The red-hot Knicks are now winners of seven straight games, after RJ Barrett erupted in the third quarter to lead the charge.

I never really considered what it would be like to just sit down on a weekday night to watch good Knicks basketball this late into a season. Yeah, there were like two Melo years where you felt like the team had a chance to win any night, but it never truly felt sustainable. I missed the Ewing years because I was too busy watching Ken Griffey Jr. and Derek Jeter. I’m sure many younger fans had an even more bleak experience. It sucked, man.

But now the vibes are completely different. When I log into my computer and fire up MSG Go, I feel confident that not only can this 2020-21 Knicks team win any game they play, but that this is beginning of something truly sustainable. Feeling this type of hope and confidence for the first time in my Knicks fandom in my early 30s is wild. And not only that, so many of us haven’t been able to have this joy collectively given how COVID took out a year-plus of our lives.

Despite the trials and tribulations of these times, this Knicks team just keeps on winning.

Both the Hornets and the Knicks brought out the flamethrowers to start the game, but the Hornets were the team that kept them firing the entire half. Charlotte went 8-12 from deep with PJ Washington going 5-5 on opens looks above the break. New York did not have any sort of desire to actually go out and defend the perimeter in the first half. Sure, a number of the Hornets’ 3-pointers were deep, but they were also all in rhythm and very good looks. If it weren’t for Immanuel Quickley and Derrick Rose, the first half could have been much worse than a 6-point deficit. Quickley even managed to get an and-1 on a drive to the rim! Beautiful stuff.

As we got back from the riveting halftime analysis of Wally Scissorback, the one, the only Rowan. Alexander. Barrett. Jr. came in and decides that he is the future King of New York, and no one should ever doubt him. Barrett stunk in the first half. A real big turd of a shooting performance. You think that bothers him? N O P E. Barrett made not one, not two, not three, but FOUR 3-pointers in the third quarter. Barrett scored 18 points in 12 minutes and carried the Knicks to a 9-point lead entering the fourth quarter.

Charlotte did go on a run to bring the score close, but there was no doubt that the fate of this game was sealed in the third by Barrett. HIs offense and the Knicks’ defense finally deciding that “hey, maybe we should add a little more pressure to their 3-point shooting so they don’t get in-rhythm shots” were the primary reasons why New York got back into the game. This team is fun, man.

Thoughts during the game

• Julius Randle’s “stinker” nights now are now 16-10-7-2 type of performances. Keep letting this sink into your head. Arguably the greatest year-over-year transformation I’ve ever seen from a player already in his seventh year in the league.

• I really like this Hornets team. They may also have something going for them moving forward.

• Quickley was making buckets that make me really intrigued to see what he’ll become by his third year.

• I want to get on Taj’s PED regiment… allegedly.

• Justice wasn’t served yesterday. Yes, it is a big step in the right direction and we can celebrate that, but there’s so much more that needs to be done. There was finally an opportunity for us a community to say, “the bare minimum of accountability happen,” but why do we have to feel anxiety and fear that the norm expectation for these events is hearing or reading the words “Not Guilty”? It’s not right. Burn this system to the ground, abolish the police, and start anew.

• David Fizdale really made RJ Barrett go back to his shot form he had at Duke instead of the current one. That man is a basketball terrorist.

• I love this team.

The Knicks have the Hawks tonight and it’s a big game for New York. If they win, it is going to say a lot about this team’s character moving forward.