The New York Knicks got the next winning streak started, beating the Chicago Bulls 113 to 94 at MSG.
The Knicks started hot, but it was a game of runs. Every time New York looked ready to run away with the game Chicago would cut into the lead. But the Knicks always responded, leading most of the way and never trailing by more than one. Their reputation preceded them – the refs allowed New York to play a physical game that had Chicago players complaining and aching. A fourth-quarter run by the second unit built momentum that the Bulls couldn’t contain, and the third-string crew got to play clean-up by the final bell.
Julius Randle and RJ Barrett couldn’t miss, combining to shoot 21 for 38 from the field. Nerlens Noel was a force inside. Derrick Rose finally had an off-night, but Immanuel Quickley picked up the slack with a monster fourth quarter. Let’s rate some impacts and see how the Knicks returned to the win column.
Knicks start hot and never look back
Elfrid Payton: Elfrid Payton mixed up his playmaking and scoring again, producing another solid outing. He started the game with an elusive finish and spent most of the first half playing effective basketball. Although Payton struggled to finish inside during the third quarter, a promising sign came in the form of assists to teammates.
Payton played 22 minutes, scoring 9 points, 5 assists, 1 rebound, and 1 turnover. He shot 4/10 from the field and 1/1 from three. He wasn’t efficient, but Payton’s aggression helped open lanes for rim runners. I wish he’d push the pace more often, but that’s an issue the entire starting unit shares. More importantly, he added some much-needed playmaking on a night in which Randle was too hot to pass. Elfrid’s finishes were pretty; he converted a couple of difficult drives.
Payton’s minutes crept up from recent 15-minute runs. His first-half play earned the increase even before Rose’s struggles. The starting point guard didn’t close the game, though. Payton will have to be more efficient to make the case that he can raise the roster’s ceiling more than other dynamic scorers. That doesn’t mean his uptick in assists doesn’t show some promise, and he hit another three, which is always nice. Payton grabs a 2 out of 5 for his contribution to the win.
Reggie Bullock: Reggie Bullock wasn’t as aggressive as recent performances but still played an effective game. This was a standard Bullock performance, and I mean that as a compliment. He punished weak closeouts and made a few clever passes to teammates along the way. His defense is consistently strong as well. Bullock provided exactly what we’ve come to appreciate.
Bully shot 4/8 from the field, 3/5 from three, and 2/3 from the free-throw line for 13 points, 2 assists, and 4 rebounds in 36 minutes. That matches his lowest FGA’s in any of the last 10 games. I’d credit some of that to Julius Randle looking for his own shot more often; Randle and Bullock didn’t connect as often. The fewer shots didn’t stop Bullock from scoring double-digits and being an impact player.
The starting unit’s floor spacer showed up and did his job. Ironically, one of Bullock’s few misses came on an open lay-up attempt in transition. He rushed his shot inside more than his typical three-pointer against a close-out. That’s memorable because it’s one of the few mistakes that Reggie Bullock made. He was a steady hand the rest of the way. Bullock gets a 2.5 out of 5 on the night.
RJ Barrett: RJ Barrett gave up two backdoor cuts in a matter of minutes during some second-quarter struggles. The mistakes left Tom Thibodeau livid enough to call timeout and let the sophomore have it. RJ took it in stride and continued an impressive offensive night despite the lapses on defense. He started the game with an assist to Nerlens Noel and finished tied for the most dimes while scoring efficiently throughout his night.
Barrett put up 22 points, 6 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, and 2 turnovers in 42 minutes. He shot 9/15 from the field, 3/5 from three, and 1/2 from the free-throw line. Barrett’s jumper was on another level in Chicago. He hit pull-ups with confidence; one, in particular, stood out. RJ drove under the basket and reset at the opposite corner, with Nikola Vucevic giving him too much cushion. The youngster pulled up and knocked down the shot without hesitation. Pull-up threes from Barrett would be a scary development for defenders.
Barrett compiled his points steadily along the way. His jumper was always available, and he never stopped looking for teammates. There was a brief spell in the second quarter where he forced a couple of possessions, but Thibs swung him back into the game with that timeout. Broadway Barrett leads the second unit to start second and fourth quarters, and the results have been promising. He’s looking the part of a true number two scorer on a winning team before he can legally buy alcohol. Barrett gets a 3.5 out of 5. The 4 escapes him due to those slip-ups on defense.
Julius Randle: Julius Randle was brilliant and unstoppable…and played with a confidence that borderline scared me. The Knicks star had it going from the opening tip, and he knew it. Randle took difficult shots all night long and knocked them down at an astounding clip. It had to be disheartening for Chicago to watch long two’s and step back threes drilled over one and two defenders at a time. That meant that he looked off open shooters periodically, leaving RJ Barrett visibly frustrated at one point. After it was established that Randle couldn’t miss, everyone got over it and commenced with watching in awe instead.
Randle played 36 minutes and blasted out 34 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block. He shot 12/23 from the field, 4/7 from three, and 6/6 from the line. Virtually none of those looks came easily. Chicago sent the doubles that Randle has grown accustomed to but lacked any individual defenders that could press him out of his comfort zone. That meant some near-disasters as Randle took his time even with danger approaching or missed a kick out to fire a contested jumper, but everything came out positive.
The Knicks’ star doesn’t typically play to his own shot so aggressively. He clearly felt it early on and played to his rhythm for the night. That said, the easy looks made up a fraction of his opportunities on the night. It would be nice to see New York find some easy looks for the big man, maybe by pushing the pace. When Randle is shooting like this, that hardly matters anyway. Julius Randle grabs a 4.5 out of 5 on the night.
Nerlens Noel: I’m still tempted to give the game ball to Nerlens Noel after this victory despite all of Randle’s brilliance. That might sound crazy comparing Noel’s 8 points to Randle’s 34. But it’s the 9 Stocks that really stole the show. The shot blocker swatted lay-up attempts and poked loose balls free whenever tested. New York set a physical, defensive tone to their game, and Nerlens Noel was the catalyst.
Noel managed 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 5 blocks in 29 minutes of action. He shot 3/6 from the field, 0/1 on a wide-open three, and 2/2 from the free-throw line. The big man had Vucevic picking up offensive and technical fouls right out the gate. He harassed anyone that got in his orbit on defense. The scoring and assists were the cherry and sprinkles on top.
Noel established his presence early, and it perfectly reflects the New York Knicks’ identity as a team. The Bulls looked bruised and battered for thinking about scoring at the rim, and sometimes they had fair cases. By making clean blocks, sneaky steals, and frustrating opponents early, Noel made it hard for the refs to tell. He even came close to hitting a corner three that was in-and-out. Noel was as important to the defense as Randle was to the offense. The shot blocker gets a 4.5 out of 5 for his impact.
Second unit struggles early, erupts late
Derrick Rose: Derrick Rose was overdue for a struggle session. Julius Randle and RJ Barrett came back to Earth against the Suns, and Rose did the same against his hometown team. Rose still exploded into the paint and launched floaters that have fallen throughout his recent run. The shots didn’t fall this time, which had the second unit in trouble early. Rose made up for the shooting struggles with plenty of playmaking and a sneaky strong defensive performance.
The former MVP played 25 minutes and finished with 6 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot just 2/11 from the field, 0/1 from three, and 2/2 from the line. Rose hit the double whammy of bricking his attempts and unable to draw whistles. There were a couple of attempts where he visibly complained to the refs but only logged a missed shot. His saving grace was the pass. From an outlet bomb for Obi Toppin to connections with perimeter shooters, Rose added points through everyone else.
The assists and solid defense can’t fully make up for 6 points on 11 attempts. Rose had a weak performance that stood out until Immanuel Quickley stepped up. But that’s the nature of this team. Last game, it was D-Rose carrying the offense while Randle and RJ struggled. This time around, IQ picked up the slack for his struggling mentor. The former Bull finally got some relief from the pressure to produce for a second unit that he has carried recently. Rose gets a 2 out of 5 on the night, but it’s nice to see the bench still show up even as its leader’s impact slipped.
Immanuel Quickley: Immanuel Quickley missed some open threes in the first half and generally struggled along with the rest of the bench unit. But when his second-half minutes began in the fourth, IQ went into his bag for floaters and knocked down the toughest three of his entire night. The rookie would drop 11 points in the fourth quarter alone, single-handedly producing the momentum that New York needed to close the game strong.
IQ managed 13 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 turnover in 16 minutes of action. He shot 4/10 from the field, 1/5 from three, and 4/4 from the free-throw line. His missed threes weren’t bad shot selection. He just didn’t have the touch from range and adjusted by taking his game inside for most of his offense. The one three-pointer that IQ did make was from 5 or 6 feet behind the arc, the kind of deep shot that Quickley is turning into a frequent momentum-changing make.
The beauty of this performance is that it came with perfect timing. Quickley became the main ball handler for a large chunk of fourth-quarter possessions, covering where Derrick Rose struggled. The rookie’s production speaks for itself relative to the minutes he got. He took a slow first half to get everything going, but the kid was a fantastic closer. He gets a 3 out of 5 for his fourth-quarter contribution.
Taj Gibson: Nerlens Noel had already baited Nikola Vucevic into a technical foul and a turnover when Taj Gibson entered the game and promptly blocked Vuc’s next three-point attempt. It was a fun message sent to the opposing big man that he would be getting his points the hard way regardless of which Knicks’ unit was on the floor. Taj saw his minutes dip with Noel’s brilliant defense, but the former Bull was still in his typical bag of hard work and rebounding prowess.
Taj spent 18 minutes hustling his way to 4 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block on 2/3 from the field. It was a fairly inconspicuous night for the big man after that three-point block. He picked up his usual bunnies from pick and rolls along with his array of rebounds and tip-outs. Taj had just another day in the office.
Gibson played the role of a backup big man well. Gibson saw reduced minutes only because Nerlens Noel played out of his mind. Otherwise, I can keep this short because if you’ve watched recent Knicks games, then you know what to expect. Gibson gets a 2 out of 5 that would be higher if his production continued at the same pace for a longer stint.
Obi Toppin: Obi Toppin played just 11 minutes and only put up 4 points and 1 board on 2/4 shooting. But he managed to make both field goals impressive enough to call this a promising performance. His first basket was another example of outrunning the defense to create a transition bucket out of thin air. Rose rewarded Obi for sprinting, a nightly occurrence in recent games. Then Toppin drove baseline and got a shot off through content off athleticism alone; he used a second bounce to dunk that near-miss home. Obi’s athleticism popped in both plays and earned him a couple of extra minutes in the fourth…he’s showing flashes.
Harper, Frank, Pinson, Knox, Pelle: They got a minute of garbage time that was meaningless. But they visibly played hard and were having fun out there, especially when Harper shot.
Journey to the West, where Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks decide their own fate
Tom Thibodeau: Second-quarter rage will define Tom Thibodeau’s night. He was vein-popping mad at RJ Barrett for giving up backdoor cuts in quick succession. Then the Knicks’ coach picked up a technical flipping out on the referees. Thibs seemed to feel the Knicks slipping, and instead of making quick substitutions, he sent the message loudly while continued to trust his rotation. The scene makes a good example of why Thibodeau’s players are oozing with confidence.
When teams struggle, young teams especially, you’ll catch players looking at the scorer’s table after a mistake. Shooters start to hesitate, and ball-handlers stop attacking for fear that the next mistake will get them benched. Thibodeau sticks to his rotation to a fault at times, but it means that players are never holding back for fear of getting benched. This team brims with confidence even when Thibs is freaking out. There’s accountability without blatant benching.
I’m at a loss for any course-changing decisions. Thibodeau’s crew made runs and always seemed to have the game in hand. I never looked at a sub or pined for a timeout. The Knicks’ head coach has done enough to earn our trust at this point, and he delivered again. This wasn’t a particularly challenging night in the X’s and O’s, but that second quarter flip-out was valuable nonetheless. Tom Thibodeau gets a 3 out of 5 for his coaching through the win.
Closing Thoughts
The final stretch has arrived. The Knicks have a slim lead for home-court advantage and a daunting West Coast trip ahead. They’ve given themselves just enough room to hang on to their spot as long as they don’t let up. This isn’t a journey to expect another big streak from, but we should expect our favorite players to compete against the best teams out West. New York needs to split this series and strive for even better insurance with more wins.
The telling aspect of this is that I’m more concerned about the fourth seed than play-in territory. The margins are thin from 8th to 4th; they have been all year. But the Knicks have put themselves at the front of the pack. They’ve earned our faith that these last 9 games will be enough to take it home (literally). The playoffs are so close we can taste them, but now I’m feeling greedy. I want a winnable first-round series, and I want home court advantage; Tom Thibodeau and the players clearly feel the same way.
Houston starts the journey off, and that’s a chance to set the tone. It’s the most winnable game on the remaining schedule, the only opponent that’s not chasing a playoff spot. That would typically mean some comments about the dangers of a trap game, but New York’s identity is all about hard work. The question for that game is whether the Knicks can make a statement early and get some extra rest before a rematch with Memphis. I don’t just want the win; I want the mop-up crew out there to close! The toughest stretch of the entire season starts soon. I’m looking forward to it and hope y’all feel the same. They’ve been building all season to step up in moments like this. See you after Houston, fam!
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