Tom Thibodeau wants Immanuel Quickley to ‘take more control’ of the offense

Not much went right for the Knicks on Saturday night. They were blown out by the Boston Celtics, 99-75, on the road--the lowest point total for New York since 2018--and the team’s offensive stars were largely ineffective.

One bright spot for the team was the play of Immanuel Quickley. Starting for just the second time this season, due to the injuries to Kemba Walker, Derrick Rose and Evan Fournier, Quickley scored 18 points on 64 percent shooting and was the tone setter for many of the team’s possessions.

“I thought he played really well,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “The first half he had us organized, had real good looks so it was a good start for him. I want him to take more control in the second half and I think he will. He’s done a good job for us.”

The Knicks got off to a promising start hitting 6-of-11 from three, with Quickly hitting three of them, after the first quarter before the offensive woes began to rear its ugly head. Although the second quarter went the Celtics way, the Knicks were in the game heading into the second half.

Although the team’s offense as a whole seemed lost, Quickley not taking control was obvious after halftime. He scored just seven points and took only four shots in the second half, and while Thibs told his young star to take more control after the game Quickley wants to take this loss and learn from it.

“I'm still learning. I'll be the first one to tell you,” Quickley said. “I'm not perfect and I want to be, you know, as perfect as I can be. Just trying to take command of the team and put guys where they need to be.

“Whether it's on offense or defense, I feel like my basketball IQ is one of my strengths and just being able to put people in the right spots, get us organized when other teams are on the run and settling us down a little bit….Just going through [games] like this helps out a lot. I’ll be better, we’ll be better next game.”

The Knicks fell to two games below .500 after Saturday's loss and will have to get better soon. They are currently the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference and if the season ended today, they wouldn’t even make one of the play-in games.

With the injuries to Walker and Rose, Thibs will likely lean more on the 22-year-old to help lead the offense and team to victory in their absence, something Quickley says he's up for.

“I don’t put too much pressure on myself,” Quickley said when asked if there’s added pressure to be a playmaker. “I take my work very seriously whether I’m in the gym or watching film. Mentally, spiritually I try to be in the best position I can be to go out and help us try and get wins. I don’t put any extra pressure on myself.”

Quickley and the Knicks will get another chance to get in the win column when they host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.