There were moments during the third quarter of Monday night’s win over the Hawks when it felt like the Knicks would melt on the court and solidify, a disgusting slap from a basketball team. But New York overcame its obstacle and repelled Atlanta thanks to a late shot from Immanuel Quickley, combined with overall excellent performances from Julius Randle and RJ Barrett.
With the win, the Knicks complete their first road trip of the year at 3-1, standing at 4-3 for the season. In two weeks, Tom Thibodeau officially matched the total number of wins David Fizdale has been able to achieve in the 22 games before his shooting last season. At the time this sentence was written, the Knicks were tied for 5th place in the Eastern Conference (technically speaking, it was also for 8th place). Oh, FWIW, the Knicks, 2-0 since the calendar turns in 2021, remain unbeaten in the new year.
Great job by Tom Thibodeau to find the 113 points needed to win Fulton County, Georgia.
– Dolan J. Trump (@Dolan_J_Trump) 5 January 2021
The Knicks were without a myriad of players, as became customary. No Nerlens Noel, Obi Toppin, Alec Burks, Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr. of Omari Spellman. The Hawks, meanwhile, played without Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn. And although the Knicks seem locked up at the point, it was not so obvious all night that they would survive their opponent.
RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton delivered the bulk of the offense in the first quarter, and in the early stages it was clear that the Knicks were planning to adjust to the Hawks’ explosive offense. Halfway through the first, Randle shot 10 points at 4-5, the Knicks as a team shot 61% off the field, and Mitchell Robinson guarded the paint like a security guard at a factory in Sherwin-Williams.
Suddenly, an RJ Barrett slam dunk set the Knicks double digits. Pandemic parade plans have been drawn up.
Late in the first half, Austin Rivers and Kevin Knox entered the game, and the momentum immediately changed. The Falcons immediately went on one of the many mini-careers. In almost no time, the lead of ten points was erased, and with two minutes left in the opening period, Thibs called the time-out. Presumably he asked his guys to play better. At the end of the first, the Knicks clung on to a 31-29 lead.
The second quarter was mostly a back-and-forth affair. New York was able to hang on tight thanks to the hustle and bustle of Robinson, and even more bucket of Randle and RJ.
Late in the half, the Hawks catch the Knicks’ naps, and after another mini-run, they are 58-54 at halftime. The Falcons shot into the heights from the break, with Trae Young taking control and the fast-shooting Knicks, who had only used eight players all night, completely disbanding. Before long, the Knicks were down by two figures. They looked discouraged and tired.
With five minutes left in the third, the Hawks took their biggest lead in the game, and the end of the evening’s festivity felt anything but certain. What could become a trend, however, the Knicks had other ideas. After two tries by Kevin Knox and the start of a bit of magic by Quickley, New York made a great run to turn a 15-point deficit into four, and the quarter ended with the Hawks 88-84.
The fourth was Quickley’s quarter, and it’s really surprising how a quarter of the excellent play can make otherwise phenomenal performances of Randle and Barrett look like the second story of the night. The two clutch Quickley free throws put the Knicks ahead 103-101. He then made a foul on Young while shooting a try and sinking all the free throws, which put the Knicks up 106-101.
With the game hanging in the balance, Rivers steps up again. Doc’s son hit a deep ball to put the Knicks 110-106 up with just under a minute and a half to play, and control seems to be in the hands of the Knicks.
That was true until Reggie Bullock came in at the very end of fourth place, and some feelings of embarrassment almost blew the match. Randle had several brain-dead turnovers, including a pass to no one when he mistakenly thought Quickley was cutting, and sloppiness led to an attempt at rescue by Reggie Bullock under the basket holding the back of the backplate hit.
Eventually, the Knicks pull it out and get away with the 113-108 victory. For much of the past twenty years, this Atlanta eruption could have been described as an uncharacteristic victory for New York. But under Thibs, the sticky nose is becoming a trend.
Notes:
> Randle finished with 28 points, 17 rebounds and 9 assists, and his second triple-double as Knick barely missed. He also scored 7 rebounds, meaning he just missed his first four-time double.
> Overall, Randle stroked and shot 11-19 off the field. But he missed each of his five tries.
> So, how about RJ? Barrett stole 26 points (10-19 shots, 1-5 from deep), 11 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. This is his third 20-point mark of the young season, and his second series.
> Alexa, order an Immanuel Quickley jersey, size large please. The 25th choice from this year’s concept is still astounding. While Elfrid Payton was playing a solid first half, he started to disappear as the game went on, and Quickley was just what the doctor ordered. He finished in 19 minutes of action with 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block.
> Without a real rugby center to play him, Robinson played 28 minutes and carved an interesting statline of 8 points, 7 boards, 4 steals and 2 blocks. At some point early in the second he was asked for his third offense, but officials later decided that it was not Robinson who committed the offense, and so he was downgraded to two offenses.
> Randle played a lot of rugby centers, and the Knicks clearly had no presence in those minutes.
> The Knicks continue from deep. On Tuesday, they jointly shot 7-21 (33%) from behind the arc. The Hawks took ten times more than the Knicks, but only passed three more and finished 10-31.
But who is here to talk about regression? It was a night of progression. Walt Clyde Phraser said exactly what we all think: “Quickley is fast becoming my favorite Knickley.”
The Knicks now travel home Wednesday night at 7:30 a.m. for a game against the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are good. This will be an excellent test of where this team is from. We hope that some of our injured bodies will heal magically over the next two days.