Knicks' Immanuel Quickley Reflects With Game 3, Sixth Man Vote Looming

Immanuel Quickley has given the New York Knicks clutch minutes all season but has struggled to make a positive impact as potential hardware heads his way.

Brad Penner, USA TODAY SPORTS

Immanuel Quickley and the New York Knicks are learning just how ... well, quickly ... fortunes can flip in the NBA Playoffs. 

A 101-97 victory in their 2023 postseason opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers already feels like ancient history due to a 107-90 shellacking at Tuesday's Rocket Mortage FieldHouse rematch that wasn't even as close as its already one-sided nature would indicate. The best-of-seven set, part of opening round action in the NBA's Eastern Conference playoffs, now shifts to Madison Square Garden beginning on Friday night (8:30 p.m. ET, MSG/ABC). 

This series is Quickley's second postseason go with the Knicks, previously partaking in the five-game cameo against Atlanta in 2021. Provider of vital minutes in building the foundation for a fifth-place finish in the East, the reserve Quickley has struggled to make an impact on the New York box score: he missed all five attempts from the field in Game 1 and only scored a dozen on Tuesday when the outcome was long decided.

“I haven’t played as well as I’ve wanted to obviously,” Quickley told Peter Botte of the New York Post after the Game 2 debacle. “Whether you’re missing shots or not, it’s never a reason not to play defense. So I've just got to be better, defensively, everybody, but it starts with me, looking in the mirror and just finding ways to help the team, just being better overall.”

Quickley's struggles are part of a tough outing for the Knicks' backcourt as a whole, with RJ Barrett and Quentin Grimes likewise having trouble making any progress against a Cleveland group that topped the Association in defensive rating this season. Barrett has hit only six of his 25 attempts while Grimes' output of 1-of-6 can be slightly ignored thanks to the fact that he sank the vital free throws at the end of the Game 1 win. Even top scorers Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle have struggled to make headway, uniting to hit 38 percent from the field.  

Barrett's fourth-year struggles have been well-documented and Grimes is making his postseason debut. Quickley's issues, however, hit a little harder considering all the ways he's come up big for the Knicks in his third year since arriving as a first-round pick in 2021.

When the Knicks have needed a backcourt pick-me-up, Quickley has almost always risen to the occasion when injuries or inconsistency have plagued the roster. In 21 starts this season, most of them brought about by medical woes to Barrett or Brunson, Quickley averaged 22.6 points and over five rebounds and assists per game. That includes a 38-point masterpiece in a nationally televised visit to Boston in early March, setting a career-best that he beat 22 days later against Houston.

Quickley's relief efforts have earned him a nomination for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, which will be bestowed on Thursday before a postseason tripleheader tips off. He goes up against Malcolm Brogdon from Boston and Milwaukee's Bobby Portis Jr. The Kentucky alum will obviously have the endorsement of his Knicks teammates but received a superdelegate of sorts when Portland Trail Blazers superstar (and potential Knicks target?) Damian Lillard offered pixelated support on Twitter. 

Quickley https://t.co/YbJOCV6x3J

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 7, 2023

Hardware earned for regular season work, however, will hardly be of any consolation if the Knicks continue to fall short in the shooting game, especially if their well-invested backcourt keeps on misfiring. 

Speaking with Fred Katz of The Athletic, Quickley has done his own scouting report on the Cavs' lauded defense and believes that he's found a solution of sorts. It's one that will take plenty of work to enact but potentially features him teaming up with the undisputed future franchise face in Brunson. 

“That’s something we’ve done all season, as far as being able to have two playmakers on the floor and being able to create for our teammates and ourselves. I feel like that’s always something that’s a plus for us," Quickley said. "When they trap, you play four-on-three on the back side,” he said. “It seems kind of simple, honestly. (When) they trap, (they) play two men on the ball, you play four-on-three.”

A man with the surname Quickley dictating the Knicks' offensive pace? Only in New York, folks, only in New York.

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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