Knicks Get Their Best Win of the Season. Again.

Over the last month, a 16-game stretch, Randle is averaging 28.6 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.4 made three-pointers. AVERAGING.

This team, man… This season.

Thursday's victory over the Celtics was an almost too-perfect encapsulation of the New York Knickerbockers 2022-23 campaign.

The Knicks got off to an awful start vs. Boston, giving up too many open 3-pointers and falling behind by double-digits early on. But, as he does seemingly every game, Julus Randle put his team on his back in the first quarter, scoring 14 points in the first 11 minutes to keep the Knicks close. 

New York's bench, led by Immanuel Quickley, turned the tide in the second quarter. IQ scored 15 points in the second, while Obi Toppin provided a much-needed spark, and NY ended the first half down by only two. Jalen Brunson and Randle went to work in the third, tallying a combined 27 points on 13 FG attempts, as NY built a sizable lead.  

When Deuce McBride knocked down a pair of free throws with eight minutes left in regulation, NY's lead ballooned to 13 points.

But if this season has taught us anything, it's that no Knicks lead is safe down the stretch. And right on cue, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown began driving into the paint at will. As the Celtics were pouring in points on one end, the Knicks' offense started to stagnate. NY went into "prevent offense" mode, attempting to milk the clock with 5+ minutes still remaining. We saw the usual fruitless assortment of Brunson/Randle pick-and-rolls, with some ISO-ball mixed in, leading to contested jumpers late in the shot clock. 

Over the final 6:45 of the fourth quarter, the Knicks scored a total of six points and were outscored 18-6. New York didn't score a single point over the final 2:30. 

Still, they held on for dear life to force overtime. However, the Knicks failed to score 2:15 of OT as well. 

Incredibly, over a nearly five-minute stretch, from 2:30 left in the fourth quarter through the first 2:15 seconds of overtime, New York failed to put a single point on the board. They were 0-of-5 from the floor with two turnovers. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 13-0. 

Down 115-100, with all the momentum on the side of the C's, it seemed New York was dead in the water. Yet, Randle knocked down a huge three-pointer to cut the deficit to two. And although they had a couple of empty trips in subsequent possessions, they managed to get stops on the defensive end. Then, with less than 30 seconds left in the contest, RJ Barrett buried a corner three-ball to give NY a one-point lead.