Amen Thompson Just Turned Into A "SNIPER"...

What the hell was Amin Thompson doing all summer? He hasn't improved his jumper at all and that could cost the Rockets a lot this season. And the ball took a nap on the rim in the clutch of the Knicks vs Raptors game. So we gotta start at MSG where Scottie Barnes opened the game on Fuego. And with the Knicks adjustment that they made, even in the finals, he played off the ball more as you see Scottie get into his spot. Last season, average just nine, originally selected by New York, third overall in 2019. Scottie Barnes Mikael Bridges does an excellent job of moving without the basketball and finding it. Scottie from downtown, Barnes connects. Barnes couldn't miss at the start, hitting all of his first four shots from the field looking ever so smoothly. He racked up 12 of his 23 already in the first quarter. But the Knicks had an answer in the likes of Miles McBride. Heat check, Deuce got hot in an instant, knocking down 3 straight shots from deep to put his team up by 8 points. On the contrary, Kawhi Leonard had a modest game by his standards, scoring only 6 points on 2 of 5 shooting in 22 minutes of action. But at least he taught his former teammate a few lessons. The claw got the best of OG on both ends of the court and Scottie also thought he had Brunson in handcuffs right here but then… Jalen somehow swoops in along the baseline and threads the needle to Scottie for the dunk. That was the most beautiful of Brunson's 7 dimes in this game, although the one to Bridges wasn't too shabby either. And besides his generosity, the captain got busy scoring himself. Jalen led the way with 20 points, while the big cat really filled up the box score. Off the jab step, right to the rim, and he's accounted for all but three Knicks points tonight. Brunson drives, floats, no, Towns the putback before coming back down earth. Hooked it around to Dadiere, the vision from Towns and he's one assist away from a triple-double. Oowee, Towns comes up with the underarm bullet pass to Dadier for the deuce. He messed around and almost got a triple-double of 13 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists in this one. A lot of guys brought their A game last night, so next we go to the former Knicks, RJ and Quick. Barrett and Quigley balled out in MSG, combining for 39 points on 55% shooting from the field. They were able to cut the 10-point deficit from the start of the fourth to just three, before both coaches pulled out their starters for the last five minutes. So in a tight game in the clutch, it all came down to this. Tyler Kolek gets the most friendliest bounce you'll ever see at the end of a preseason game. I mean, look at the ball just taking a nap on the rim before finally dropping through the net. This proved to be the difference maker as the Knicks hung on to win their first game of the preseason And when asked about Tuesday night, Jalen Brunson got emotional Banner's going up on Tuesday night, what do you think it's going to be like here Tuesday night at MSG? You're imagining it, aren't you? It's going to be a great night, it's going to be a great night Jalen, as always, we appreciate it, thank you, we'll see you next week Thank you, thank you In Houston, the Rockets hosted the OKC Thunder, but it was a man Thompson who brought down the Thunder first Thompson bursted out of the gate scoring 10 of the Rockets 12 points at the start. He's good at dunking, we get that. but when he tried to shoot a jumper, it looked bad. Yikes, what the hell did he work on all summer? All he needs is a decent jumper to be unstoppable. A man proceeded to miss 5 of his last 6 shots and finish the game with 12 points on 46% shooting from the field. But check this out. Through the last three games, he shot just 3 of 15 outside of the restricted area and 1 of 5 from long range. That's 20%, which is slightly worse than what he shot during the last season. This means that he hasn't improved his jumper at all, so when the game slows down, he'll be a liability on the offensive end again. Regardless, the Rockets ruled the first period anyways. The Thunder looked clueless in the opening quarter, falling down by 18 points. However, J-Dub came out with a lot more energy in the second to erase the deficit. Jalen scored 10 of his 18 points in the period to get his team right back into it. But in the meantime, I gotta show you what Alper and Sengun did. Are you kidding me? The block on Caruso was fine, but then he gets up for a second swat in just 2 seconds to fend off Hartenstein as well. That was an amazing defense by the Turkish Terminator. there. And he showed off his upgraded quickness on the offensive end. was everywhere last night posting 14 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field to go along with 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 5 dimes. None more slicker than this one. After going to the locker rooms up by only 7 points, the Rockets re-established control in the third, mostly thanks to this guy. Let's go! Bogi fires up the building with three bombs in a row, bumping the lead back to 16 points. The Serbian sniper finally got it going after a subpar 2 of 9 shooting in the first couple of games. Last night, Bogi scored 15 points on 5 of 8 from downtown. On the other hand, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith and Fred VanVleet had a horrible shooting night from distance, combining for 21 points while hitting only 1-3 out of 18 tries. That is bad. Unfortunately, the Thunder weren't any better. The guard combo of Shea, Mitchell and McCain combined for 32 points while shooting just 2 of 17 from beyond the arc. As a matter of fact, the entire Thunder squad shot a miserable 5 of 36 from 3-point range. that's just 14%. But enough of these bricks, let's shake things up a bit. The Thunder may have lost the game but they got themselves two excellent rookies in Mara and Sterns that could crack the rotation this season. Just a week ago I made a detailed video of Mara's impact on the floor as OKC are hoping that he can become the Wemby stopper. Click right here to check it out and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.