The New York Knicks Need To Stop Playing With Immanuel Quickley by Starting To Play Him

*All Numbers Courtesy of PBP Stats*

In a key matchup between two playoff worthy opponents, the Oklahoma City Thunder walked away with a 129-120 victory against the New York Knicks, pushing them to a 20-9 record, the 6th team in the league to eclipse 20 wins this season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams will rightfully dominate the headlines of this game, combining for 72 points, each scoring 36.

However, Immanuel Quickley deserves immense credit for his spectacular play in the 4th (and the game at large), scoring half of New York's points in the opening 8 minutes of the final stanza.

First off a silky floater gliding baseline. Then getting to the line after drawing Chet Holmgren out on a switch and drawing contact with a pump fake. Next, a pull-up 3 after a pitch and screen from Josh Hart in the slot opposite the benches. Quickley would probe baseline again a few plays later, drawing harder help after his earlier foray, dishing the rock to Isaiah Hartenstein in roaming in the dunker spot. Quickley would attack baseline again, run off the line into a smooth push shot to draw the Knicks back within two possessions.

That would be his last field goal attempt of the game, finishing with 22 points before being subbed out for the last time with 4 minutes remaining in the game, the Thunder up 7. He'd largely carried the offense for those 8 minutes, 11 of New York's 17 points scored directly by or assisted on by him.

At the 4:21 mark, Jalen Williams isolated at the top of the break in early offense, receiving a ghost screen from Gilgeous-Alexander, then taking Quickley off the bounce and getting to his pull-up jumper from 11 feet out. Quickley slid and mirrored well, contesting all the way, but the difference in both strength and length between the two in favor of Williams stood out (not for the first time this game).

That play is my assumption as to why Knicks Head Coach, Tom Thibodeau, sat Quickley for the remainder of the game in favor for RJ Barrett, who had not yet gone to the scorers' table: It was the play, as noted postgame.

To be fair to Barrett, I do not think this Thibs' decision to rock with Barrett late should be used against RJ. He didn't have a great game, but he had his moments and I can understand the logic in the moment. However, when zooming out from the moment, there just has not been much data or film to backup this decision, and it's one we've seen countless times this season.

This is not about Barrett, this is about Quickley.

As Ben (Great follow and someone you should listen to on hoops!) notes above, I concur: Quickley certainly was outmatched from a size and length standpoint, but when factoring in the entire package he brings nightly, but particularly tonight on and off the ball on either end, he was vital to New York. Quickley is New York's best off-ball defender by a country mile, and despite his stature, I'd comfortably say their best all around on ball defender as well. "Best" does not always account for or encompass how matchups change goodness/value, but the buckets given up with him off the court stood out.

They were simple rotations blown, a half second caught sleeping in early offense, dying on a screen... they stand out when they're missed, not when they're made consistently.

Quickley has, by every metric and point of viewing, been one of the 3 or 4 best players on the Knicks this season, making his minutes load and role all the more confusing, highlighted last night. He's 6th on the team in minutes per game, both before and after Mitchell Robinson's unfortunate season-ending injury. While it could be construed as understandable to spot start a bigger player at the 2, that has not played out by the numbers.

While the new starting lineup (Brunson/DiVincenzo/Barrett/Randle/Hartenstein) has been potent offensively, they've been blitzed on the defensive end, currently mustering a 128.7 defensive rating that squanders the 126 pp/100 possessions they're scoring. 86 minutes of time played as a unit is not a massive sample size, but paired with what we've seen, it has not looked good.

Here is the main point to be made: The Knicks need to lean into Brunson and Quickley as a duo.

They score at a rate that would lead the league as an individual offense, averaging 125.8 pp/100 possessions (363 minutes played) while holding up defensively much better than their collective size would lead you to believe: They allow 114.2 pp/100 possessions when they share the court, which would slot in at slightly above league average defense at the time of writing (the LA Clippers are 12th in defense with a 114.1 defensive rating).

Their two player game works so well when it actually gets run, Quickley a dynamic screener and spacer who can pry open extra space for Brunson in the sometimes gummed up Knicks offense that operates os much out the mid-post. Brunson's on-ball ability paves the way for Quickley to attack the second side of a defense, where he's at his best both as a scorer and facilitator.

Are they perfect? By no means, but they play at a near elite level when they share the court, so why does it matter.

They've shared the court for just 25.9% of their minutes this season, a vexing number to look at and comprehend. It is understandable to stagger your two best guards; it is damning to stagger them to the point of dampening the potency they provide.

This is a good Knicks team, something I've been quick to remind NBA fans at large, but they so painfully are clearly capable of more and have fragged themselves out of their bets pairings. I mentioned earlier that Quickley is 6th in minutes per game this season, a step down from 4th in the pecking order after both the lineup reduction and trade for Josh Hart last season. What I failed to mention was the substantial decrease in his minutes, playing just 23.9 minutes per game, 5 less than last year's average (he played roughly 31 mpg after the calendar shift last season).

He's been more aggressive this season, getting up a near equal number of shots despite the minutes decrease. He's getting to the free throw line at a higher rate. He's shooting a career high from 3. He's seen a massive jump in how often he's assisted inside the arc, a testament to his off-ball movement and floor savvy (39.1% of his 2's are assisted compared to 26.3% last season). He's having the most efficient season of his career.

Point blank, Immanuel Quickley has done nearly everything right this season, at least with respect to what he can control.

The Knicks have depth throughout their roster, but they lack balance, as there isn't a true combo forward or bigger wing they can rely on to link lineups and add some defensive connectivity. Those players are hard to find. They're not easy to trade for. They're essential for taking the next step as a team.

It's also essential to maximize your best and brightest players to hit the highest levels of who you are as a team in the moment: The Knicks are not doing that with Quickley, their best homegrown and drafted prospect.

Hopefully, the Knicks have another mid-season revelation, finding ways to centralize Quickley, although it bears repeating that we already passed that Rubicon at this time last season.

With his Restricted Free Agency upcoming this off-season, it's paramount that New York figures out what it is that they want this season to become. I don't mean to sound defeatist, but without Mitchell Robinson, the postseason outlook is not the same. They are still a real threat in the first round, a group that can make things interesting, but Mitch was largely their second best player during last year's run. He dominated the Cavaliers on either end.

I've praised Leon Rose's tenure consistently: This is THE situation they cannot afford to dawdle with and make a mistake. Either you recognize Quickley as an essential part of the core and insure that he's factored in in that way, or you make a move that answers the questions that have led to the repeated misuse of Quickley as a player.

The Knicks are good, they're solid, but they could be better, and internal decisions are holding them back on the court.