Knicks 113, Hawks 108: “ Quickley is fast becoming my favorite Knickley ”

There were times during the third quarter of Monday night’s win over the Hawks where it felt like the Knicks were about to melt and freeze on the pitch, a disgusting drop of a team of basketball. But New York resisted its stumbles and avoided Atlanta thanks to a late injection from Emmanuel Quickley, combined with outstanding overall performances from Julius Randle and RJ Barrett.

With this victory, the Knicks end their first road trip of the year at 3-1 and are classified at 4-3 for the season. In two weeks, Tom Thibodeau officially equaled the total number of wins David Fizdale had amassed in 22 games before his dismissal last season. As of this writing, the Knicks were tied for 5th in the Eastern Conference (technically they were also tied for 8th). Oh, FWIW, the Knicks, 2-0 since the schedule turned to 2021, remain undefeated into the New Year.

The Knicks were without a host of players, as has become the custom. No Nerlens Noel, Obi Toppin, Alec Burks, Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr. or Omari Spellman. The Hawks, meanwhile, were playing without Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn. And while the Knicks looked locked in at the end of the day, it wasn’t so obvious throughout the night that they were going to outlive their opponent.

RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton provided most of the attack in the first quarter, and early on it was clear that the Knicks intended to match the Hawks’ explosive offense. Halfway through the first, Randle had 10 points on a 4-5 shot, the Knicks as a team were shooting 61 percent from the field and Mitchell Robinson was keeping the paint as a safety guard at a manufacturing plant in Sherwin- Williams.

Suddenly an RJ Barrett slam dunk put the Knicks in double digits. Pandemic response plans were being developed.

Late in the first, Austin Rivers and Kevin Knox stepped into the game, and the momentum instantly changed. The Hawks immediately entered one of what would become many mini races. In no time at all, the 10-point lead was erased, and two minutes from the end of the opening period, Thibs called the time-out. Presumably, he asked his guys to play better. By the end of the first, the Knicks were hanging on to a 31-29 lead.

The second quarter was mainly a back and forth affair. New York was able to hold on thanks to the fuss from Robinson and more bucket from Randle and RJ.

At the end of the half, the Hawks caught the Knicks napping and, after another mini run, they entered the 58-54 break. The Hawks came out of the break with Trae Young taking control and completely baffling the shorthanded Knicks, who only used eight players all night. Before long, the Knicks were in double digits. They looked downcast and tired.

With five minutes left of the third, the Hawks took their biggest lead of the game and the end of the evening’s festivities was almost certain. In what could become a trend, however, the Knicks had other ideas. Behind two Kevin Knox lines and the beginning of Quickley’s magic, New York had an absolutely glorious run to turn a 15-point deficit into four, and the quarter ended with the Hawks up 88-84.

The fourth was Quickley’s quarterback, and it’s truly amazing how a superb quarterback can make Randle and Barrett’s otherwise phenomenal performances seem like the night’s side story. Two clutch free throws from Quickley’s delayed the Knicks a 103-101 lead. Then he fouled Young by shooting a three and sank all the free throws, putting the Knicks 106-101.

With the game on the line, Rivers stepped up again. Doc’s son spilled a deep ball to put the Knicks 110-106 with just under a minute and a half to go, and control seemed to be in the hands of the Knicks.

That was true until Reggie Bullock came in at the very end of the fourth and a few embarrassing hiccups nearly blew up the game. Randle has had several brain dead turnovers, including a pass to nobody when he mistakenly thought Quickley was cutting, and the negligence led to an attempt to stop Reggie Bullock under the basket that hit the backside of the panel.

In the end, the Knicks pulled it out, coming away with the 113-108 victory. For much of the past 20 years, this tough Atlanta holdover could have been described as an unusual victory for New York. But under Thibs, difficult play is becoming a trend.

Notes:

> Randle finished with 28 points, 17 rebounds and 9 assists, barely missing his second triple double as a Knick. He also recorded 7 turnovers, meaning he barely missed his first career quadruple double.

> Overall, Randle stroked, shooting 11-19 from the field. But he missed each of his five threes.

> So what about RJ? Barrett has 26 points (10-19 shooting, 1-5 deep), 11 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. This is his third performance of over 20 points of the young season and his second in a row.

> Alexa, order an Immanuel Quickley swimsuit, size large please. The 25th pick in this year’s draft continues to surprise. As Elfrid Payton played a solid first half, it started to fade as the game progressed, and Quickley was exactly what the doctor ordered. He finished with 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block in 19 minutes of action.

> With no real save center to spell it out, Robinson played 28 minutes and scored an interesting stat line of 8 points, 7 targets, 4 steals and 2 blocks. At some point early in the second he was called up for his third foul, but officials later ruled that it was not Robinson who had committed the foul, so he was demoted to two fouls.

> Randle played a bunch of save center, and the Knicks clearly lacked an inside presence during those minutes.

> The Knicks continue to decline in depth. On Tuesday, they shot a 7-21 combined (33%) from behind the arc. The Hawks took 10 more threes than the Knicks but only touched three more, finishing 10-31.

But who is there to talk about regression? It was a night of progress. Walt Clyde Phraser said exactly what we all think: “Quickley is quickly becoming my favorite Knickley.”

The Knicks are now heading home for a game against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night at 7:30 am. Jazz are good. It will be a great test to see where this team is at. Hoping that some of our injured bodies will magically heal within the next couple of days.