are on. While some could be mad those sub-21-year-olds aren't always getting a ton of minutes, it is all part of the process, and nobody should expect a coach to coach to lose games. That's just not how it goes.
The Knicks will look to make it four straight wins Tuesday night in Detroit against the 10-7 Pistons.
You can follow Jake on Twitter @JakeBrownRadio.
