Knicks at Spurs: How & Who to Watch in Quest For Texas-Sized Recovery

The New York Knicks have a prime opportunity to end their losing streak against the reeling San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

They say everything's bigger in Texas. The New York Knicks certainly hope that's the case when it comes to recoveries.

Fresh off a literally historic loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the Knicks have a prime chance to recover as they go through the annual Texas road trip. The middle leg lands on Thursday night when they battle the San Antonio Spurs, as they'll look to stop their longest losing streak of the season at four. Tuesday hosted the most painful loss of the journey thus far: missing both Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett for nearly a majority of the action, a unique triple-double from Luka Dončić undid several new career-highs set by several expected heroes including Quentin Grimes (33 points) and Immanuel Quickley (17 assists). 

Thursday presents a prime opportunity for the Knicks to get back on the right track: San Antonio is removed from the jam-packed Western Conference playoff picture, entering Thursday's action six games behind Golden State for the last Western Conference Play-In spot. The Spurs are still trying to pick up the pieces after an 11-game losing streak, having gone 5-5 since then. Their last outing was a 130-114 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, their third defeat in the last four.

This will be the first meeting between the Knicks and Spurs this season, a Manhattan rematch scheduled for next Wednesday. Last season's couple saw the Knicks earn their first sweep of the Spurs since the 2012-13 season. Time will tell if the Knicks have the questionable services of Jalen Brunson (hip), who sat out Tuesday's loss, but RJ Barrett (finger) has already been confirmed to be missing the San Antonio visit entirely.

What: New York Knicks (18-17) at San Antonio Spurs (11-23)

Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX

When/Watch: Thursday, 8 p.m. ET, MSG/MSG Go

Who's Favored: NYK -5.5

You can always rely on Miles McBride making winning plays on defense. He's just a dog on defense, always there to make guys around him better

Here he pokes the ball out of the hands of Luka Dončić.

Deuce kept his head down, worked hard and forced Coach Thibodeau to play him. pic.twitter.com/5yOIA717Jo

— Ersin Demir (@EDemirNBA) December 28, 2022

Keep An Eye On: Miles McBride

There's no doubt that McBride has risen to the occasion this season, serving as a vital energizer to the Knicks' defensive affairs in his second season. Viewers got their fill of McBride and then some on Tuesday, when he played a career-high 46 minutes once RJ Barrett went down 96 seconds into the game. 

With head coach Tom Thibodeau devout to his nine-man rotation ... shortened to eight with Jalen Brunson held out entirely and Derrick Rose brought out of a brief exile ... it's safe to assume that there are more McBride minutes on the horizon. He likely won't be pressed into 46 again, but with Barrett already declared out for Thursday, expect him to take on a large role, especially against the offensively-challenged Spurs (24th in the Association in scoring). 

You heard it here first folks - rookie star in the making: Jeremy Sochan dropped a career best 23 points, 9 rebounds, & 6 assists tonight while playing elite defense. pic.twitter.com/RyWjW1PSAL

— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) December 23, 2022

Spur to Watch: Jeremy Sochan

With the Knicks holding a late lottery pick in last summer's draft, some connected them to Sochan, a strong perimeter defender coming out after a single season at Baylor. Once it became clear that Julius Randle would be coming back, the two sides went their separate ways: the Knicks opted to trade the 11th overall pick to build a Jalen Brunson budget, a decision that was made moot in terms of Sochan, who instead stayed in Texas as the ninth overall pick to San Antonio. 

As the Spurs seek to form their future, Sochan is turning himself into an essential part of those prospects: he's a week removed from a career-best 23-point game and he's pulling in over eight rebounds a game over his past four. With the Knicks, alas, serving as an unfortunate launching pad for breakout games, Sochan is the latest young name they'll have to keep in check.

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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