The Knicks hung in there against a very good Grizzlies team, but ultimately came up short.

What a game. 

The Knicks welcomed the Memphis Grizzlies, the team they took to the brink on opening night in Memphis, and decided to try and make the sequel as good as the original. It wasn’t quite the quality game they played opening night, but it sure approached it. The Knicks fell 127-123 in a game that saw them claw back from double digits down in the fourth quarter to take the lead with 26 seconds left in the ballgame, only to see it slip away. What can we take away from arguably the team’s best performance of the season? Let’s dive in.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn”

There’s so much to say about this game I’m not sure where to begin. 

There were moments when it seemed like this would be just another familiar game. The Knicks starters began both halves slowly, falling behind 7-2 in the first and then watching a two point deficit fall to nine, both in the first three minutes of each half. There were other examples. Julius Randle opened the game calling his own number three times before any other Knick attempted a shot. RJ Barrett was moving around on the defensive end like he had cement in his shoes. Mitchell Robinson was juggling passes.

But, guess what? With each setback, they fought back! Robinson played, considering the competition, possibly the best all-around game of his career. Barrett played his best offensive game in weeks. And Randle didn’t take a single bad shot after the midway point of the first quarter. Most importantly, they operated cohesively as a unit. And while I want to credit Jalen Brunson, who fought through pain that almost kept him out of the game, I feel inclined to start with Randle.

Randle ended the game with nine assists and just a single turnover. It’s funny how a bias can skew one’s perception. If you’re reading this you likely are aware that Randle isn’t exactly the most popular Knick at the moment. I’m not even sure it’s lingering effects of last season anymore. I think many are just ready to move on. And every time Randle jumps off the screen is a reminder that he hasn’t yet. It’s a reminder that he remains in the way.

But, at least for one night, Randle wasn’t in the way. It’s not that shots were falling (he ended the game 4-9 from the field), it was that he showed a willingness to play off of Brunson more than any game this season. Randle was Robin, and he embraced it. Even down the stretch of the game, when the Grizzlies blitzed a Brunson pick-and-roll on back-to-back possessions, resulting in Randle with the ball in his hands, Randle attacked the defense looking to distribute.

Speaking of Brunson, he continues to be a one-man wrecking ball. Despite inconsistent (generous!) starts from Barrett and Randle, and three different players starting next to him at shooting guard and center, the Knicks have a 113.7 offensive rating, which would be the ninth-best offense in basketball, when Brunson plays. The middling expectations and skepticisms that followed his signing get more laughable each time he steps on the court. He is an All-Star on the court, but his impact off of it reveals itself in the postgame interviews after these tough losses, which clearly pain him. The biggest compliment to Brunson is that not a single Knicks fan was upset with him after he missed both a go-ahead jump shot and a game-tying jump shot in the final seconds of the game. Every one of us wanted him to take that shot, and walked away grateful he chose to come to New York so he could put up performances like these at the Garden. 

Robinson was everywhere defensively. While every one of his dominant efforts thus far this season had a minor asterisk (positive matchup, weak opponent), this one carried no such qualifier. The Grizzlies are a very good basketball team with an elite player whose main skill is attacking the paint. While Quentin Grimes deserves credit for pestering Ja Morant at the point of attack, Robinson spent the game covering for mistake after mistake, making life as difficult as he could on a potent Memphis offense. And while they tried to counter with a five-out offense at some points, Robinson wasn’t directly responsible for a single 3-pointer. It’s telling that Robinson had 16 points on 6-7 shooting and his offense was just an afterthought. 

The Knicks welcomed back Derrick Rose and Cam Reddish. Rose returned to his limited role but hit a couple of shots that helped stop the bleeding when the Knicks’ offense stalled. His ability to feel out the moments in a game when his team needs a bucket from him and execute will never cease to amaze me. As for Reddish, allow me to use my three-days-after-Thanksgiving gratuity on him not letting his injury impact the momentum he had built. He picked up right where he left off with (mostly) smart shots and showcasing tantalizing versatility on defense. Was he perfect? No. He got beat on a back-cut that ultimately led to the go-ahead basket. But I continue to love what I see from him.

This is all to say that, aside from knee soreness that forced Immanuel Quickley out of the game in the third quarter, this game was overwhelmingly positive. And, while the scoreboard may have indicated the Knicks lost, I walked away feeling as good about this team as I have all season.