For a while, this seemed more like a suitable chapter in an amazing Knicks novel. For a while, the Knicks were making all the shots they looked at, they were defending themselves with their usual ferocity, they were thrilling the small but vocal contingent of Knicks fans present at Orlando’s Amway Arena.
After eleven minutes of play, Immanuel Quickley hit two free throws.
The Knicks led the Magic 32-21.
And 0.500 was so close that you could smell it. You can taste it. Now, look: 0.500 is not for everyone. The breakeven looks like the worst kind of consolation prize most of the time. It is the definition of average. It is mediocrity. And there are few things less satisfying in sports than mediocrity.
Still: the Knicks have not been at 0.500 after 30 games since 2017. They have not been at 0.500 on February 17 since 2013. This is a season of incremental stages and fractional gains. Reaching 0.500 would have required no dramatic conclusion – and, frankly, it would not have generated any celebration for any of the Knicks.
But it is something. And it was in sight.
And then, in a hideous and ghostly fog, it was not.
The Magic defeated the Knicks, but good, 107-89, beating them by 29 points over the final 37 minutes of the game, and more than a defeat, more than a buzz, it was a two-hour reminder of a truth essential about these Knicks: They don’t need to play perfect basketball every night. They don’t need to maximize every last drop of skill on the list.
But it is useful to be close to that.
“They are a team like us, scratching and scratching and trying to make it to the playoffs,” Quickley said when the carnage ended. “Our energy was not up to Orlando.”
It was difficult to identify anything that the Knicks did well on Wednesday night, besides Julius Randle – and even his 25 points and seven rebounds seemed silent, much of the damage occurring in the first quarter.
Quickley fought for the toughest night of his young career, missing 11 of 12 shots. His running mate, Derrick Rose, with whom he had established such immediate and obvious chemistry, was 1 in 10. Few teams can survive two key players by shooting 2 out of 21; for the Knicks, this is the territory of the board.
Even coach Tom Thibodeau, normally faultless, had a few moments of scratching his head. On a night when the Knicks’ bench (usually a reliable force) could barely keep out of his way, Thibodeau kept RJ Barrett and Elfrid Payton – who combined 28 points in three quarters, the only Knicks besides Randle who reported to the Wednesday night service – stuck to the bank.
He had his reasons, of course – “We were in a hole, I was trying to find a way out, I wanted to see where I would go when I reached 10 [with just over six minutes left in the game], ”He said – and it is not the wiser bet now to doubt Thibodeau, who worked with a master stroke most nights.
It just wasn’t happening for the Knicks. They lost 15 consecutive goals in one point. They yielded 16 points out of 3 points for a team that generally fails to kick well, allowing Terrence Ross (30 points in 30 minutes off the bench) to bury them one night when they really did a good job on the Knicks killer, Nikola Vucevic (Shot 8 to 24, 0 to 7 out of 3). Perhaps it was as simple as Randle’s explanation:
“We just didn’t have it,” said Randle. “For any reason.”
They get a few days of practice now, thanks to the postponement of Saturday’s Spurs game at the Garden, and the extra practice time probably comes at a convenient time. There are a number of winning home games coming up. There will be other opportunities to reach the Holy Grail again, to reach 0.500, to float to sea level. It is still a worthy goal.
Next time, it will be useful to make a worthy effort.