Here’s a free tip: If you get an automated email from Twitter saying someone in Canada has suspiciously logged into your account and you need to change your password, don’t click on the link they provide. If you do, you’ll end up like me – with a hacked account that may never come back after the hackers changed my login info.
Sadly, evil hackers exploiting tools of honor like me, the kind who would struggle with any technology more advanced than a sundial, can’t keep me offline. And most importantly, they can’t stop me from tweeting, even if I don’t tweet it.
I’ve had more free time over the past 5 days when my Twitter account was locked. Life is a lot calmer away from the toxicity of the internet. You have become a humble servant of good, filling my days with charitable undertakings. I have just transferred half of my savings to a Nigerian prince.
But I still have the urge to tweet, so let’s try something new.
The New York Knicks beat the Houston Rockets 137-115 Monday night. Here are all the things I wanted to tweet about during the game but couldn’t:
6:07 p.m. ET (previous game)
@FredKatz: On Sunday, the Mavericks lost to the Hornets for the second time in a row and are now 36-39. If the season were to end today, they would get the 10th spot in the lottery standings. Knicks better prepare – this pick comes down to the wire.
NB: If you loved Josh Hart’s trade when the Knicks made it a month and a half ago, chances are you’ll love it even more now. Not only was Hart excelling, but New York was doing the best anyone could have imagined with the first coach I’ve ever had.
The Knicks sent their 2023 first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the Hart deal. But they just as easily could have sent the Blazers the 2023 Dallas pick they own.
Now, the Maf’s selection is almost as good as the Knicks’ selection. If the season were to end now, at 6:07 p.m. Monday, Portland would pick 23rd on behalf of New York. Dallas, meanwhile, has the 10th-worst record in the league, which is a suspense. The selection is protected from the top 10.
That means the Mavericks, who are kept less than a year away from appearing in the Conference Finals, could be running so badly that the Knicks didn’t receive the pick this summer. But if New York gets it, it has a chance of being in the lottery.
6:20 p.m. (before the game)
@FredKatz: I have an important public service announcement. Josh Hart does exactly what Jalen Bronson has been crushing on for a few weeks: He wears a sock, then a shoe, then his other sock, then his other shoe instead of socks first, then a shoe.
NB: All credit goes to Steve Popper, who covers the Knicks for Newsday. While we were in the locker room before the game, Popper noticed Hart sitting in his locker, putting a sock on his left foot when he had put a pair of sneakers on his right. This, friends, is crazy business.
We are serious, serious journalists. Our job is to pounce when we notice such bad deeds, especially considering Bronson was just annihilated online a few weeks ago for doing the same thing in the background of Immanuel Quickley’s Instagram story.
So, we asked Popper and Hart if he wore sock stilettos, and sock runners regularly. He immediately denied it, reacting as if only crazy people do that. Then he realized that he had done it himself. He could feel ashamed.
Hart broke the surgical order without realizing it. He sighed when he realized what he had done. “S-” he said, stretching out the “i”. He explained that he only does this when he’s wearing sneakers to play because he wears several socks.
I don’t buy it.
On second thought, perhaps the Knicks should regret that trade.
7:59 p.m. (26-22 Knicks; 3 minutes, 49 seconds left in the first quarter)
@FredKatz: Quickley, who started in place of the injured Bronson, is 3-of-4 from deep, 5-of-6 from the field and has 13 points. I feel a free check coming on this next possession.
8:00 p.m. (26-22 Knicks; 3:07 to go in the first quarter)
@FredKatz: Yes, there is a heat check.
8:06 p.m. (33-31 Knicks; 50 seconds left in the first quarter)
@FredKatz: Isaiah Hartenstein looks like a different guy than he did at the start of the season – and not just because his Achilles is doing better. He is more comfortable attacking. Put on a pretty dish to cut Miles McBride for a ball throw.
NB: Two weeks ago, I asked Hartenstein why he was doing so much better in the second half of the season. He responded without hesitation.
He said, “I can move now.”
But he also seems more comfortable in his role, which differs from the very slick role he played with the Clippers a season ago. Hartenstein doesn’t touch the ball as often as he did in Los Angeles. Not flogged more often than high office. But he learned how to take advantage of his rare touch.
McBride’s help is another example of this.
The play also reminded me why pre-season is still important, even if it dwindles down to four games to manage loads and play the bench end. Once McBride and Hartenstein ran this, I couldn’t help but remember the give-and-play game the two ran almost to perfection during the Knicks Expo opening.
McBride cut beautifully. Hartenstein tossed the ball where no one could touch it. But McBride blew the layup.
This time, when it mattered, he did.
8:09 p.m. (36-33 Knicks; end of first quarter)
@FredKatz: Julius Randle appeared more poised tonight: 15 points in the first quarter. But the Knicks’ defensive struggles remain.
8:18 p.m. (44-37 Knicks; 8:20 to go in the second quarter)
@FredKatz: Bronson kept his hands in his jacket pockets for most of the game, which meant intense stress for the rhythm writers, who sat in the mezzanine trying to see if anything was protecting his injured hand.
NB: So here’s the scene: We’ve all watched Bronson, who has been sitting on the bench for most of the game with his hands in his pockets. Nicks just called a timeout, and stood up, striding forward with his arms at his side.
Finally, Stefan Bondy of the Daily News noted, his right hand was free of the detonator. “that is it!” Bundy shouted. We had a glimpse.
Something in Bronson’s hands. But in Section 215, we’re a long way from understanding what it is — it’s a bar or a brace or something.
I’ve told guys before that being a good messenger is a socially acceptable form of people-stalking. We travel around the country asking these guys how they feel after victories and discovering random personal details about their lives. Sometimes (as when we all lean to the edges of Madison Square Garden to get within inches of a hand that might also be a mile away), the task seems particularly silly.
8:40 p.m. (first half)
@FredKatz: Well, I have a source. Bronson wears a protective object on his right hand.
NB: I have a friend who sits behind the Knicks bench for a game and asks him to take some pictures of Bronson and send them to me. The images have now made their way to other beat writers.
Like I said, we are socially acceptable stalkers.
I promise you, though I know you may be convinced otherwise, my girlfriend is not Annie Leibovitz.
After the game, coach Tom Thibodeau referred to the protective gear on Bronson’s hand as a splint. He said Bronson went through all of the filming on a Monday morning. Participate fully in the Sunday practice as well. A return on Wednesday against the Miami Heat appears possible.
9:13 p.m. (87-75 Knicks; 4:05 into the third quarter)
@FredKatz: Quickley just finished with a float and 1 to get past the 30-point mark. Once again, he is ahead when he enters the first unit (and may end his career tonight). He was averaging 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game on 45-35-84 shooting in his 16 starts in the game.
NB: Oh, by the way, Quickley is 13 of 16 from the field at this point.
9:20 p.m. (97-83 Knicks; 1:42 to go in the third quarter)
@FredKatz: Quickley is below his career high. He has 37–yes, that’s real–14-of-17 shooting. Missiles begin to surround him, but he doesn’t force things. He misses the double team before Houston can recover. The Knicks do a good job swinging the ball around when he does.
9:22 p.m. (102-90 Knicks; end of third quarter)
@FredKatz: Just an update on a tweet from earlier tonight: The Mavericks demolished the Pacers tonight 127-104 which means they are now 37-39, the 11th worst in the NBA. If the season were to end today, the Knicks would have the 11th pick in the draft. Like I said, this thing will come down to the wire.
9:26 p.m. (105-90 Knicks; 10:56 to go in the fourth quarter)
I would definitely retweet Stefan Bondi on this one.
NB: Fournier’s record is 241. Randle had to make exactly four long balls over the Knicks’ last six games to pass him. It should get hot, but it is possible.
Either way, what a statement about how much the game has changed since Randle first entered the league.
9:35 p.m. (117-92 Knicks; 8:21 to go in the fourth quarter)
@FredKatz: Miles McBride blocked Alperen Şengün. That’s it.
9:37 p.m. (120-95 Knicks; 7:22 to go in the fourth quarter)
@FredKatz: Now we wait to see if Thibodeau will bring back Quickley to continue his career high. He’s only one point away, but the Knicks are so big, Thibodeau could choose to get some extra relief. The Rockets are already starting to fall apart at the end of the bench.
9:40 p.m. (121-97 Knicks; 6:31 to go in the fourth quarter)
@FredKatz: The Thibs just called a frustration timeout in a 24-point game after the Knicks allowed a second layup opportunity, and the fans are doing the wave, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen at MSG. Also, here Quickley comes out of the time-out.
9:49 p.m. (132-99 Knicks; 4:11 to go in the fourth quarter)
@FredKatz: Quickley has a new career high. Tibbs takes him out after two free throws to give him exactly 40 points. He does this along with nine assists in 14 of 18 overall and 5 of 7 of 3.
NB: There are a few wrinkles in Quickley’s game that are noteworthy, and it’s not just from his performance against the Rockets. He’s better than ever inside the 3-point arc, and it’s fundamentally changed him as a player.
After shooting 9 of 11 with 2 shots against Houston, he now nailed 53% of 2 on the season. It wasn’t even more than 45 percent.
This is no accident. Quickley put on weight in the off-season, hoping it would help him finish better. His float is more accurate than ever. Thibodeau noted after the game how the Knicks centers were checking their men in low coverage and opening driving lanes for him and the other guards.
That’s a big jump from one season to the next.
9:55 p.m. (game over)
@FredKatz: Final: Knicks 137, Rockets 115.
The Knicks improved to 43-33, fifth in the Eastern Conference.
• Quickly: 40-2-9
• Randall: 26-4-3
• Barrett: 19-3-5
• Grimes: 14-9-6
• Tobin: 15-2-0
Knicks shot 58 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3.
Next: A massive game Wednesday night against the seventh-ranked Miami Heat, who are just two games behind the Knicks in the loss column.
(Photo by Obi Tobin and Emmanuel Quickley: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
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