The New York Knicks’ win streak extended to eight games, after they managed a 137-127 overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks. 

A win is a win.

Especially when it’s the eighth straight. 

There was little pretty about the first three, three-and-a-half quarters from the New York Knicks’ overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks. But the streak continues. 

From the jump, it was apparent that neither team was going to play defense in this one, which is a shocking development given who’s coaching the guys in orange and blue. 

The Hawks jumped out to a 7-3 lead out the gate, with Trae Young getting started hot. And it was Elfrid Payton who (kind of) evened the playing field at 9-8. 

Everyone’s favorite point guard had a nice off-the-dribble layup and followed it up with a steal and assist to Reggie Bullock for the 3-point shot.

It didn’t even take two minutes for the Knicks to seize the lead, behind a couple more 3-pointers from RJ Barrett, and yes, of course, Bullock. 

The rest of the first quarter remained largely a back-and-forth, with the Hawks finding their way to a 9-point lead with two minutes remaining by way of some sloppy New York turnovers. 

Then the Knicks’ All-Star went to work, hitting this nice double clutch jumper over Red Mamba. 

Immanuel Quickley hit a three, Randle hit a few more shots, and the deficit shrank to five. That closed out the first quarter, in which the two teams combined to shoot 59% from the field. 

Again, not a game featuring multiple All-Defense-caliber performances. 

The second quarter tipped, and in what has become customary, Derrick Rose went to work. 

He ended up going 6-6 to start this one, drawing some taboo “MVP” talk from friend/enemy of the website and Dean of Knicks Film School, Jonathan Macri:

Rose got his 12th point at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter, with the game tied up at 48 all, forcing Nate McMillan to call a timeout and reel in his Hawks team. 

Trae Young threw Clint Capela a lob immediately out of the timeout, and Atlanta was back in business. They took a 54-52 lead with five-and-a-half minutes left in the half. 

But before that, Knicks fans were treated to one of their nightly Obi Toppin highlights:

That was off of the assist from Rose, by the way, who continues to make the New York offense look actually cohesive, which is a grand accomplishment in itself. 

I’m telling you. Give Obi time. It won’t be this season. But next season, I can see the kid coming back and putting it together. And re-sign Rose, even if only for Toppin’s sake. 

Randle followed up the Toppin slam with casual back-to-back threes.

Wait for it… because he hit another one just over a minute later, giving himself 20 first-half points and the New York Knicks a 61-58 lead with under three minutes in the first half. 

Unfortunately, he had a couple turnovers thereafter that had to be cleaned up by Payton. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 

Payton scored himself, got a steal, and then found Bullock for three. 

That’s the second time that exact sequence was carried out in this one. 

Still, New York walked into the break down, 69-67. 

Young had 18 points, 10 assists, and three steals already at this point. 

Behind Randle, Bullock had a nice half with four makes from deep and 12 first-half points. 

*I forgot to mention, and I forget when exactly it happened, but Taj Gibson took an elbow to the face courtesy of Solomon Hill in the first half. He was ruled doubtful to return at halftime with a “lacerated eyelid.”*

The second half kicked off with the Atlanta Hawks remaining the aggressor. 

They jumped to a 5-point lead within a minute of tip, and Young had his fingerprints all over it, with an assist on each of their opening makes. 

Randle started forcing it, earning either turnovers or free throws. But then he found his way into his fifth 3-pointer of the night by way of an assist from Bullock. 

For any remaining non-believers in the shot, he hit his first five from deep without a miss. That seems good. But the Knicks remained behind. 

Shortly after, RJ scored his first points since the first quarter, with this emphatic slam within range of Clint Capela. It wasn’t a poster, and there wasn’t contact, but we’ll take it. 

Randle found him for another easy score with a pretty outlet pass on the following play, and that brought New York back within four, 82-78. 

Then Nerlens Noel went down, with what was officially diagnosed as a lacerated lip. He exited the game and walked to the locker room, leaving New York with one eligible center. 

That would be Norvel Pelle, of course, and on the last day of his second 10-day contract no less.

Either way, the Knicks’ struggles to keep pace with the Hawks continued, even with Barrett’s seeming resurgence continuing. 

Elfrid Payton had some rough moments, including back-to-back misses at the rim. 

He also missed a 3-pointer in the late third quarter stretch, once again begging the question as to why he was even shooting one in the first place. 

Kevin Huerter found Clint Capela for a dunk and a layup on back-to-back possessions, and New York found themselves down 10 with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

So Thibs called a timeout, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Knicks came out and found Bullock for a three on the next play. 

Atlanta hit a couple shots, and RJ kept doing RJ. 

But then Trae Young went down on a layup attempt, twisting his ankle badly. 

This was arguably the turning point of the game, obviously, but it seems noteworthy that things remained close for the immediate few minutes. 

New York entered the fourth quarter down still, 97-90, and it was Pelle who got things going in the final period with a layup.

But just moments later, Noel made a triumphant return to the floor, once again reminding us that he’s as tough as fucking nails. 

It earned him a standing ovation from the Madison Square Garden crowd, for what it’s worth. 

With nine minutes left in regulation, Trae Young was officially ruled out for the remainder of this one. And that’s when it became a must-win. 

New York’s got a tough remaining schedule, so when the basketball gods (as mysterious as their methods may be) present you an opportunity such as this, you don’t waste it. 

Noel showed us he was feeling just fine with this lob catch to bring the Knicks within six. 

That was by way of Quickley, which seems notable considering the questions and concerns surrounding his positional future.

New York’s rookie guard had some really nice moments towards the end of this one. Like this 3-point shot, which was made possibly by Delta Airlines.

But it was Rose who tied things up, 109-109, with six-and-a-half minutes to go. 

Randle gave New York a 111-109 lead just moments later with two free throws. 

But the Hawks just wouldn’t give this one up. Nor should they have opted to, even with their floor general and franchise player ruled out for the game. 

Props to the very apparent spirit Nate McMillan has instilled in this team. 

We got *another* injury scare, this time with Derrick Rose later in the fourth quarter, when Capela stepped on his foot and the two slid across the paint. 

Atlanta’s big man definitely ended up on the worse side of that one, but with Rose, you hold your breath any time he goes through any non-basketball motion. 

He put us all at ease with a rare three later on. 

The back and forth between the Hawks and Knicks continued on, in what started to feel like one of those two-day poker games they used to have on The Sopranos. 

In his own way of seemingly saying “I’m ready to go home,” Randle hit this trademark baseline fadeaway to give New York a lead with a minute and change to go. 

That gave him 35 points on the night, and almost the ticket home he clearly longed for. 

But again, the Hawks just wouldn’t fucking go away. 

A few free throws, followed by another Randle bucket, set Bogdan Bogdanovic up to hit this incredibly clutch jumper to tie the game with six seconds remaining. 

Randle got the ball on the wing and a chance to win it. He moved into the mid-range area, and fired up a last-second jumper that didn’t fall. On to overtime. 

This is where the men of the NBA separate themselves from boys. 

And goddammit if the New York Knicks didn’t do so, and convincingly.

They went on a 10-0 run to open up overtime, and never looked back. 

All of Immanuel Quickley, Julius Randle, Reggie Bullock, and RJ Barrett got buckets.

It’s hard to ask for more than that — especially when it wraps up an eighth-straight win. 

Notes

• After one of his not-so-great shooting performances in Tuesday night’s win over the Charlotte Hornets, Julius Randle rebounded well. He finished with 40 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists on 11-21 shooting and 6-8 from deep. New York needed all 40 of those to bring this one home. All-NBA-level stuff.

• Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley both contributed 20 points off of the bench, and on 15-26 shooting combined. If they can do that on a night-to-night basis, give or take, this Knicks team becomes an even tougher matchup for whoever they play in the postseason.

• Speaking of the great beyond, New York is the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 12 games remaining. You can stop pinching yourself now, it’s real.

• I continue to be encouraged by Obi Toppin’s minutes, and he got a lot of them in this one. He logged 12 minutes, his most since the overtime win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Toppin finished with just two points, six rebounds, and an assist, but he was a +10, the fourth-best plus/minus on the Knicks in this game. Knicks fans know by now that if he wasn’t playing well, or at least up to Thibodeau’s standard, he wouldn’t have been out there.

• As I look at the plus/minus column, we continue to see more and more indications that Elfrid Payton is the least capable of New York’s guard rotation. He was -13 in his 17 minutes against Atlanta, while Quickley and Rose were +29 and +14, respectively.

• The Knicks scored 137 points, just short of their season high of 140 from February’s win over the Sacramento Kings. I don’t care if it was to keep up with the Hawks, that’s nice to see from a team averaging 106 nightly.

• The Hawks shot 12-34 from three. The Thibs Effect™.

• Ban all injuries. But don’t think that makes tonight’s loss any less substantial. New York’s been without Mitchell Robinson for almost a month and Alec Burks for four games. Hoping for a speedy recovery for Trae Young.

I’m not sure at which point throughout this win streak things started to feel real for me as a fan. 

The more and more that we began tracking “the last New York Knicks team to do this was in ____,” it definitely started coming full circle. 

But after the game tonight, it almost felt as if Julius Randle himself was finally admitting the franchise’s return, announcing it proudly as he, the team’s engine and All-Star announced postgame: “New York, we here.” 

As much as he and anyone else who’s had the chance to has spoken on the team’s confidence, we haven’t heard a statement as defining as that one at any point this season. 

New York, the Knicks are here. 

This is where the fun begins.