Knicks 114, Bulls 91: I believe in this team

Most Knicks teams would have followed Wednesday’s Windy City win with a Friday fall. These Knicks didn’t. What does that mean?

After pulling out a close one in Chicago just two nights ago, the Knicks returned for a rematch against the floundering Bulls. This game had a lot going against the boys in blue. For the Bulls, this wasn’t just a random game; this was their chance to turn their season around. ESPN’s Michael Wilbon even predicted the Bulls would stomp the Knicks by double-digits. And why wouldn’t he? Any average team would have been more than content to leave Chicago with a split and head home.

But this isn’t your average team. At least not right now. And there should have been little doubt that this team would come out with the proper energy required to take two from the Bulls on their home court. How did they do it? And what does it mean going forward? Let’s dive in.

The new backcourt

This game belonged to Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes. From the opening tip, both were locked in. We saw a lot of the usual from both. Brunson was a stabilizing floor general. After a slow start, the Knicks took the lead in the second quarter. Throughout the rest of the game, the Bulls put together a couple of mini-runs in their attempt at getting back into the game, but every time Brunson had an answer. Grimes, meanwhile, was his typically stellar self on the defensive end, which is becoming the stuff of legends. Toss in five 3-pointers, and Grimes fulfilled the “3-and-D” label often thrown his way.

But what made this game special was that both mixed in some things we don’t usually see. Seeing Grimes snipe from beyond the arc must have inspired him, because Brunson made a career-high six 3-pointers himself. He was also a hawk off the ball, reading passing lanes and benefitting from his teammates’ smothering defense at the point of attack, picking off passes like Champ Bailey. And Grimes . . . well, let’s let the tape speak for itself.

It wasn’t just Grimes and Brunson. This was a team effort. The Bulls, looking to correct Wednesday’s mistakes, scored 32 first-quarter points, a total the Knicks have allowed in only one quarter since their winning streak began. But the Bulls weren’t the only team looking to adapt. The Knicks followed up their shaky first quarter with three of their best defensive quarters of the season, allowing just 59 points the rest of the way. 

Everything starts with Mitchell Robinson, whose production has become so consistent you can almost set your watch to it (do people still wear watches?). After weeks conceding all of the wrong shots, the Knicks have flipped the script and are basically only allowing opponents to take the ones they want them to. Robinson, by himself, keeps offensive players from getting to the rim. But the rim isn’t the only thing Robinson protects. No Bulls player collected an offensive rebound until there were 47 seconds left in the third quarter, at which point the Knicks had 22. That’s quite the difference.

Offensively, RJ Barrett didn’t have his best game by any means. We saw a return of the frustrating missed layups that have come to define him. But the process continues to progress. Great players, in any sport, often talk about how at the peak of their powers the game slows down for them. We’re seeing the game slow down for Barrett in real time. Every time he probes the paint he is in complete control. Gone is the player who pre-determined his reads due to a lack of certainty, replaced by one who reacts to what happens in front of him. It should also be noted he was the primary defender on All-Star DeMar DeRozan, who took 17 free throws Wednesday. This time, Barrett held him to just two, as well as 6-14 from the field and four turnovers in his best defensive game of the season.

In the second half, the Knicks were firing on all cylinders. There was no moment they were not in control. It was the type of performance that should make even his biggest critics grateful that Tom Thibodeau is the head coach. The execution was exquisite, but the consistent effort makes this team both immensely watchable and easy to root for. 

A bid farewell

Late in the fourth, with the Knicks up almost 30, Thibodeau made a call he hasn’t been able to in weeks: he subbed in Derrick Rose. Rose, who of course rose to stardom in Chicago, was greeted with a thunderous ovation by the loyal hometown fans. It was a beautiful moment that caused me to wonder if that was the last time we’ll see Rose on the court in a Knicks uniform.

If it was, let’s remember just how good he was for this franchise this time around. While the 2020-21 Knicks did have an All-Star (more on him in a bit), the team essentially treaded water until it traded for Rose. Since that day, Rose’s impact has been second to none. Every impact stat loves him. More importantly, he immediately garnered respect in the locker room. Every young Knick talks about how much they look up to him and how much he’s helped them.

So when the final buzzer sounded and the Knicks had defeated the Bulls 114-91, I couldn’t help but think about Rose, who had stepped onto the court with tears in his eyes. Who knows what this team looks like now if Rose doesn’t come in and immediately help it then? All I can say is thank you, Derrick Rose. If the Knicks do trade him, I hope it’s somewhere he can play and potentially win.

“You can play well without shooting well”

You may have noticed I didn’t say the name “Julius Randle” yet. Am I penalizing him for shooting 6-16? On the contrary, I am so high on this performance from Randle that I think he deserves an entire section devoted to his play last night.

If “we here” was the mantra of the 2020-2021 season, “you can play well without shooting well” was a very close second. Essentially every game, win or loss, was followed with Thibodeau receiving a question about Elfrid Payton. Nevermind that Payton wasn’t doing the non-shooting stuff well, either; what is relevant here is that Thibodeau had laid a foundation.

Is this our full-circle moment? Randle, the star of the “we here” season, just played one of his best games of the season without shooting well. We’ve seen Randle defend well before in stretches. We know he has the capacity to set up his teammates or battle on the boards. 

But this was different. If Randle is the ultimate main character, last night’s game was his version of Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It was the first time I can remember him actively embracing a supporting role and thriving. The most beautiful part? Every aspect of his game was repeatable. The screens he set, the passes he made, the spaces he operated in, the rotations he made and effort he exerted defensively, all of it. That player raises the ceiling of the franchise, because it’s someone you could envision playing with another star and not hindering him.

It’s obviously too soon to declare Randle a changed player. He didn’t just become Draymond Green overnight. How he reacts the first time he takes a punch will be extremely telling. But if you had asked me two months ago if I thought it was possible I’d feel this way about Randle just 29 games into the season? I would have laughed you out of the building. We know Randle can be a star, and it’s nice to have that available. But Randle used to treat games in which he wasn’t featured as if they were beneath him. The version of him that treats effort in games democratically, who defends and emphasizes the little things whether or not his shot is falling? That man could be a Knick for a long time.

It’s OK to believe

Early in the third season of the television show Lost, one of my favorite pieces of dialogue, in any medium, is exchanged:

Ben : Do you believe in God, Jack?
Jack : Do you?
Ben : Two days after I found out I had a fatal tumor on my spine, a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky . . . and if that's not proof of God, I don't know what is.

I don’t mean to be theological, or even present a certainty on the presence of a deity. What I am trying to convey is that, more than anything, human beings are desperate for something to believe in. 

Watching this game, I found myself getting irrational. I don’t think this team can win a championship this season, but for the first time the light at the end of the tunnel is both present and bright enough that it’s blinding. The infusion of youth (Immanuel Quickley played 26 minutes in a game he shot 1-12) has potentially altered the Knicks’ trajectory entirely.

And yet, questions still hover over the franchise. Eventually they have to pick a path, right? Will that mean doing what they didn’t do early in 2021 and selling high on the seemingly rejuvenated Julius Randle? Or do they believe in this core so much that the rumors about Quickley and Obi Toppin ultimately come to fruition in an effort to eventually create space for a star to join them?

We can argue about these things until we’re blue in the face. I certainly have my perspective. But, for now, I’m just enjoying watching these nine guys play basketball for this coach they’re clearly ready to throw down in battle for. And that’s okay. At the end of the day, fandom should outweigh fans' individual opinions or agendas. 

It won’t always be this way. The harsh nature of life is that what goes up usually comes down. So, for now, let’s put those conversations aside. Let’s forget about the big-picture decisions that loom menacingly, like a monster under the bed. The coach has actualized the front office’s idealistic vision of this team. Every draft pick available from the past four drafts is a part of the rotation. Let’s see how far they can take this. I believe in this team. Do you?