Knicks Outlast Cavs in Pre-Deadline Slugfest
Perhaps the biggest item looming for the Knicks before Thursday's NBA trade deadline is the fate of Marcus Morris.
Will the Knicks trade him? Will they keep him? Rumors have it that he could be worth as much as a first round pick, and contenders are apparently lining up for his services.
Monday night's game against Cleveland didn't really do much to answer that crucial question.
On one hand, Morris scored a team-high 26 points in 36 minutes, once again willing the Knicks to victory in the fourth quarter (and tonight, overtime) on the way to a 139-134 road victory over the Cavs. He proved, once again, that for this Knicks team to be competitive, he's more or less indispensable right now.
But on the other hand, Morris just solidified that he is absolutely the type of player that, with how he's playing this year, could be the finishing piece on a team that wants to play deep into the postseason.
The Knicks' decision will not be an easy one by any means. Morris is averaging a career-high 19.3 points per game now for the season, and the regression that many saw for his shooting percentages doesn't seem to be coming — through 43 games, Morris is now shooting 44.2% overall, a career-high 43.9% from deep and 82.3% from the free throw line on a career-high 4.6 attempts per game.
But for one more night, at minimum, Morris put on a show for Knicks fans. The Knicks led by as many as five and the Cavs by as many as 10, but this was by and large a back-and-forth affair all night. No stretch better enveloped the punch-counterpunch feel of the night than when, with about five minutes left in the game, the Cavs capped off a quick 10-0 run and led 118-108, after the Knicks had clawed back to tie the game at 108.
Then started the Morris show. A quick two for Morris. Then a technical free throw and two shots from a foul. Frank Ntilikina sprinkled in a clutch floater, then Morris again for three to tie the game at 120. Suddenly, the Knicks, who looked dead in the water after that 10-0 run, were revitalized.
With the game tied after a few more back-and-forth buckets, Ntilikina came up with a key offensive board to give the Knicks the ball with nine seconds remaining. Morris would miss that shot, but ultimately get the last laugh with 16 combined points between the fourth quarter and overtime.
So now, with two straight clutch fourth quarters under his belt, Morris' value has arguably never been higher. It's up to the Knicks now to decide if they're willing to trade him, and potentially sacrifice the ability to string together any other two-game win streaks for the rest of the year.
Elsewhere, Elfrid Payton turned in arguably his best game of the season, with a 17-point, 15-assist, 11-rebound triple-double. The aforementioned Ntilikina had nine points, seven rebounds and two assists on 4-7 shooting and locked down the Cavs' guards down the stretch. Even Dennis Smith Jr. strung together another good game, with 15 points and six assists on 6-11 shooting.
In a truly revolutionary turn of events in the Knicks 51st game of the season, Mike Miller utilized two point guard lineups for large stretches of the game, offering playing time to all three of the point guards, who, go figure, all turned in good games when afforded playing time. Payton finished with 33 minutes, Ntilikina with 22, and Smith Jr. with 20.
Short of Wayne Ellington and Allonzo Trier, neither of whom played, pretty much all of the Knicks made about as strong of a late push for trade value as the front office could have hoped for. If the final pre-deadline game sample is worth anything on Thursday, then Steve Mills and Scott Perry can't be anything but happy with how their team showed out.
Morris will be the starring attraction for the Knicks in trade talks in all likelihood, but everyone from Bobby Portis to Ntilikina to even Julius Randle have come up in trade rumors. What direction the Knicks go is as of yet an enigma, but there's a decent chance that Monday's overtime thriller could be the last time a number of players suit up in orange and blue this season.
