Though Immanuel Quickley didn’t end up winning this year’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year award, analyst Jonathan Macri still believes he needs to play as if he won for the New York Knicks to pull out a much-needed win in Game 3.
During a recent sit down with SNY’s NBA insider Ian Begley, the “dean” of Knicks Film School stated that the third-year guard is someone he’s hoping to see a big game from during Friday’s bout.
“The guy that I’m looking at to have a big game is Immanuel Quickley,” Macri said. “I don’t think there is anyone on this team that gets as fired up from the home crowd as Quickley does. I think it’s going to be a close game, I think it’s going to be tight all the way through. I think Immanuel Quickley’s going to hit some key shots in the fourth quarter, I think he’s going to play more minutes with the starters and I’ll go out on a limb, I’ll say the Knicks are gonna win Game 3.”
“The guy that I’m looking at to have a big game is Immanuel Quickley” – @JCMacriNBA
Ian, @NYPost_Berman, and Jon give their thoughts on tomorrow night’s Game 3 on The Putback with @IanBegley: t.co/JedPjHO8xi
Through two games played, Quickley has been rather underwhelming from a production standpoint when considering his high-end regular season production.
In 23.4 minutes a night the sixth-man runner-up is posting mere averages of just 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting a lackluster 30.8% from the field and 16.7% from deep.
Despite his lowly play to this point, however, Macri finds himself looking to the 23-year-old to have a solid showing in front of what is presumed to be a packed MSG crowd.
Julius Randle Speaks on Health Ahead of Knicks Game
Heading into the playoffs, Julius Randle was already hobbled due to a grueling ankle injury sustained during a game against the Miami Heat during the final weeks of the regular season.
Though he has managed to suit up for both games played during their current quarterfinals matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, fears of him reinjuring himself have certainly not subsided, especially with Jarrett Allen’s Game 2 flagrant foul that sent the star big back to the locker room before the final buzzer sounded.
Luckily, however, in the days since Julius Randle has noted that he’s physically fine following the incident, even jokingly downplaying the severity of any repercussions that were initially feared could have come about.
“I’m built for these kinds of battles. That’s why I put so much time in the weight room. I put a lot of time into my body for recovery and stuff like that. My kids have beat me up worse,” Julius Randle said regarding his physical health ahead of Game 3.
How is Julius Randle feeling after his ugly fall at the end of Game 2?
“I’m built for these kind of battles. My kids have beat me up worse.”
Despite being less than 100%, Randle has still been rather productive for the Knicks this postseason, as he’s posting per-game averages of 20.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc.
Cavs Coach Disagrees With Jarrett Allen’s Foul Call vs. Knicks
Following Tuesday’s bout, Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff was asked to share his thoughts on the flagrant foul called on star center Jarrett Allen.
While there are those such as Julius Randle who have suggested that the big man’s efforts were “unnecessary,” Cleveland’s headman is of the impression that they were absolutely just.
“I mean, it was a contested dunk, like if you’re going to get a steal,” Bickerstaff said. “The [Knicks] kept playing hard. They kept running through passing lanes, so why would one team play hard and the other one not? There was nothing dirty about the play. It wasn’t a flagrant foul. He contested a shot at the rim. It’s that simple.”
Cleveland tied up the series at two games apiece with their win Tuesday night. The Knicks will be playing host to the fourth-seeded Cavs Friday evening, with tip-off slated to commence at 8:30 PM (EST).
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Immanuel Quickley Called Out Ahead of Knicks Game 3 Against Cavs