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New York (1-5) heads to Detroit (3-5) tonight to see if they can get the whole team going, rather than one player at a time. It’s pretty obvious at this point that the only tinkering left un-tinkered is the Marcus Morris and Julius Randle combination. David Fizdale has come under scrutiny for being a dolt about putting meaningless minutes on RJ Barrett’s odometer. But... RJ has been good! If you need to get someone going, maybe give them those garbage minutes when your team is down by 69 points and the hoop might look a little bigger. Not the critical minutes when it’s still a ball game. Call me craze.
turn out both Wiz & Pistons think USA is run by a parlimentary system & therefore are waiting to see which prime minister candidate is able to cobble together a coalition governement
— Kim Thong iLL (@wzzntzz) November 5, 2019
Do you know the Knicks’ political bent? I bet they fall on the British side of the Flagstaff War because pfff who cares, I dunno, I heard of those fools, not them other fools. Except for Frank Ntilikina, who rightly sides with Hōne Heke and the Kororāreka village. He’s a big Te Haratua fan and, in general, has a soft spot for all Māori people.
The Pistons are coming off a thumping at the hands of the Wizards but have beaten the Nets and the Pacers twice. Solid wins for a rather depleted squad. Perhaps a sign of good things to come for Detroit. They still have this ox.
Projected Starters
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I mean. I hope Mitchell Robinson starts. He’s the team’s second-best player. Can I finally have my Ntilikina, Wayne Ellington, Barrett, Kevin Knox, Mitchell lineup tonight? Please? Can they get 15 minutes together? Is it possible?
Blake Griffin has yet to make his season debut, but he’s getting close. Which is too bad because the Knicks could use a nice matchup against someone who isn’t quite up to game speed yet. Reggie Jackson, Derrick Rose and Tim Frazier are all out for the Pistons as well. This moves springy wing, Bruce Brown, down to the point where he’ll be a lively defender but not the most astute playmaker. That is manna for Frank Ntilikina, who might be able to force some live ball turnovers if Bruce is loose.
New York will be without basically everyone because David Fizdale only wants to play RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Marcus Morris.
Key Matchups & Predictions
The Morris family reunion is probably tons of fun. Markieff and Marcus, up to their old twin hijinks, tricking their Aunt into giving them more butterscotch candies. She knows, but plays along anyway.
Langston Galloway is sure to light up his former team. I’m sure he’ll score double digits in the first half with at least one buzzer beater. Then he’ll go nuts in the fourth quarter when Fizdale gives up on Frank Ntilikina in favor of Allono Trier. Zo will refuse to close out on Galloway, instead try to bait him to drive an open lane with hopes of getting a block at the rim. Langston will happily raise up from the wing and bury successive triples.
Knicks by -17.
Warm Up Music
This could be a real metal on metal game. Bone on bone, if I may. No Jordan Bone pun intended. Just an obnoxious reference to the degradation of a young person’s knees.