The Knicks beat the Pistons, 114-104, on Thursday night to enter the All-Star range in an 8-3 wave and with a 19-18 winning record.
With shouts of “Let’s Go Knicks” from the 2,000 forts available in the Garden, they defeated the worst pistons of the Eastern Conference for the second time in four days, making sure to take advantage of what has been a weak schedule recently.
In fact, of their last eight wins, seven have been against clubs well below 0.500 (Washington, Houston, Atlanta, Minnesota, Sacramento and Detroit).
But after seven years of making fun of the league, the Knicks will accept. Whether they can continue when the game resumes is another matter.
The Knicks will open the second half of the season with a four-game trip that will test their courage – in Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Brooklyn and Philadelphia – and will not play at the Garden again until March 18 against Orlando. They are 11-7 at home.
The vertiginous Jardim even sang “We want Pinson” on Thursday night, calling the 12th man, Theo Pinson.
The Knicks did not yet have ex-Piston Derrick Rose (COVID-19 protocols), but that did not matter against the pitiful Pistons (10-27). All five Knicks holders reached double digits at the end of the third quarter.
Julius Randle closed the first half of his brilliant season with 27 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. He will be in Atlanta on All-Star Sunday for his first appearance.
“We are growing as a team, growing as a unit,” said Randle. “We have to go to the break and get ready because the second half will be a beast. ”
Randle’s assistant, RJ Barrett, might get there someday. He shot for the All-Star break with a night of 21 points and five assists, in which he hit 9 out of 13.
Owner Elfrid Payton not only returned to action after losing four consecutive games due to a thigh strain, he also started. He got six quick points, showing no rust with his penetration ability, setting the tone and finishing with 20 points in 35 minutes.
The Knicks closed the first half with panache. They had an 18-4 run to climb 15 points before a Detroit Dennis Smith Jr. basket in the final seconds made the score 59-46 at halftime.
The race was started by Barrett, who fed the Nerlens Noel center (12 points, 11 rebounds) for an alley-oop move. Barrett then drove hard for a hatchet jelly. A possession later, Barrett managed a long offensive rebound and dribbled to a tray.
Barrett scored 10 points at the break, and Randle, selected for Team Durant in the All-Star Game earlier in the evening, accumulated a double-double in the break (18 and 10).
Meanwhile, Frank Ntilikina, who started as a point guard in the previous competition in San Antonio, continued his 3-point genius. After hitting 3 of 3 against Spurs, he got off the bench in the first quarter and hit three straight in four minutes to make 6 for his last 6.
Noel, the pivot with an injured Mitchell Robinson, gave the Knicks a defensive spark in the first quarter with a monstrous block in a Sekou Doumbouya. The Pistons were rocky from the 3-point line, going to 5 out of 20 in the first half.