Knicks 108, Wizards 100: They’ve always got to make it exciting, don’t they?
The streak lives on, with the New York Knicks moving to 3-0 this preseason after a comeback victory over the Cade Cunningham-less Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
Well, they’ve always got to make it exciting, don’t they?
Against a Detroit Pistons team that started three second round picks, the New York Knicks had to put on what has become a seemingly traditional third-quarter comeback.
I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to begin being lulled to sleep by a basketball game. But that’s exactly what started happening here with this matchup against the Pistons.
As much as I’d be at the front of the line amongst Taj Gibson believers waiting to get his face tattooed on my body after a 7-point, 5-rebound, 2-block performance in a future championship-clinching victory — when he’s your only source of offense, it’s time to hit the drawing board.
New York was almost completely reliant on the big fella to start this one, with the 36-year-old opening things up with six of the team’s first eight points.
But, as we know them so well to do, the Knicks found a way to break out of their shell — and in some ways we hadn’t seen last season.
Like this:
And this:
OK, so we’ve kind of seen that before. But I personally can’t get over RJ Barrett becoming a 50% 3-point shooter after just two years in the league.
New York walked out of the first quarter trailing, 26-20, as we’d all expected, thanks to a two-and-half-minute drought where they didn’t score a single bucket.
And honestly, outside of the continued dominance of Taj, there isn’t much that I remember from the second quarter that feels like mentioning.
It was a 56-52 score at the break, in favor of the Pistons.
And on a Wednesday night during the Knicks’ third preseason game I started fading into the dun-dun chimes from the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode on my television.
Yet as all addicts to, and trust that at this point I’ve no shame in the nature of my fandom, I left the door open for New York to bring me back in.
Who else but Julius Randle would answer such a call?
The NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 17 last season, Eastern Conference Player of the Month for April 2021, first-time All-Star forward, and the 2020-2021 Most Improved Player donned all his badges from last season in the third quarter in a passionate display of “fuck you, I’m better than you” basketball.
It was brilliant. It was showtime. And it forced me to mute Law and Order.
Randle scored 16 points on 5-5 shooting in the second half’s opening quarter, including three straight makes from 3-point land.
So much for that inevitable regression, yeah?
Randle’s Inferno™, as I’ve come to call his late-game outbursts, pushed the Knicks ahead 82-77 going into the fourth quarter.
At this point, the game’s been won. New York’s statement has been made. And nothing else really mattered. Unless you’re head coach Tom Thibodeau.
With over half a quarter left in the third preseason game against a Detroit Pistons team that was missing damn near the entire starting lineup, this madman had the New York Knicks starting lineup on the floor and pushing the goddamn envelope.
But it did result in what will go down as many fans’ favorite highlight of the preseason:
The good guys won this one, 108-100, to remain undefeated in exhibition thus far, with a final preseason matchup against the Washington Wizards awaiting on Friday evening.
Notes:
If the Taj breakout or Randle’s third quarter incineration should tell you anything, it’s that the Knicks kids had a rough night. Obi Toppin, RJ, and Immanuel Quickley combined for a 6-23 shooting effort from the field. Finishing was an issue against Detroit.
Kevin Knox continues to be a vastly better player in the summer league (when he plays) and the preseason. He hit two threes and had this nice outlet pass in the first quarter that resulted in an Alec Burks-Obi Toppin lob connection:
For those keeping track at home, New York attempted just 33 3-point shots against the Pistons and made only 13. They’d previously made 24 of 52 attempts in their win over the Wizards, and 11 of 37 against the Pacers.
If anyone’s wondering, if this weren’t the preseason, it would have been Taj Gibson’s first 20-point outing since a 25-point performance in a win over the — wait for it — New York Knicks on March 10, 2019.
Miles McBride and Quentin Grimes got just 59 seconds of action each in this one and combined for zero shot attempts to boot. I’m beginning to think that their involvement in the regular season will either be a byproduct of Derrick Rose/Kemba Walker resting, or sit firmly among the most farfetched pipe dreams.
This was a fun one.
Real basketball starts in six days.
But first, one last preseason bout with the Washington Wizards, in which many are predicting Mitchell Robinson’s return to the floor after 202 days.
They’ve just got to keep things exciting, don’t they?
