What a difference 48 hours and a 6-foot-8 skeleton key makes

In drama, the end f act 2 is when all hpe seems lst. Then cmes salvatin. In The Last Jedi – in any Star Wars mvie, really – the rebels are trapped and alne, facin impssible dds, when Luke Skywalker shws up 2 save the day. In Aveners: Endame, Thans has just beaten up Irn Man, Thr and Captain America when “n yr left” happens. In Lrd f the Rins: The Tw Twers, ‘andalf literally rides in n his white hrse 2 save the day when niht lks inevitable. This structure never ets ld because havin ur faith rewarded isn’t merely catharsis – it keeps life wrth livin. If this pararaph was hard 2 read, it’s fr the same reasn the Knicks have stumbled the past five weeks — the pararaph’s withut the same 2 letters the Knicks haven’t had.

On Sunday the Philadelphia 76ers scored 79 points against the New York Knicks and somehow won. Last night they played them again, this time welcoming Tyrese Maxey back, yet somehow scored 79 again, this time in a blowout loss. The simplest explanation for the turnaround is that last night the Knicks welcomed OG Anunoby back after he missed 18 games with an elbow injury, and therefore welcomed back their status as a defensive superpower. Holding the Sixers to 79 makes three straight games allowing fewer than 80, something the Knicks haven’t done since 2000. Given that most games now feature teams scoring 79 by halftime, this feat deserves to be hung on the fridge.

Of course, if offense is the drumbeat you march to, there were plenty of reasons to dance. New York scored 33 more points Tuesday than Sunday, much of it attributable to Anunoby’s impacts in the halfcourt and transition.

You could see the lift his return brought in the Knicks’ energy right from the jump. Sunday they made 12 shots in the first half; last night they hit 11 in the opening quarter. Sunday they scored 31 in the first half; last night they scored 33 in the second quarter, peppered with three threes from a resurgent, resplendent Jalen Brunson. On Sunday Josh Hart put up 9/11/2 on 4-of-13 shooting; last night it was 20/19/10 on 8-of-16. OG’s return sent Precious Achiuwa back to the bench, where he was twice as productive in a third less minutes than Sunday. In baseball they say “speed kills.” The Knicks’ much vaunted but rarely seen depth is a bad moon rising for the rest of the East.

The Knicks have been dropping like flies for months, and even in last night’s many happy returns there was the sight of Brunson gripping his side or lower back to remind us we’re all ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But Anunoby’s return was Popeye getting a shot of spinach: after so many draining days, the Knicks looked driven and druzy, the same sparkling juggernaut they’d looked like before Anunoby and Julius Randle were lost in a costly win over Miami. Two nights ago the 76ers were better. Last night the Knicks made the 76ers look unfit to face St. John’s.

Anunoby’s return allows New York to keep its gaze forward-looking. There is “growing optimism” in Cleveland that Donovan Mitchell will return from an ankle injury during their upcoming three-game road trip, while Evan Mobley is out of his walking boot but still likely weeks away from being cleared to play. Since the All-Star break the Cavaliers are 5-7. Milwaukee’s dropped three of four after being blown out in Sacramento. The third seed is 100% in play for the Knicks. Behind them in the East, the Magic, the Pacers and the Heat are all currently on losing streaks. Computer models favored the Knicks to finish fourth before the events of last night; with OG back and the team finally being reinforced instead of depleted, optimism is the new pragmatism.

Now comes a four-game West Coast trip beginning tomorrow in Portland before games in Sacramento, Golden State and Denver. Will Mitchell Robinson return later this month, as has been rumored? Randle is doing 5-on-0 drills with the team and testing his shoulder in “controlled” movements. Will he rejoin the fold? Losing everybody to injury stinks, but there’s always one potential benefit to appearing to lose all hope: when it does arrive, it’s so electric it can light up a city. That’s not catharsis. It’s why we live.