The Knicks held in there against a depleted Pelicans team, securing a win on the road to push their record to 5-1 behind a career high scoring night for RJ Barrett.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The words are attributed to Lao Tzu; the truth is known to anyone who ever worked a job they hated (looking at you, Rochester Institute of Technology). Not all steps are created equally. The New York Knicks know it. 

Last night the challenge before the Knicks was clear: win a virtually unwinnable game in New Orleans. The Pelicans were without their alphas and omegas, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, making the literal act of winning a seeming shoo-in for New York. But that was the heart of the bit, the crux of the biscuit, whatever phrase ending in -it you prefer. If the Knicks won in a runaway, critics would dismiss it because of the opponent’s shorthandedness. If they won but it was close, they’d be criticized for playing down to the competition. If they lost, there’d be hell to pay and two fire-engine red losses already in the early season. 

RJ Barrett faces a similar challenge, and has since entering the league out of Duke. Many moons ago, the most celebrated player in Duke history was drafted third overall. Christian Laettner had a fine NBA career, earning both All-Rookie honors and an All-Star selection. Barrett was not All-Rookie. It’s obviously premature to call him out for not making an All-Star team yet in just his third season, especially when the two players drafted ahead of him haven’t either. But Ja Morant and Zion Williamson have shown All-NBA potential in their early days. Laettner was taken behind Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, two Hall of Famers. For many, Laettner’s career is one to sign up for. RJ wants more. So do the Knicks. Last night, they got more. 

In a game the Knicks led throughout and — in a disturbing early-season trend — appeared to have wrapped up, only to very much not wrap up, Team Thibodeau’s 1,000-mile journey from NBA perdition to its pantheon hit a snag. The home team was down but not out, pulling within two just under the two-minute mark in the fourth after a Herb Jones (yes, that Herb Jones!) and-1. Even with Jones missing the free throw, the Pels were on a 9-0 run. Barrett hit another 3-pointer off a Spain pick-and-roll.. Devonte’ Graham hit a Hail Mary over Taj Gibson, Julius Randle, and Barrett to again cut it to two. 

The Knicks went back to RJ, who drove to the basket, getting the attention of Jonas Valanciunas and dishing to the cutting Gibson to double the lead. After Graham bricked another 3-point attempt, Barrett did not.

The Knicks’ second-best player (for now?) is still only 21. With any luck this is just the beginning of his journey to... who knows? Something more than Laettner would be a great baseline. The Knicks now stand at 5-1, atop the East and making a name for themselves as something more than the little engine that could from a year ago. We don’t know how far they’ll go. But for a team that for so long left us wondering when they’d ever take the right first step, a Saturday night win at the shorthanded Pelicans is another big step in the right direction.  

Notes

• New York started Mitchell Robinson, Randle, RJ, Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker. New Orleans started Valanciunas, Jones, Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Graham. How often this century has the Knicks’ starting lineup been superior at all five spots?

• Thirty-five, eight, and six for Barrett on 12-18 from the floor and just one turnover. Kemba added 19, five assists and four steals. That kind of production on a night where Randle was quiet numerically (10/6/4) helps a bit with the memories of the Knicks dying on the vine in last year’s playoffs without Julius leading the way.

• Befitting New Orleans’ rep as a fun place to be, the Smoothie King Center had some very friendly rims. More than one Knicks 3-pointer dropped after a brief tour of every part of the rim.

• New York had the upper hand from the jump, opening the game up 14-3 after five straight makes: a Kemba 3-pointer, a Fournier 3-pointer, an RJ paint pull-up, an RJ 3-pointer, and a Randle 3-pointer. They should start every game that way.

• A b-yoo-tiful early Barrett bucket: after he dribbled up the right side of the floor, Randle came from his left to set a pick. The Pels’ defense shifted that way, leaving an opening between the arc and the paint where Valanciunas was waiting. Barrett dribbled into the space, then pulled up and faded a bit baseline, taking him away from the defense but maintaining his balance while making the jumper. I’ve wondered how the Knick ceiling could change if Obi Toppin makes a leap. It’s terrifying in a good way to picture what that’d be like if RJ does.

• Kemba has such a distinctive form on his pull-up 3-pointers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. It reminds me of Mike Bordick, a shortstop who joined the Mets for their 2000 World Series run. Every time Bordick made a throw to first base it looked like he was casting a spell. Haven’t figured out yet what Walker’s shot looks like, but it’s something unusual.

• How much has Robinson bulked up? Even Mitch’s beard is thicker this year.

• Seeing Valanciunas — a player who’s really grown on me the past few years — make a tough baseline fadeaway, I came to accept I will always, always love and appreciate any big man hitting that shot. Echoes of Patrick Ewing. Hook it up to my veins.

• Taj = deflections to keep possessions alive, box outs and smart rotations, and double-teams that don’t result in stats but win defensive possessions. So easy to overlook on a team like the 2019 Knicks. So valuable on a team like this one; I imagine his importance will only grow after Nerlens Noel returns, even if Taj’s minutes shrink.

• Obi with some nice moments as a primary defender, even shutting down the much quicker Kira Lewis Jr. with a swat of his shot out of bounds. Keep on keeping on, Toppin.

• With about 30 seconds left and the Knicks up comfortably, all they had to do was not foul, which Barrett promptly did. I told my partner “This is why coaches go gray.” Her reply: “Thibs was born gray.” Dare you to imagine infant Thibodeau and not see the same hair he has (or doesn’t) now.

Quoth Walt Frazier after RJ hit the clinching 3-pointer: “Barrett heroic now.” We’ll see if the man and his mates can stay heroic Monday when they host the Toronto Raptors. It’s the 75th anniversary of the Knicks/Toronto Huskies game from 1946, which was in Toronto. Why the game is in New York this time around, I’ll never know. But I’ll be there. Hope you will too.