The song “We Want Quickley” started at the end of the first quarter, when Sacramento was riding a rare race.
With 2:44 to the end of the fourth, the debutant Immanuel Quickley was inserted in the game and did not disappoint the second vertiginous encounter of the Garden of the season.
By lighting the Knicks with 18 points in the first half, Quickley led the offensive explosion in a 140-121 triumph over Sacramento, when the popular novice point guard emerged from his recent crash.
Quickley finished with 25 points, hitting all 12 free throws. Along with Julius Randle, Quickley even heard screams of “MV-P” on another happy night in front of 2,000 fans who seemed to be singing something all night.
“It’s a long season,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. “No player shoots well in all 82 games. There are ups and downs. He managed it extremely well. He is a great sniper, has the ability to score fouls. Everyone has a lot of confidence in him. We know that he has a lot of confidence in himself. It all starts with preparation. He is a gym rat and a student of the game. “
The Knicks’ 140 points were a record for the season and were against the worst defensive team in the NBA. The Knicks were the NBA’s least productive team entering the game offensively.
Randle, listening to MVP sings a second game in a row, mounted another bull-in-a-china-shop performance with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Alec Burks, accumulating mainly at the time of the fourth quarter’s garbage, accumulated a season record of 24 points.
Derrick Rose made his first start to the season as a point guard due to Elfrid Payton’s hamstring injury and added 18 points when the Knicks moved to a game below 0.500 on 16-17. The Kings (12-20) lost the ninth in a row.
The Knicks got a first half of 77 points, pitches 65.9 percent and avoided any attack by the Kings after that.
The Knicks almost reached 80 in the first half, but a desperate 3 points on Reggie Bullock’s bell was dismissed because he stepped on the touchline. However, the Knicks had enough – a 77-63 lead.
Inserted in the starting lineup, Rose started the binge tearing to the basket in the first possession of the game to a left tray.
Rose started the game skillfully, going 5 out of 5 in the first quarter and finished with 13 points in the first half. But impatient and agitated fans, with the Kings in an 11-0 run, started Quickley’s chant.
When he entered the end of the first quarter, the Kentucky rookie started work, immediately draining a 3-point basket. He pulled fouls, drained a float and accumulated 18 points at 9:36. He made 4 of 6 baskets and all eight of his free throws.
Quickley’s 3 of 22 drop in the previous three games has been eliminated. As reported by The Post for the first time, the NBA will not hold the Rising Stars Challenge for novices and sophomores, but will announce an honorary team. Quickley practically sealed his place.
In another slap at Austin Rivers, Frank Ntilikina was put back on the rotation with Payton out. Ntilikina, due to a knee sprain, COVID-19 protocols and being withdrawn from rotation, has not participated in a game since 29 December.
He looked fine, too. He stole a ball from De’Aaron Fox to start a counter attack and gave Quickley a 3-point basket. When playing 8:58 in the first half, he also drained a 3-point basket.
The luminaries in the dispute for socially distant celebrities included CC Sabathia and rappers Jadakiss and Action Bronson.