The Knicks faced a gut check in one of their biggest early-season tests and passed, holding the Pacers to 10 points in the fourth quarter en route to a gutsy 92-84 win.

After being booed late in the third quarter and blowing the pinwheel roof off Madison Square Garden with a miraculous fourth, last night’s New York Knicks’ 92-84 victory over the Indiana Pacers was their biggest home win since 2013. Think I’m exaggerating? I’m not.

From 2013-14 through 2019-20, the Knicks stunk; there were no meaningful games (which isn’t to say nothing meaningful happened). Last year’s renaissance mostly took place in an empty MSG ‘cuz COVID. It was full for the playoffs, but that was an unusually unique spacetime: after being away from the team for its first good year in eight years, the fans crammed an entire season’s worth of appreciation into the Atlanta series, giving the team a warm send-off after their Game 5 elimination, warmer than Knick teams that suffer first-round gentleman’s sweeps typically receive.

The Knicks entered the game facing their first real crux of the biscuit since Tom Thibodeau arrived. A 5-1 start made it seem like last year’s escalator to heaven was still moving on up. Then the Knicks dropped five of seven, and the first panicked feet stepped out on the ledge. By virtue of there being any expectations of these Knicks, more is expected of them than any Knick team in a while. Most of the rotation has limited history with winning in the NBA. 

Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson have 15 winning seasons and just five losing campaigns between them. The other Knicks on the list have combined for 16 years of feasts and 27 of famine. So when Indiana was up 12 late in the third, the vibes were getting bumpy. But for every grain of sand there is a different feel to being down 12 late in the third, and despite the deficit the Knicks had shown some good signs. They were losing, but the defensive intensity was there; on offense the ball wasn’t going through the net, but it was moving; bodies were moving. No Knick scored more than 16 in a truly pot luck effort: everybody brought what they could, and that was enough. The decisive final quarter spelled that out.

Who should start at point guard? Who cares when Rose and Walker combine for 30 points and nine assists to zero turnovers? in an otherwise anemic first quarter, Walker was the offense that kept the Knicks alive. 

Rose finished strong, scoring big buckets down the stretch and setting up others; the Rose/Quickley show was as good as its best moments from last season. If they’re clicking and Walker’s aggressive and efficient, the scoring will take care of itself.

On a night the shooting and officiating were straight outta the ‘90s, New York’s defense was the star of the game. They held Indiana to 10 points on 2-21 shooting in the final frame. The ‘90s Knicks couldn’t have done it any better, and the crowd showed its appreciation.

Mitchell Robinson left the action with a sore ankle and wouldn’t return; because he and Nerlens Noel are legally required to both be hurt at some point every night, that left Taj Gibson as the lone center among centers Thibs will consider playing. Gibson was his usual revelatory self, a delightful oxymoron if ever there were. There was the usual stellar defense and rugged rebounding; there were also quite a few offensive sets where a Taj pick led to him playing the Draymond Green 4-on-3 role, and he made the right passes to open teammates.

Julius Randle and Obi Toppin played more fourth quarter minutes together and played well together. On a night the two 4s combined to shoot just 7-20, their hustle and defense, in addition to Randle’s typical yeoman’s work on the glass and assisting his teammates’ buckets, was what the moment required. Ditto Alec Burks, whose quiet but meaningful shift saw him drain a couple of 3-pointers and effectively pressure and defend Malcolm Brogdon, who was having himself quite the ballgame to that point.

It was Quickley who stole the show late in the game, and not just for a 3-ball that tied the game.

Or the 3-pointer that put the Knicks on top for good.

There was also IQ penetrating and passing out to open ‘mates, IQ grabbing a key offensive rebound after Burks missed from deep, IQ then drawing a loose ball foul. The Knicks were a storm in the fourth; Quickley was where the lightning kept striking.

It didn’t take long for Thibodeau to go from “Coach of the Year” to “what have you done for us lately.” He’s been catching heat for his lineup decisions, specifically his reluctance to break from pre-set substitution patterns and live in the moment. Well, last night Thibs was a one-man Dead Poets Society, c’est la vie-ing late in the action by having Randle and Barrett as his only two starters alongside some mix of Obi, Taj, Quickley, Burks, and Rose. When the starters and reserves hit just right, you can see the face of God.

And that defense just kept keeping on.

The Knicks came into last night with a lot of questions and some doubts swirling around them. A true team effort has answered the questions and put the doubts to rest. For 24 hours, anyway.

Notes

• If you know, you know.

• The two teams combined to miss 17 of 18 3-pointers in the first quarter. Having grown up watching the Knicks and Pacers of yesteryear play a lotta 92-84 type games, I have come to realize it is more fun watching teams struggle to shoot from 2-point range than 3-point range. There’s still magic and biodiversity in the catalogue of shots available inside the arc. When teams are bricking from deep, they just look like scrubs at the Y.

• In the 2013 season opener, the Knicks started Ronnie Brewer at off-guard. The 1993 Knicks kicked things off with Tony Campbell as their starting small forward. Just a friendly reminder that who’s starting a month into a season isn’t really all that. 

• Early in the fourth, the Pacers were up three and inbounded with less than a second on the shot clock to Justin Holiday. Rose contested and the refs called a foul. Thibs appealed, claiming a leg kick by Justin Holiday, and the refs overturned the foul and went with a center court jump. The Knicks won the tip. A big moment that could have gone badly the other way.

• I was cooking in the second quarter and had the game on my laptop behind me. I heard Toppin dunk, then a minute later heard the crowd roar again. My daughter was watching, so I asked her if Obi had dunked again. “Of course. It’s Obi Toppin. What’d you expect?” She’s not wrong. 

• RJ brought the ball up once in the first half and for a split second he looked like Elfrid Payton and I felt the same coldness in my chest I did the first time I saw an Alfred Hitchcock story.

Quoth my kid: “What’d you expect?” Ask yourself: what did you expect last night? The answer pro’ly says more about you than them. Next game is tomorrow when the Knicks host the Orlando Magic. If they win, the answers we got last night become part of a richer tapestry. If they lose, we’re back to asking tough questions. Either way, we’ll be there.