The Knicks have already scored several impressive victories this season against some of the NBA’s expected top teams, including Milwaukee, Utah and Boston.
A two-to-one victory Sunday over the high-end Clippers football tournament would have shaken an entire yard from its foundation to the beams, but the Knicks fell out of the steam in their empty home arena in a mostly entertaining loss of 129-115 against Los Angeles. .
Immanuel Quickley, a rookie point guard, appeared to make a comeback from a 12-point deficit in the third quarter, with 11 of his 25 points in the fourth, including some 3-points to put them within two to pull with less than eight minutes left.
But former Knicks forward Marcus Morris, who was traded on last year’s deadline for the eventual 25th pick that enabled the Knicks to field Quickley, sank in a corner 3 to give the LA lead to nine to reopen. Kawhi Leonard (28 points) pushed it back with 5:40 over double figures as the Clippers pulled away (16-5).
Reggie Jackson finished with 18 points and Paul George had 17 when the Clippers shot 17-for-38 (43.2 percent) from three points.
Julius Randle led the Knicks with 27 points and 12 rebounds, and RJ Barrett added 23 on 9-for-14 shooting for the Knicks (9-12). They play their next two games Monday and Wednesday in Chicago, where Tom Thibodeau coached the 2010-15 Bulls.
From the start, it was not a typical slack afternoon discount at MSG, as both teams shot better than 50 percent off the floor in a back-and-forth first half. The result was a 66-65 lead for the Clippers at halftime.
The Knicks buried eight of their first ten off the field, including five early points per piece from Randle and Reggie Bullock, to lead 18-15 halfway through the first quarter. Their lead was extended to seven on Barrett’s steal and strike with just under three minutes left, but the period ended with the Knicks leading, 31-29.
Quickley took another 10 points off the bench in the second quarter, while Randle and Barrett combined for 29 before halftime, helping the Knicks stay within one halftime.
The Clippers scored the first seven points of the second half and they built up the first double-digit lead (12) for both teams, with Jackson scoring 10 in the session for a 101-91 game last quarter entered.