There was a lot to hate about the Knicks losing 116-113 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Knick’s supposedly formidable defense yielded 70 points in the first half and lost by 20 in most of the competition. The defensive dynamo Elfrid Payton (sarcasm alert) failed to stop Damian Lillard, who scored 15 points in the first quarter. That ex-Knick Enes Kanter rogue defeated Mitchell Robinson and even played a good save against Julius Randle.
But forget all that for a moment and let’s focus on Immanuel Quickley. Virtually all Knicks fans have been asking Quickley to start, and on Sunday night he showed why he was almost provoking a 20-point recovery with an insane 31-point performance.
IQ was bestial beyond the arc, shooting 5-8.
He also hit 8-8 on free throws, thanks to some skillful foul-drawing skills.
He had 4 assists and could have done a lot more … I counted three excellent lobs that broke the hands of several great Knicks, most notably Nerlens Noel. When IQ finally managed to play Mitch, the results were magical.
Quick for Mitch AGAIN to give us at least one more highlight to smile at this
Also back in a 3-point game with 10 seconds to finish pic.twitter.com/ICsk5tAE4y
– The Strickland (@TheStrickland) January 25, 2021
This is what we wanted – competitive games with children showing real growth. I would like to see more of the rest of the team next time – and I would like them to leave Elfrid Payton in Portland – but IQ looks like a goalkeeper.
Matt Miranda had some problems watching the game, but we promise that he will have the recap tomorrow at some point. Until then, get some rest.