Declaration of Defense

The Knicks decided they were done getting pushed around.

Good morning! Well that was more like it.

Before we get to last night’s recap, a reminder that the Knicks are back in action tonight, with a 7:30 pm start time against the Nets in Brooklyn. The game will be broadcast on TNT. Cam Thomas, Zaire Williams and Trendon Watford are out, while D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons are questionable. The Nets have dropped eight of nine, although they lost by just one point in LA against the Lakers a few nights ago. Come say hi at halftime.

Game 44: Knicks 119, Hawks 110

• After they started with the sort of blah play that has defined their recent stretch, the Knicks flipped a defensive switch midway through the first quarter.

• Thanks to some hot Atlanta shooting (despite good Knicks defense, I promise) and some silly turnovers, New York was down eight at the break.

• Starting with a 7-0 run after halftime, the Knicks dominated the third, turning defense into offense en route to a 40-point quarter, and used more stifling defense to eventually pull away.

• Tom Thibodeau used a nine-man rotation, all of whom saw time in the first quarter. A KAT-plus-bench lineup was particularly impressive.

• Jalen Brunson finally cracked the Dyson Daniels code, scoring 34 on 18 shots.

• Karl-Anthony Towns struggled shooting in his return but had several nice assists.

• Mikal Bridges mercilessly exploited the Trae Young matchup, especially in the 3rd

Uh oh.

That was the only thought going through my mind five minutes into this game, after the Hawks went up 18-8 on a Vit Krejci 3-pointer. The Knicks have experienced every other insult under the sun during a brutal two and a half weeks. Why not add “The Vit Krejci Game” to the list?

Predictably, Thibs called timeout. What were the odds that whatever he said in the huddle was going to stem a tide with the gravitational pull of several moons? Things felt that ominous for a defense that had ranked 25th in the league over its previous eight games. If they couldn’t respond here, after yet another disheartening loss, facing a team that has had their number so far this season, would it be time to start asking some more difficult questions?

Thankfully, we don’t have to, because the team that came out of the timeout bore little resemblance to the one we’ve seen recently. Heck, if we’re being brutally honest, the Knicks defense over the final 43 minutes last night was unlike much of what we’ve seen this season.

Fittingly enough, it started with a defensive stand from a guy who was brought in to make a whole lot of defensive stands like this one: