The Knicks beat the crap out of one of the best teams in the East. Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton went off. RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox, and Frank Ntilikina all played well. Oh, and Iggy Brazdeikis almost got in a fight. Catch up on the most fun night of the Knicks’ young season with Jon Schulman.

Remember when the Knicks got their heads kicked in against Philly on Saturday? All was lost. But then they turned around and whupped Milwaukee! Right away it seemed like the Bucks would stampede. They won the tip and immediately flowed into a clean pick-and-roll, with the reigning MVP swiftly finishing a layup. It felt like Giannis didn’t think it could be that easy. 

Then going left to right, skimming the surface of something special, a wild flip shot by Elfrid Payton and a lackadaisical Buck passing in the backcourt led to an easy RJ Barrett dunk. It was a cute sequence, but certainly not a sign of things to come, right? Couldn’t be, no shot, impossible.

We’re seasoned Knicks fans around here. In an instant, we caught a screw-faced Giannis, turning back on defense after a monstrous slam. Just as I suspected! You could feel the collective sigh as Milwaukee moved the pill around effervescently and swam into clean looks for Khris Middleton, their trusty hammerhead shark.

The Knicks — this team I’ve been watching just get throttled for the better part of the past two decades — they don’t know how to respond to this kind of incisive team play. They roll over, expose their belly, and get disemboweled. That’s the Knicks I’m accustomed to. There, of course, was a response. It was loud and biting. As much as it pains me, it started with Elfrid Payton aggressively seeking his own scoring opportunities. Hang on, I’ll let you gather yourself. I’m sure it’s mystifying. 

Is this the workings of Tom Thibodeau, coaching mastermind? Does he love this team so much that he threw a glass of ice water in their face? Who renewed Julius Randle’s sense of purpose? Who is the star-crossed lover pressing their ephemeral fingertips against this game I just watched? We yearn for this soothing touch! Surely it’s gone now.

It started to feel like something was possible, however improbable, when Antetokounmpo got to the line midway through the first quarter and Mitchell Robinson hit Giannis with the startler, a classic Al Horford move, Robinson got “scared” of the freebie brick-rattling the rim. Giannis dramatically shorted the next one too. Are these Knicks confident enough to fuck with people? A 16-4 run to close the second quarter, gave them a 16-point lead. They are not allowed to be confident… are they? Then the Bucks cut the lead to 11 in the third, but the Knicks bounced right back, ending the third up 21. The lead got up to as much as 28, but essentially the teams played even the rest of the way. Mike Budenholzer waved the white flag with about seven minutes to go. Who are these people!? We are the New York Knicks?

Notes

• Game ball goes to Iggy Brazdeikis, who nearly got into a fight as soon as he entered the game. The Knicks’ attitude is all fucked up and real shitty, and I love it. The fact that Iggy even played means garbanzo time was abundant, and the Knicks were the chaperones! No sound on this one, but have a gander at the new dance they call the Iggy Tussle.

• So much went right for the Knicks, but I’ll pay a little extra attention to Alec Burks first, because a lot of what he has been doing is so sorely needed. Every drop of shooting off the catch or dribble is so critical to a team that sports a plethora of questionable shooters. Depending on the ingredients on the cutting board, Burks knows what to cook. He hasn’t quite shown that he’s an iso killer, but he requires attention in a way not all that dissimilar from Marcus Morris last year. A little bit of space and the light is green.

• MSG made a big deal of pointing out that the last guy to debut with the team and get 20-plus three games in a row was Carmelo Anthony, who ultimately did it six games in a row. Burks only took seven shots, but hit 4-5 from deep en route to 18 total points. The combination of hot shooting and smart shots has helped buoy a second unit that often can look unmoored when Dennis Smith Jr. is at the helm. Thankfully Dennis was unavailable. 

• Unfortunately Burks left for the locker room a little early with a tweaked ankle, but it seemed like more likely than not it was because the game was in hand and he’ll be fine.

• While his defense isn’t astounding, the competence will keep him in the game in critical moments. His synergy with RJ Barrett seems real, as RJ continues to connect on drives with Burks finding the open area for corner threes. That symbiosis also seems to be growing with Julius. 

• Battering Ramdle was the guy. His willingness to move the ball, crush dudes on screens, then relocate to get the ball back as he rushes into the cracks of the defense, is so much more exciting and frightening. We got so used to watching him get the ball with 20 seconds on the shot clock, dribble everything to a halt, then sprint to the paint and spin into trouble. That just hasn’t been the case in the early going. This is largely the guy we all hoped the team was signing however many epochs ago. Randle has been on triple-double watch in the first three contests. Tonight he took down 29 points (on 17 shots), 14 rebounds and seven assists. Only one turnover despite the heavy usage, and it didn’t come ’til we were about ready for garbage time. It immediately led to a Thibodeau stomping to mid court time out.

• I love me some Thibs short-tempered timeouts. That’s an element that the past 69 coaches haven’t had. Don Chaney left the door open, but the dog is back in the yard and bitin’! Thibs barks, blows up, teaches all the way into the waning moments of blowouts, and you can tell when he smiles, even with his mask up, because his brow unfurls, and the tension releases all the way into his shoulders and down to his belly. Don’t loosen up, Tom.

• The other guy that set the tone was my favorite nothing burger, Elfrid Payton. Game of his life, it probably extended his lead on the starting spot for at least the next 10 games. If he plays like that going forward, that’d be fine. Something tells me he won’t shoot that aggressively or competently going forward. I’m not sure what that something is but let’s call it “six years worth of evidence to the contrary.”

• Mitchell Robinson was up to his old tricks all night, rolling to the rim trying to snatch unwieldy alley-oop passes. Slithering through the trees to catch dump-offs or grab offensive boards and crunch put-backs. One new trick that he seemed focused on, as much as Mitchell seems to focus, was abandoning some of the more unlikely offensive ‘bounds in favor of sprinting back to wall off the paint just under the foul line. If there’s any chance of slowing Giannis down, you have to be there first, and you have to meet him relatively high. After that, you’ll need to stay on your feet, and Mitchell was largely able to do it! Another trick we’re starting to see trending is Mitch sealing his man and demanding the ball at the rim. That sense of urgency is signs of the kid really learning the way to win on the margins.

• Frank Ntilikina also did a good job of greeting Giannis as soon as possible, and funneled him into help. One time Frank just absolutely snuffed out a Giannis post-up by his damn self! He also shot the composite leather off the ball, 4-4 from deep, even got a “Bang!” out of Mike Breen. He’ll probably be dropped behind DSJ in the rotation- and hasn’t done enough to get in front of Immanuel Quickley — when they get back. When Austin Rivers makes his first appearance, I assume Ntilikina will be dropped behind him too. If Jared Harper got a hustle-steal and drive for a 12 foot pull-up, Frank would be behind him too. If Theo Pinson sprung free for an easy layup, Frank would be dropped behind him too. If Iggy Brazdeikis hemmed up (OAKAAK) Thanasis Antetokounmpo and dropped him in a figure four leg lock, Frank would be stuck behind those two guys too. 

• Speaking of twos. The multi-tasking from Kevin Knox is starting to feel like a real thing. Driving aggressively to score, hanging and banging at the rim. He has been getting rebounds and firing outlet passes in one motion. Today he dove on a mishandled Giannis dribble and squeezed it through Middleton’s hands, up the sideline where only RJ Barrett could scoop it up and take it to the goal. Knox also managed to block a fully extended Brook Lopez at the rim — something is different with the kid this year. And to think, he’s only 19.  

• More coaching stuff: Mike Woodson halftime interviews leading into the second half are going to make me feel good all year. Even if the Knicks are the worst team in the league, Woody is such a cool dude.

• Barrett’s footwork has gotten so much better and it’s helping him immensely. He gathers for his shots so much more cleanly. It allows him to actually have the space he needs for his side steps and spinning scoops going to the rim. It’s also given him the counters to get good looks on the middy pull-ups that have been a tasty part of the diet. If he has a few more hot shooting nights, Julius is gonna start looking for him a little more assertively.

• No Bobby Portis revenge game, thank goodness.

• Just one glum chum:

So, since the Knicks beat the brakes off a perceived title contender, does that make them a title contender? Of course not, but they might actually be competent and cohesive! Clyde commended their “swarming defense” and “efficient offense” on the telecast. There’s no excuse for them to lack effort, and the coaching staff won’t settle for it either. If they can keep on track, theres plenty of reasons to believe they’re a solid team, maybe lose one more. 69-3, here we come! The full bodied wine and gold of the Cleveland Cavaliers is up next. We’ll see if the preseason beatings gave us the right impression.