Knicks head coach Mike Brown admitted Jose Alvarado has taken Landry Shamet‘s spot in the playoff rotation through four games against the Atlanta Hawks. Brown said his rotations could change any day.
“We won Game 1 with Landry as the backup point. I made a shift in Game 2 and put Deuce as the backup point, and it threw our guys off a little bit when they came out on the floor,” he said after practice at the team’s Tarrytown training facility on Monday. “And so we needed a true point on the floor to settle us once we got a little bit discombobulated. And when we threw Jose out there, he played well. And so I gave him another opportunity and then another, and he played well. And so that’s kind of where we are.”
Shamet played 18 minutes in Game 1 and 10 minutes in Game 2 before logging seven minutes combined through Games 3 and 4. Alvarado provided a massive spark in Game 4 as a plus-8 in 14 minutes off the bench after picking up a DNP in Game 3.
“I’ve said this before: Everybody has to be ready to play because anybody’s number can be called at any time,” said Brown. “And similar to Jordan Clarkson, during the course of the year, Jose wasn’t playing at the end of the year. He didn’t play the first game of the playoffs, but he stayed present. And when his number was called, he performed.”
Former Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles sustained in Game 4 of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets. DiVincenzo is close with all of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, who played together at Villanova before entering the NBA Draft.
“I talked to him last night. He seemed in good spirits. He’s formulating a plan and wish him nothing but the best,” Brunson said on Monday. “It sucks to see it. Honestly, after the game, that was like the first thing I heard, and looked it up and saw it. And so, that’s my brother. Tough to see, but he’ll be back stronger.”
DiVincenzo averaged 12.2 points and shot 38% from 3-point range for the Wolves this season.
Brown was LeBron James’ third-ever NBA coach after Paul Silas and Brendan Malone. The Knicks’ coach cannot believe his former star player is now sharing the basketball court with his son in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform — in the playoffs.
“It’s surreal seeing him play with his son. That is the craziest, craziest, craziest thing anybody can dream of,” Brown said after practice on Monday. “What a special moment, not just between those 2 guys, but for his entire family. That itself should be a freaking movie.
He isn’t shocked, however, by LeBron still being an impactful player at this point in his career. James, 41, is averaging 21.5 points, 8.8 assists and 8.3 rebounds through four first-round games against the Houston Rockets. The Lakers, without Luka Doncic, hold a 3-1 series lead.
“[LeBron playing into his 40s] doesn’t surprise me,” said Brown. “At 41, nothing that man does will ever surprise me.”
The Knicks could easily be up 3-1 in their first-round series against the Hawks: Each of their wins have come by double-digit margins while both of their losses were decided by one point.
Miles McBride said the Knicks don’t have any regrets not closing this series any sooner.
“No, this is the playoffs. Nobody’s just gonna hand you a win, hand you a game. Obviously, our two losses were very close games. But you don’t lose the games always at the end of games. It’s a possession here in the first half, or you missed a box out or somebody did a run to the lane and there wasn’t anybody to kick it out to,” he said. “It was the little things like that that we’re more focused on and have to be focused on going forward.”