The New York Knicks were missing two crucial points – three if you are inclined to count Elfrid Payton. Newcomer Immanuel Quickley joined Payton and Derrick Rose on the injured list on Tuesday night against the ever-dangerous Orlando Magic. Who would be in charge of the Knickerbockers?
Well, that would depend on how you define “shipowner”. Frank Ntilikina, technically, commanded the attack on the striker, despite a series of horrific shots. But these Knicks are Julius Randle’s team, and he will be the guy with the ball most of the time. Randle was losing coins left and right – 17 to be exact – on his way to his third triple-double of the season (18 points, 17 assists, 10 rebounds while the Knicks had just enough to hold Orlando, 94-93 .
Can I talk about Frank for a moment? The Frenchman barely managed to take advantage of his recent playing time and was shooting 0-16 out of three since the All-Star break. The first half seemed to be more of the same, as he was 0-3. But things really changed in the third quarter. He triggered it three times in a row to end the skid. Then he took Chasson Randle a step and kept going, all the way to the damn ledge.
Knicks fans around the world erupted in celebration as Frank badly attacked the Garden crowd.
Unfortunately, the guys dropped the rope a little at the end of the third quarter, and Magic quickly returned to take the lead in New York’s second battered unit. But the Knicks were thrilled with the score from Alec Burks (21 points), Reggie Bullock (20 points) and our boy Frank.
Julius Randle hit two more buckets to keep Orlando away, and then Burks went to work.
Burks missed the free throw, however, and gave Evan Fournier a three. Bullock coughed up the ball possession that followed, and Knicks fans clenched their collective buttocks.
Fortunately, Bullock was ready to make peace with D.
This was a wild and ugly game. But a victory is a victory. To recap soon.