Something Special is Brewing in New York

If you have stuck with this team through the depths of the past two decades, you deserve to enjoy the highs of these past few months.

Certain games on the schedule generate excessive excitement and anticipation. These "measuring stick games" allow teams to determine where they stand in relation to the rest of the league. 

Monday night was one such contest for the Knicks. 

New York had won five straight, but each of their vanquished opponents was flawed. Boston, on the other hand, entered MSG with the league's best record and is considered by many the odds-on favorite to capture the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

If Monday's game was considered an important test, the Knicks passed with flying colors. In fact, they aced the exam. 

New York jumped out to an early double-digit lead by holding the Celtics to a season-low 15 points in the first quarter (Boston had scored at least 20 points in 1Q in each of their first 61 games). The C's made mini-runs occasionally but never cut the lead to less than seven the rest of the way. With just under four minutes left in regulation, Jayson Tatum was ejected after being hit with his second technical, and the home team cruised home. 

It would be one thing if New York won due to an otherworldly performance from Julius Randle or Jalen Brunson, but part of what made Monday special was the nature of the victory. 

Randle (23/7/4) was solid but was below his season averages across the board. Ditto for Brunson, who had another sub-par shooting night, converting four of his 12 FG attempts and 9-of-12 free throws. RJ Barrett, the team's third-leading scorer this season, was awful (more on that in a bit). 

So, how did the Knicks blow out the Celtics despite their top guns misfiring? 

For starters, Mitchell Robinson dominated the paint on both ends of the floor, finishing with 10 points (5-of-5 FG), 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Quentin Grimes was brilliant defensively and created plenty of easy buckets for himself and his teammates on crafty drives to the tin. Josh Hart did Josh Hart things, chipping in 12 points (on 5-of-8 shooting), five rebounds, five assists, two three's and two steals in 27 minutes off the bench. Obi Toppin scored nine points on four FG attempts and grabbed four boards. 

And we certainly can't forget the critical two-way contributions from Immanuel Quickley, who scored 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with three rebounds, two assists, a steal and four three-pointers. 

As we discussed in last week's mailbag, a strong case can be made for IQ as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. He happened to be matched up at times last night against Malcolm Brogdon, who is expected to take home the award. And while Brogdon played very well Monday, he couldn't match Quickley's impact.

Fans that have been following this team weren't surprised. After a relatively slow first few weeks of the season, IQ has been fantastic, especially of late. 

Over New York's past eight games (in which NY is 7-1), Quickley is averaging 15.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.6 made three-pointers and less than one turnover, while shooting 52.9% from the floor and 43.8% from behind the arc.

On the season, the Knicks have outscored their opponents by 234 points with IQ on the court. He's the only bench player in the NBA ranked inside the top 20 in individual plus/minus.

Thibs whitling the Knicks rotation down to nine players following the embarrassing loss to the Mavs on December 3rd is often viewed as the "turning point" of the Knicks season. And for good reason. However, that date coincides with the head coach also, finally, taking the reins off Quickley. 

Over the first 23 games of the Knicks' 2022-23 season, IQ averaged less than 23 minutes a night. New York was three games below .500 (10-13) in those 23 contests.

In the subsequent 40 games the Knicks have played since, IQ has averaged more than 30 minutes. New York is 12 games above .500 (26-14) in those 40 games. 

Sum it all up: Randle and Brunson's ability to dominate on a nightly basis + Mitch Rob protecting the paint and pounding the offensive glass + Grimes putting the clamps on the other team's bests perimeter scorer + the second unit finding ways to help their team win… and you have a team that's nine games over .500.

At 36-27, the Knicks are one win away from matching last season's win total. Only five teams in the entire league (including just one team in the Western Conference) have notched more victories than New York this season.

During their current six-game winning streak, the Knicks have been flat-out dominant, having outscored their opponents by 88 points (724-636).

New York finished February with a 9-2 record, which is NY's best winning percentage for the month since 1990 and tied for the second-best record in franchise history for February.

And dating back to the first week in December, when Thibs paired the rotation down to nine players and began to lean more heavily on IQ, the Knicks rank fourth in Offensive Rating, 8th in Defensive Rating, and have the second-best Net Rating (+5.5) in the NBA during this 40-game stretch. 

That's nearly half a season. 

That's a large enough sample size to know this team is for real.  

After Monday's impressive victory over Boston, Josh Hart let it be known that his team wouldn't be satisfied merely qualifying for the postseason. "We don't want to make the playoffs. We want to make a run in the playoffs," Hart declared. "I think we have a team that can make some noise. I think it's a team that can make a run and surprise some people. We try to take it game by game, but that's definitely in the back of our minds. We want to keep pushing."

Based on the Knicks' play of late, such proclamations can no longer be dismissed as crazy talk. 

Most of us didn't think New York would be here at the start of the season, but these Knicks have arrived. 

Sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride, folks. Fans of this franchise know moments like these are not promised every year. If you have stuck with this team through the depths of the past two decades, you deserve to enjoy the highs of these past few months. 

Will this team continue riding this roller coaster to even greater heights? Stay tuned…

About Last Night:

🏀 While Brunson has come back down to earth a bit in terms of his statistical production after the All-Star Break, he remains invaluable to the Knicks on a nightly basis. He has posted a plus/minus of +104 over NY's past eight games. No other player in the NBA is north of +91 during this stretch. 

🏀 A key to Josh Hart's remarkable production (NY is now a perfect 6-0 since he arrived) has been his three-point stroke. Hart is 12-of-19 (63%) from downtown with the Knicks, which is especially remarkable considering he was 12-for-53 (22%) in his final 20 games with the Blazers. 

🏀 Mitch Rob is averaging 10.3 points (on 94% shooting), 12.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks since returning to action. "[Robinson] has been great," Jalen Brunson told reporters last night. "He's been able to be dominant in the paint on both sides of the ball. He gives us that extra effort. He's been unbelievable. I'm just happy he's on the team." 

🏀 Monday's performance was the 38th time in his Knicks career that Robinson has tallied a double-double and 2+ blocks. Per Knicks PR, that's two games shy of tying Kurt Thomas for the second most games with at least ten points, ten boards and multiple blocks in Knicks history. Pat Ewing, of course, is No. 1 with… wait for it… 421 such games. 

🏀 Yes, the Celtics were without Jaylen Brown last night, but Boston was 9-2 in the 11 games Brown has missed this season. 

🏀 Not to rain on the parade, but we must mention that RJ Barrett put up another clunker Monday. He was 4-of-14 from the floor and had five turnovers vs. just two assists. Worse yet, many of his turnovers were of the live-ball variety, which often turns into fast break opportunities for the opponent. Somehow, RJ was -6 in a game the Knicks won by 15 points. No other Knick posted a negative +/-. It's one thing if he's not scoring, but he's a massive determinant if he's also making poor decisions with the basketball and not defending up to snuff. Thibs needs to curtail RJ's minutes further if Barrett cannot snap out of his malaise. With IQ, Grimes and now Hart on the roster, the head coach has plenty of other viable options.

🏀 ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday morning that the Knicks had agreed to a two-way contract with shooting guard Duane Washington Jr., who played well for Phoenix earlier this year when they were decimated by injuries in their backcourt. Over a ten-game stretch from late December to early January, Washington averaged 14.0 points and 3.6 assists in 17.7 minutes. However, he'll spend most of his time in New York with the G League squad. 

🏀 The Knicks are back in action Wednesday night when they host the Nets. If the Knicks win, they'll move 1.5 games ahead of Brooklyn in the standings. If NY loses, they'll fall back into the sixth spot.