Fans will finally return to Garden in limited numbers starting on Tuesday, two nights after the Knicks barely achieved an exciting victory in their final game in front of an empty arena.
Tom Thibodeau’s team managed a 21-point lead in the second half, but ended up giving him the gift of victory in his first game against the Timberwolves since he was fired by Minnesota in 2019, scoring a 103-99 victory on Sunday for open a four game homestand.
In his final contest, before the All-Star reserves were named on Tuesday, Julius Randle finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while the Knicks improved to 15-16 in that night’s game against Golden State.
RJ Barrett added 21 and Alec Burks (13) hit four essential free throws in the final 21 seconds for the Knicks, who had three days off between games because of Saturday’s postponement against San Antonio after several Spurs tested positive for COVID- 19.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 points, Ricky Rubio 18 and debutant Anthony Edwards finished 12 for the Timberwolves (7-24).
The Knicks led 86-65 at the end of the third quarter, but Minnesota opened the fourth with a 20-6 run to close in two with a Towns 3-point basket with just five minutes remaining.
An inner bucket from Towns put the Timberwolves ahead by one with 2:48 left, but Randle hit two free throws and Burks added another four to the stripe in the final seconds.
Jersey-created Towns was playing its seventh game after losing four weeks after a positive COVID test in January. Her mother, Jacqueline, and six other family members died last year from the virus.
“He is an excellent player. He went through a lot of adversity and, obviously, you care about him as a person and his family first – his father, sister, ”said Thibodeau before the game. “In basketball, when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best players in the league. So he’s been a little unhappy in terms of injuries for the past two years, but he has incredible talent. “
The T-Wolves did not have ex-Nets All-Star D’Angelo Russell (knee), but this was the first time the Knicks had seen Edwards, the No. 1 overall pick in Georgia’s 2020 draft.
Kentucky’s 25th choice Quickley said before the game that he and Edwards were teammates at a high-profile camp while still in high school. They also faced each other several times in the past year at the SEC.
Edwards came in second on Sunday among the rookies, scoring 14.3 points per game, behind only Charlotte’s guard LaMelo Ball (14.4), with Quickley in third with 12.4 ppg.
Quickley, who is playing only 19.4 minutes per game in the reserve role, led the freshmen in the league in the player’s efficiency rating (PER), a metric that measures a player’s productivity per minute.
Towns and Rubio scored all points in Minnesota in an initial 15-15 draw, but the Knicks closed the first quarter with a 15-3 wave – with five points from Burks, four from Quickley and a transition dunk from Barrett – for a 12-point cushion.
Minnesota drew four in the middle of the second, but Randle’s eight points at the end of the fourth – including a 3-point straight before the horn – helped the Knicks to take a 61-50 lead into the break. All five holders reached double digits in points before the end of the third, with the Knicks leading by up to 21 and building an 87-71 lead in the final quarter.