Another day, another three-point bloodbath.

Do you remember the first time you got to 69? The last? How could you not? The rhapsody of riding the knife’s edge between give and take, treble and bass, suborn and submit. On Saturday afternoon, the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks were tied at 68 early in the third quarter. Then the balance shifted, the Mavs took the lead, took it some more and dropped a 69-point second half boo-sparking spanking on our little rascals to win 121-100.

In the first half Julius Randle was making things happen, scoring 21 points on efficient shooting.

The Knicks got off to an early double-digit lead, if early double-digit leads do anything for you (no judgment; The Strickland is a safe space). Jalen Brunson faced his former franchise for the first time since they capped a year of botching his free agency by losing the one player they had who could give their best player a breather (also, don’t quote me on this, but I’m pretty sure that same franchise is the only one ever to win a title and then not win a playoff round for a decade). In this game the Knicks were the haunted ex, as Tim Hardaway Jr. drilled eight 3-pointers and finished with 28 points. Over the last nine minutes of the third, Dallas outscored New York 34-7.

How did we go from two teams both being on the verge of the nicest of numbers to a blowout in favor of the team that had trailed all night, all in less than a quarter? In basketball, as in life and in sex, sometimes it’s less about how you start than how you finish – or where. ¡Mira! the bucketry between the teams over those nincompoopish nine minutes:

DAL 3 (Tim Hardaway Jr.)

DAL 3 (Luka Dončić)

DAL 3 (THJ)

NYK 3 (RJ Barrett)

DAL 3 (THJ)

DAL 2 (Luka)

DAL 2 (Luka)

DAL 3 (THJ)

DAL 3 (Josh Green)

DAL 2 (Luka)

DAL 2 (THJ)

NYK 2 (Immanuel Quickley free throws)

DAL 3 (Luka)

NYK 2 (Quentin Grimes)

DAL 3 (Luka)

DAL 2 (Luka)

NYK 2 (IQ) 

The Josh Green trey put the Mavs up a baker’s dozen, which even if your kink is bakers is a lot of extra weight to bear, especially compared to a menage a deux.

As the sky fell, the paying schmos and corporate hos huffed and they puffed, booing the home team. Forget what they tell you about democracy – passion dies in darkness. Democracy died in broad daylight and has had its corpse paraded around for so long even GG Allin finds it distasteful. If your lover keeps letting you down and you don’t leave, you may be a masochist  (which is totally, totally cool; again, safe space here), but it may also mean there’s still embers in the fire. The Garden faithful, like your 34+35, just wanna be a part of something that feels good. The Knicks seventh loss in their last eight home games is like sharing a bed with someone who seven of eight nights rolls over and cuts you with their ginsu big toenail.

They best get that taken care of STAT if meaningful games in April remains James Dolan’s lukewarm Wilponian dream. With this loss the Knicks fell to 11th in the East, a game back of Washington and Miami for the last play-in spot. The home schedule doesn’t let up any over the next month: Cleveland, Atlanta, Sacramento, Golden State, Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio and Milwaukee makes eight games out of 10 New York will be a home underdog. Poor dog.

We’ve seen the Knicks made adjustments to their style of play this season, upping their pace and efficiency while trying lineup combinations you couldn’t have tortured Thibodeau into playing in the past. It’s time to freshen things up on the defensive end. The Knicks were outscored by 42 beyond the arc in this one. Once they learn not to give it up that easily, but to find balance, they’ll feel the way a 69 does, the way I feel with this recap being 696 words. Nice.