There were times during the third quarter of Monday night’s victory over the Hawks when it looked like the Knicks were about to melt and freeze on the court, a disgusting bubble from a basketball team. But New York resisted the stumbles and pushed Atlanta away thanks to a late injection by Immanuel Quickley, combined with notable performances by Julius Randle and RJ Barrett.
With the victory, the Knicks complete their first trip of the year with 3-1, and are with 4-3 in the season. In two weeks, Tom Thibodeau officially equaled the total number of victories David Fizdale managed to accumulate in the 22 games before his resignation last season. At the time this sentence was written, the Knicks were tied for 5th place in the Eastern Conference (technically, they were also tied for 8th). Oh, FWIW, the Knicks, 2-0 since the calendar arrived in 2021, remains undefeated in the new year.
Excellent work by Tom Thibodeau in finding the 113 points needed to win Fulton County, Georgia.
– Dolan J. Trump (@Dolan_J_Trump) January 5, 2021
The Knicks were left without many players, as is customary. No Nerlens Noel, Obi Toppin, Alec Burks, Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr. or Omari Spellman. The Hawks, on the other hand, played without Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn. And although the Knicks seemed stuck at launch, it wasn’t so obvious throughout the night that they would outlast their opponent.
RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton provided most of the attack in the first quarter, and at first it was clear that the Knicks intended to match the Hawks’ explosive attack. In the middle of the first, Randle had 10 points in 4-5 shots, the Knicks as a team were shooting 61% of the field and Mitchell Robinson was protecting the painting as a security guard at a Sherwin-Williams factory.
Suddenly, a RJ Barrett dunk put the Knicks in the double digits. Pandemic parade plans were being drawn up.
At the end of the first, Austin Rivers and Kevin Knox entered the game and the momentum changed instantly. The Hawks immediately started one of the many mini races. In almost no time, the 10-point advantage was erased, and with two minutes to go from the start, Thibs called for the timeout. Presumably, he asked his boys to play better. At the end of the first, the Knicks maintained a 31-29 lead.
The second quarter was mainly a case of coming and going. New York managed to resist thanks to Robinson’s turmoil, as well as more buckets coming from Randle and RJ.
At the end of the first half, the Hawks caught the Knicks napping and, after another mini run, went to the break by 58-54. The Hawks fired out of range, with Trae Young taking control and completely disconcerting the shorthanded Knicks, who used only eight players all night. Before long, the Knicks dropped double digits. They looked dejected and tired.
Five minutes from the end of the third, the Hawks took the biggest advantage of the game, and the conclusion of the night’s festivities seemed almost certain. In what may be becoming a trend, however, the Knicks had other ideas. Behind Kevin Knox’s two trios and the start of some Quickley magic, New York entered an absolutely glorious race to turn a deficit of 15 points into four, and the fourth ended with the Hawks in 88-84.
The room was Quickley’s room, and it’s really amazing how an excellent game room can make Randle and Barrett’s phenomenal performances look like the side story of the night. Two free throws by Quickley at the end of the Knicks an advantage of 103-101. He then fouled Young while shooting a three and hit all free throws, placing the Knicks at 106-101.
With the game in balance, Rivers once again stepped up. Doc’s son dropped a deep ball to place the Knicks at 110-106 with just under a minute and a half to go, and the control seemed to be in the hands of the Knicks.
This was true until Reggie Bullock came in at the end of the fourth round and some embarrassing sobs almost ended the game. Randle had several brain-deadening twists, including a pass for anyone when he mistakenly thought Quickley was cutting, and the negligence led to an attempt to rescue Reggie Bullock under the basket that hit the back side of the table.
In the end, the Knicks managed to win with a 113-108 victory. For much of the past 20 years, this tough victory over Atlanta could have been described as an unusual victory for New York. But under Thibs, tough play is becoming a trend.
Grades:
> Randle finished with 28 points, 17 rebounds and 9 assists, narrowly missing his second double triple as Knick. He also recorded 7 turnovers, which means he narrowly missed his first double career double.
> Overall, Randle was petting, shooting 11-19 from the field. But he lost each of his five three.
> So, how about RJ? Barrett made 26 points (10-19 shots, 1-5 from the bottom), 11 bags, 5 assists and 2 steals. It is his third showing of 20 positive points in the youth season and his second in a row.
> Alexa, order a large size Immanuel Quickley shirt, please. This year’s 25th draft choice remains surprising. While Elfrid Payton played a solid first half, he started to disappear as the game went on, and Quickley was exactly what the doctor ordered. He finished with 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block in 19 minutes of action.
> Without a real support center to spell it out, Robinson played 28 minutes and scored an interesting line of statistics with 8 points, 7 boards, 4 steals and 2 blocks. At one point early in the second, he was called for his third foul, but the referees later decided that it was not Robinson who committed the foul, so he was relegated to two fouls.
> Randle played a lot of central reserve, and the Knicks clearly did not have an internal presence during those minutes.
> The Knicks continue to regress from the depths. On Tuesday, they fired 7 to 21 (33%) behind the bow. The Hawks took 10 more trios than the Knicks, but hit just three more, finishing 10-31.
But who is here to talk about regression? This was a night of progression. Walt Clyde Phraser said exactly what we are all thinking: ‘Quickley quickly becoming my favorite Knickley.’
The Knicks now travel home for a game against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night at 7:30. Jazz is good. It will be a great test of where this team is. We expect some of our injured bodies to heal magically in the next two days.