Knicks Beat Up On Undermanned Hawks

New York allows a minuscule 86.0 points per 100 possessions with Deuce on the floor this season. Dating back to last February, the Knicks are now a perfect 10-0 in the ten games in which McBride h

Over the first 23 games of the 2022-23 season, the Knicks failed to hold a single opponent under 100 points. In each of their past two contests, New York has kept both of their opponents under 90 points.

After beating a quality Cavs team on Sunday, the Knicks backed up that victory by blowing the Hawks out of MSG Wednesday night, 113-89. It's the first time New York has won consecutive home games since October, and it's the best two-game stretch of the season thus far. 

Julius Randle was unstoppable vs. Atlanta, playing one of the best all-around games of his career. Randle racked up 34 points (on 10-of-19 shooting), 17 rebounds, five assists (vs. zero turnovers), and six three-pointers.

He became the first player in Knicks history to tally at least 30 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five 3-pointers in a single game. Incredibly, according to Basketball Reference, he's the first player in NBA history with 30/15/5/5 and zero turnovers. So, yeah, pretty good.

"It was a monster game. I love the way he played," Tom Thibodeau said afterward. "When he plays like that, we're going to be tough to beat."

The question now is whether or not Randle will be able to string together quality performances. We've seen these mutant games before, but they have often been followed up by clunkers. For instance, after pouring in 36 points in a win over the Pistons on his birthday, Rande scored 18 points on 24 FG attempts the next night in a loss to the Bucks. 

Although Quentin Grimes' stat line wasn't nearly as impressive as Randle's, Busta Grimes set a new season-high in scoring on Wednesday, finishing with 23 points (on 8-for-11 shooting) to go along with four rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and five made three-pointers. More importantly, Grimes set the tone for the night with his lockdown defense on Trae Young in the first quarter.