Back on Track

The Knicks got their best win of the young season.

Goooooood morning! Now THAT’S more like it.

Game 7: Knicks 111, Clippers 97

Ooooooooo boy, did they need this one…

In a New York minute…

Different night, same ole, same ole. The Knicks came out with some fantastic ball movement, but an 0-for-6 start from deep and a 6-for-22 shooting line in the first quarter had them down 21-19 after one. The defense was again up to snuff though, and New York’s aggression forced several turnovers that led to easy points. The third quarter saw both teams find their groove offensively, leading to a tie game entering the fourth. That’s when the Knicks’ backup unit took over, with several sequences that had LA on their heels and New York in full attack mode. They handed a double digit lead to the starters midway through the period, and Ty Lue waived the white flag down 16 with 4:25 to go.

Three Things

1. Julius might be back. He wasn’t perfect, but perfect is the enemy of the good considering where Julius has been recently. His final line: 9-for-21 from the field (plus 3-of-8 from deep and 6-for-6 from the line) for a team-high 27 points to go with 10 boards and six turnovers to three assists.

Most importantly, for multiple stretches of this game, we saw the version of Julius Randle that this team needs.

For a guy still finding his way, this was a significant step in the right direction.

As Benjy Ritholtz said during our KFS YouTube Watch Along, Randle was clearly having success in multiple ways - getting downhill being the most notable - but didn’t always take the right lessons from that success. He still forced the issue under the hoop on occasion and his decision making with the ball wasn’t always what you’d want.

All part of the process, or so I’m telling myself after what was an extremely encouraging night following six mostly dreadful outings.