Immanuel Quickley offered a 12-minute teaser at the opening of the Knicks season in Indiana, then left with a hip pointer.
A week and a half later, with the Knicks returning to Indiana, the rookie guard was finally back.
Quickley had an instantaneous impact and finished with nine points in 15 minutes in the Knicks’ 106-102 victory over the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“A little rust, obviously, but overall, very satisfied,” said coach Tom Thibodeau. “Good energy. You can see that he is smart in terms of scoring fouls, which is very important. “
After impressing in the preseason and losing four games with the injury he suffered when he collided with Myles Turner on December 23, Quickley showed a special talent for driving to the edge and taking fouls on the way, doing this three times in his first few nine minutes in the first half. Overall choice 25 also drained a 3 points.
“It will pick up its pace very quickly,” said Thibodeau. “He is very talented, intelligent and a great worker. I love your attitude, I love your approach. He will be a very good player in this league for a long time. “
Thibodeau suffered his first technical foul as the Knicks coach, with 5:33 to go until the end of the third quarter, while discussing a foul on Julius Randle.
“We are just trying to win,” said Thibodeau. “We are trying to protect each other, this is my job, to make sure we get our fair share of calls.
“Whatever we have to do to win – I don’t like to receive technical fouls and I certainly don’t want anyone to commit technical fouls in the fourth period. So these are difficult to compensate for, but I usually have very little technique. “
Austin Rivers, playing his second game of the season after being sidelined with a groin injury, drove to the rim for a bucket early in the second half before falling and sticking his head into the rack. He stayed on the ground for the ball possession that followed, but after holding his neck for a technical time, he remained in play and finished with 15 points.
Veteran guard Alec Burks (sprained in his left ankle) lost his third game in a row and is still on a daily basis, but “making good progress,” said Thibodeau.
Although Quickley’s return helped the Knicks in the point guard, they were still lacking in manpower in the position with Frank Ntilikina (right knee sprain) and Dennis Smith Jr. (left quad injury) remaining out.
Newcomer striker Obi Toppin (right calf strain) and Omari Spellman (right knee pain) also remained out due to injuries.