The Knicks scored a season-high in points, Frank Ntilikina made his (very successful) return, Immanuel Quickley broke his slump, Derrick Rose and Alec Burks both were on fire at different times, Julius Randle played like an All-Star as always… This was just a fun game.

I woke up this morning, poured myself a bowl of cereal, and sat down next to the window in my apartment from which there was the most sunlight pouring in. 

Last night was fun. The New York Knicks are fun. This is fun.

Against the Sacramento Kings, without two of their better defenders in Elfrid Payton and Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks drew no sweat from my brow en route to a blowout victory.

New York scored a season-high 140 points, behind an enchanting effort from rookie Immanuel Quickley and a suddenly blazing hot Alec Burks. They gave up 121 points, uncharacteristically, yeah. But did I mention how much fun it was? 

It all started with Derrick Rose, no pun intended, who was unsurprisingly given Payton’s place in the starting five. He came out shooting in the first quarter, going 3-3 from the field within the first two minutes, giving the Knicks a 7-3 lead early on. 

New York kept rolling, with five assists recorded on their first seven buckets. Sacramento tied things up at 16 points apiece behind a De’Aaron Fox bucket and subsequent free throw. But then Rose went nuclear once again, scoring two straight buckets to keep the Knicks alive. 

All-Star Julius Randle (hell of a ring to it, if I might add) went to work on poor Marvin Bagley III, and it was clear with minutes to go in the first quarter that the Kings were well outmatched. 

So clear, in fact, that Tom Thibodeau put freaking Frank Ntilikina in the game at the two-minute mark. The 23-year-old guard hadn’t played since a December win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but rest assured friends, the French Prince came in and made an immediate impact. 

A 4-point play from Quickely capped off a 38-point first quarter for New York, in which they shot 69% from the field, 42% from deep, and made all three of their free throws. 

Rose led the team with 11 points, Randle had nine, and Quickley’s last-minute bucket gave him eight. The Kings walked into the second quarter trailing by nine. 

New York started the second period with all three of Quickley, Ntilikina, and Obi Toppin on the floor. A true “pinch me” moment for Knicks fans.

Frank got a steal within the first minute of the second quarter, and found Quickley for a step-back three. Just moments later, Ntilikina knocked in his first of two attempts from three. 

Quickley went to work at what he does best, drawing fouls, and soon thereafter was sent to the charity stripe for three attempts, of which he made all three, of course. This gave the rookie 16 points and the Knicks a 7-point lead about a third of the way through the quarter. 

The Knicks started to pull away behind more Quickley free throws, some more buckets from Rose, and what’s becoming somewhat of a trademark baseline jumper from Randle. 

Then Reggie Bullock joined in on the fun, making three shots from deep in the final two minutes of the second quarter. The third one was ultimately ruled out of bounds, but they can’t take the moment away from us. New York walked into halftime leading 77-62. 

The third quarter got started and RJ Barrett went to work immediately. He’d had a quiet game thus far, so it was nice to see him so characteristically aggressive out the gate. 

Bagley, still being tormented by Randle, picked up his fourth foul within a minute of the second half. He was a relative non-factor, but it’s nice to note the trouble our All-Star can cause. 

Also, opposing rookie Tyrese Haliburton attempted a self alley-oop at the 10-minute mark of the third quarter that I’d recommend going back and watching. 

Quickley would never. 

Hell, Toppin would never, too. 

A lucky bounce gave Rose his seventh consecutive bucket on the night, all without a miss. The record in New York is 11 for what it’s worth, and it’s shared by Mitchell Robinson, among others.

At the 8-minute mark, Rose missed his eighth attempt, and like his first stint at Madison Square Garden, the dream died in the same place it was born. But it was fun! Seriously!

It was at this point that I was inclined to write “DEFENSE” in all caps in my notes. Sacramento was doing a hell of a lot of moving the ball, begging for someone to do something with it, like an intense game of hot potato with lives on the line. Luke Walton’s just might be, for what it’s worth. 

The Kings took a number of their shots with seconds winding down on the shot clock, which again, is so very lovely to see. Hats off to you Mr. Thibodeau. 

RJ and Randle traded the playmaker’s hat for a few moments, and with just over four minutes to go in the third, the Knicks had a 96-82 lead. Then, another fun sequence of events took place. 

Randle drew an offensive foul on Richaun Holmes, who proceeded to cry, and was rewarded a technical. On the other end, Burks made a stupid foul decision on Harrison Barnes, and he was rewarded with being taken off the floor. His substitute? Frank Ntilikina, back again. 

A pair of Immanuel Quickley free throws sent us into the final period with a 101-94 Knicks lead. You don’t love to see it, but you don’t hate to see it either. 

Ntilikina came out in the fourth and made the first bucket for New York, a driving layup. 

Then, moments later, he found Toppin in transition for this dunk. 

Things were happening. Fun things. This was a really fun game. Have I mentioned that yet?

Quickley made a 3-pointer, and that was the spark that lit the flame that was Alec Burks. 

Like a phoenix reborn, the Knicks wing rose from the ashes, and detonated in the fourth. Burks hit *checks notes* five straight shots from deep. He threw in a nice finger roll layup on top, too, and wound up with 19 points in the final frame. 

Also, Taj Gibson and Kevin Knox made 3-pointers. I don’t know, but that was a part of the fun, so it seemed like something that needed to be mentioned. 

Notes

• Frank Ntilikina is back! The French fan favorite finished Thursday night with seven points, three steals, and two assists in 23 minutes. That’s the most he’s played since last year, in a win over the Atlanta Hawks before COVID-19 ended their season. I’m not sure at all what it means for him going forward, but you have to think Thibs gives him some run in at least the immediate upcoming games before the All-Star break, no?

• TRADE SZN. Alec Burks relived his glory days from the season’s first three games with a 24-point explosion that practically doubled his trade value. We won’t discuss how low it got prior to Thursday, but a welcome sight nonetheless as we approach the deadline.

• RJ Barrett’s game won’t get talked about much, but he had a solid night on an evening in which everyone else was shooting 4000% from the field: 12 points, three rebounds, three assists, and just one turnover in his 25 minutes. Not only did he play some quality perimeter defense (as is custom), but Barrett was a reliable secondary playmaker when New York’s offense looked prepared to fall into a lull.

• Julius Randle. Our All-Star. 21 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and one steal in 30 minutes on the floor, the last number being uncharacteristically low. I tweeted this out at one point during the second or third quarter, but there was a time in this game where I couldn’t remember the last time Randle had been on the floor. Folks, that is a very, VERY, good thing. Any night we can get Randle some rest is a good one.

• Immanuel Quickley broke his slump, as we all knew he would, I’m sure. The rookie guard finished with 25 points, three assists, and two steals in his 20 minutes of play. He shot 3-6 from three and 12-12 from the free throw line! The last rookie guard to go 100% from the charity stripe on 12 or more attempts was none other than Stephen Curry, per Basketball-Reference. Seems relevant.

• 121 points is the most this New York Knicks defense has given up since their Jan. 31 bout with the LA Clippers. Sacramento’s not a poor executing team on that end, but if there was one thing to nitpick from this one, it’s that. Still, it can probably be written off to the breakneck pace that allowed the Knicks to drop 140.

This one had a little bit of everything. And those are the best nights to be a New York Knicks fan, largely because they are few and far in between. But who knows, maybe it won’t be so long until we see the next one. I could get used to Taj Gibson 3-pointers.