Knicks Get 2 Straight Stress-Free Wins For the First Time In Forever

Jan 13

The New York Knicks season has definitely consisted of inconsistency, but when they’re on, boy are they fun to watch.

On Monday, the Knicks got to go against the San Antonio Spurs at home, after having a brutal loss to the Celtics where they only scored a depressing 75 points in TD Garden, and they responded exactly how any fan would hope. While Julius Randle’s stat sheet did not look too pretty, his actual performance was fine. He was always boxing out his man, and was making good, decisive passes on the offensive end, while holding Keita Bates-Diop to 4 points. The other starters (Burks, Robinson, Fournier, Barrett), all played phenomenally, especially RJ Barrett who had his 4th 30 point performance of the season, including a fun windmill dunk in the first half.

The bench continued to be a positive, with Toppin, Quickley, and Grimes all providing production against the Spurs backups, with those 3 players combining for 25 points. Closing out nice wins with that bench always gives a good feeling, and that energy continued into Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Knicks came out strong against the Mavs, leading by after the first quarter from a strong RJ Barrett and Julius Randle. Throughout the entire game, RJ took on the assignment of having to guard Luka Doncic, which is almost impossible, but he did a great job. Luka finished 8/23 from the field, including 1/9 from three point land with 5 turnovers.

A big positive for the Knicks in the last 2 games was their 3rd quarters, which usually are the Knicks downfall. RJ Barrett played a big part in both of those 3rd quarters, setting the tone for the Knicks, getting to his spots on the floor whenever he wanted. Mitchell Robinson also got a bunch of dunks under the basket from passes and offensive rebounds to help the Knicks go up 20 and keep the lead throughout the 4th quarter.

With these 2 big wins, the Knicks now have the same record through 42 games as they did last year, sitting at 21-21. They have a chance to go over .500 on Saturday against the Hawks.