The Knicks won a game that they probably should have lost, but it was hard to be mad at the result with RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Obi Toppin putting on a show in the penultimate game of the season.

The end of the road! The Knicks played their final road game of the season in Washington, D.C. last night, beating the depleted Wizards, 114-92. This game was an enigma — while both fanbases likely would have preferred their team to lose, I believe the Knicks left the arena the overwhelming victors, irrespective of what the numbers on the scoreboard or the standings said.

Why do I feel this way? Let’s dive in.

The game

The game tipped off, and, because it was a day that ended in “y,” the Knicks fell into a 10-0 hole. I’m not sure the Wizards would have allowed the Knicks to lose this game, but their starters came flying out of the gate, determined to make Knick fans on the tank bandwagon’s dreams come true. And then RJ Barrett entered the chat.

Barrett, coming off his worst game of the season against the Nets, was fantastic. It wasn’t just his far more efficient scoring (14 points on 6-10 shooting), it was the way he was getting his points. Barrett had finishes at the basket with both hands, and hit two consecutive midrange jumpers pulling up off the bounce after a screen.

More than anything, this portion of the season is about giving fans something to hold onto throughout the long basketball-less nights of the summer. Something that will give the Knicks’ faithful reason to believe next season will be better. RJ sprained his knee late in the second quarter as he delivered a beautiful dime to rookie Jericho Sims, but make no mistake about it, Barrett has done just that. His injury will not be the lasting image of this season. It will be the leaps he has made throughout the season and the realistic belief that he will come into next season ever better.

And it hasn’t just been Barrett. Immanuel Quickley has arguably been the Knicks’ most exciting transformation. In December, Quickley was a shoot-first player who couldn’t shoot. He over-dribbled and struggled to tread the line between when to create his own shot and when to create for others. That player is long gone. Quickley is now methodical in the half court. He directs traffic while keeping his dribble alive, lining up his teammates in just the right position to optimize the play call, before setting the play in motion. He still has a tendency to over-dribble, but it is rarely without a purpose anymore. From a scoring perspective, Quickley’s shot has returned (he was 4-9 from three last night, and is shooting almost 40% from there over his last 20 games), and he has added an ability to get to the rim that was rarely seen last season.

One of the biggest failures of the season will be Thibodeau not fully discovering what he has in this kid. Not only have his minutes and role — or lack thereof — hurt the team in the short term, they have put the front office in a position where they have to make a decision about the future of the Knicks’ point guard position without maximum information.

Joining Quickley last night were fellow neophytes Obi Toppin, Deuce McBride, and Jericho Sims. Toppin played the best game of his career, and it’s shameful that I’m only now mentioning him in the fifth paragraph. Toppin brought his normal energy and connectivity, getting out in transition and torching the Wizards with fast break dunks and sealing opposing guards in cross-matches. But it was so much more than that.

Had Toppin been the benefactor of a more talented team exploiting a bad, tanking one, this performance wouldn’t have been as meaningful. Instead, Toppin showcased the areas he’s developed that are sustainable going forward. For starters, his perimeter shot continues to look noticeably improved. You can point to the mechanics, which has real merit if you look at his legs on the shot motion as well as his release point. But what this tells me is that Toppin is a player used to being involved in his team’s offense for as long as he’s played basketball. To ask a guy like him, an inside-out big who loves moving, to stand in the corner and shoot a three every once in a while, is to not understand how to maximize this player. So it should come as little surprise that, since Randle has been out, Toppin’s shot is looking much more in rhythm and the result have backed that up.

Finally, rookies McBride and Sims continue to show flashes. McBride is an absolute menace on defense. He routinely picks opposing guards up in the backcourt and jostles with them up the floor. If a big man tries to run a dribble handoff for the player he’s guarding, he loves nothing more than to beat the player to the spot and blow up the play. And Sims is already an elite rebounder on both ends of the floor. He has great instincts when he pulls down a rebound, looking for either a kick-out on offense or a push ahead pass on defense. Sims’ defensive production dipped a bit in the third quarter, but this is what these games are for.

After 48 minutes, the Knicks kids had led an all-out assault on Washington. The final score read Knicks 114, Wizards 92, but the process was far more telling than the result. The Knicks played together, with 27 assists on 41 field goals. They raced up the court at any opportunity, and at certain times dominated both sides of the ball. They did all of this riding five different homegrown draft picks from the past three drafts. I understand wanting your team to have the best draft pick possible, but if you are unhappy about watching these kids play the way they did, I am not sure what to tell you.

A stalled tank

This brings us to the tank discussion. When the game ended, discussion turned to the missed opportunity for the Knicks. If you’re reading this, please don’t fall for this. Instead, take a look at the lottery odds.

In winning the game last night and allowing Washington to pass them, the Knicks’ chances of obtaining a top-four pick dropped 4%. Four. Something that wasn’t all that likely to happen beforehand (13.9%), became even less likely (9.6%). Is that 4% more important than sustainable development from some of the most important young players? I don’t believe it is. 

A short goodbye

This isn’t the last game of the season, but with the great Matthew Miranda covering the season finale, this will be the last time I recap a game this season. Given this is my first season writing for Strickland, I wanted to send out a few thank-you’s:

Jonathan Macri: For those who don’t know Jon, he is the face of Knicks Film School, doing, among other things, most of their newsletter writing and postgame videos. Before I ever made a clip thread or wrote an article for Strickland, I was an anonymous Knicks fan with Frank Ntilikina as my profile picture and less than 20 Twitter followers yapping it up with Jon in the DMs. He has always taken the time to send thoughtful responses, and inspired me to follow my passions. 

Alex Wolfe: Alex is the Editor-in-Chief of The Strickland, and, after I submitted a few old articles I wrote to him to potentially write here, he gave me some of the highest praise I’ve ever received. Writing and handling social media for The Strickland has been an amazing experience and a big part of it has been Alex and how he treats the team. We have the freedom to pursue avenues we want, he is always supportive, and it should come as no surprise that the vibe of anything related to The Strickland is light and inclusive. That starts with Alex.

Shwin, Stacy, Prez: After making a thread about Elfrid Payton’s defense against the Suns last season, Shwin reached out to me to ask if I wanted to do some clip threads for The Strickland. Since joining, he has let me hop aboard podcasts when possible, and been a big part of the seamless transition onto the team. Stacy and Prez, who both have weekly podcasts with Shwin (tune in!), have been wonderful podcast co-hosts and always more than happy to have me on with them. 

You all: Last, but certainly not least, it’s important anyone reading this knows that we at The Strickland are more than appreciative of the fact that none of this would be possible without each and every one of you. We all are just a bunch of strangers who love a basketball team. Some may find it silly, but that is a bond that ties us together and it is as strong as a sailor’s knot. So thank you, we will continue to do our best to bring you the best possible content as often as we can.