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SI:AM | The Knicks Are for Real

Plus, a blockbuster baseball trade.

In this story:

New York Knicks
New York Knicks

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. The Baltimore Orioles really wasted no time making a big move after announcing that the team would be sold, huh?

In today’s SI:AM:

🇺🇦 ​​The tennis player fighting for his country

🐦 The Orioles’ blockbuster trade

🏈 Ranking NFL coaching hires

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Watch out for the Knicks

Last night’s game against the Indiana Pacers looked like it’d be a tough one for the New York Knicks. With four key players (Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Quentin Grimes and Mitchell Robinson) sidelined due to injuries, the shorthanded Knicks had their work cut out for them against a good Pacers team.

But the remaining healthy Knicks, led by burgeoning star Jalen Brunson, banded together to come away with a 109–105 victory. Brunson dropped 40 points on 15-of-30 shooting, his fifth 40-point game of the season, and was showered with chants of “MVP!” from the Madison Square Garden crowd during his postgame interview that left him speechless.

Brunson has been excellent ever since arriving in New York. When he was signed to a four-year, $104 million contract before last season, it was a move that was widely mocked. He had primarily been a bench player during his time with the Dallas Mavericks but caught fire during the playoffs right before he entered free agency and parlayed that success into a contract that many believed was an overpay. But Brunson has thrived as the centerpiece of the Knicks’ offense alongside Randle. He averaged a career-best 24.0 points per game last season and has upped that number to 27.1 per game this year, leading to his first career All-Star selection.

But as critical as Brunson is to the team’s success, last night also showed the Knicks’ impressive depth. The injuries to Randle and Robinson have thrust Precious Achiuwa and Isaiah Hartenstein into starting roles, and both players showed out against Indiana. Hartenstein collected 19 rebounds, while Achiuwa had 16. That, along with Josh Hart’s 12 boards, translated to a 60–44 rebounding advantage for the Knicks. (Achiuwa also had two blocks and four steals, while Hartenstein contributed six assists.)

“I thought they gave us great minutes and a lot of toughness,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of his big men. “The rim protection was really good. I thought Precious, he had a tough matchup all night [against Pascal Siakam]. Initially, we didn’t know how much he was going to be able to play at the four, and he’s doing a terrific job.

“Isaiah is getting his rhythm back, a number of great hustle plays. … We’re asking them to do a lot, and Josh is playing every position on the floor. I don’t know what he is. He’s just a basketball player, and that’s what makes him great for us.”

The Knicks also got important contributions from backup point guard Miles McBride, who played 29 minutes, just his third time this season seeing more than 22 minutes of action. He had 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting.

The injuries are a serious hit to the Knicks’ frontcourt, but Hartenstein, Achiuwa and Hart are softening the blow. Anunoby is dealing with elbow inflammation, which is not considered serious, while Randle dislocated his shoulder last Saturday and will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks. Robinson’s injury is the biggest question mark. He was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his ankle in early December and was initially expected to miss the rest of the season. The Knicks then applied for a Disabled Player Exception to clear $7.8 million in salary cap space, but their request was denied, and Robinson is now working toward a return. When healthy, Robinson is a force on the inside, excelling as a rebounder and shot blocker, even if his offense leaves something to be desired.

With the win, the Knicks improved to 32–17 on the season, good for third in the Eastern Conference and just a half-game behind the second-place Milwaukee Bucks. They’re the best rebounding team in the league per 100 possessions and rank seventh in the league in both offensive rating and defensive rating. The media has a tendency to overrate the Knicks, but make no mistake: They’re legitimately among the best teams in the NBA this season.

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The best of Sports Illustrated

Milwaukee Brewers right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes throws a pitch during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Jason Kelce’s persistence in the Pro Bowl long snap competition. (Without spoiling it, he definitely didn’t win.)

4. Charles Barkley’s plea for a team to sign Tony Snell. Yahoo’s Jake Fischer wrote an article this week about Snell’s quest to land with a team so that his family can get health coverage.

3. Nebraska Cornhuskers fans storming the court after the Huskers came back from down 19 to beat the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers.

2. Kansas City Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice’s reaction to seeing Andy Reid’s classic punt, pass and kick footage.

1. Singer Michael Bublé’s press conference after the NHL All-Star draft in which he admitted he was high on mushrooms.

SIQ

Sunday’s Pro Bowl will be the fifth held at Camping World Stadium in Orlando and the first since 2019. The game was famously held in Hawai’i for decades (all but two years between 1980 and 2016), but before then, which city hosted the first 22 Pro Bowls?

  • Los Angeles
  • Miami
  • New Orleans
  • San Francisco

Yesterday’s SIQ: On Feb. 1, 1914, the Chicago White Sox played the New York Giants in an exhibition game as part of their world tour and also posed in their uniforms for a photo in front of what world-famous landmark?

  • The Great Sphinx
  • Machu Picchu
  • The Acropolis
  • Taj Mahal

Answer: The Great Sphinx. The two teams embarked on a six-month world tour in the 1913–14 offseason that was truly unbelievable. It began in October in Cincinnati a week after the Giants lost the World Series to the Philadelphia Athletics. The teams slowly worked their way west, eventually arriving a month later in Seattle, where they departed by ship for Japan.

The overseas tour included stops in China, the Philippines, Australia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Italy, France and finally England, before the teams sailed back to New York at the end of February.

Sizable crowds came out to see some of the top stars of the day, including Jim Thorpe and Christy Mathewson. In Sydney, it was estimated that 5,000 fans showed up. In Cairo, about 2,000 were on hand.

The stop in Egypt produced some incredible photos. This one, from the University of Illinois library, shows the players and their families on horseback in front of the Great Sphinx and one of the Great Pyramids. Another that appeared in the New York Times shows the players in their uniforms right in front of the Great Sphinx with their gear packed on camels.

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