Signature Win.

The Knicks get their best victory of the year on a night they absolutely had to have it.

Good morning!

My goodness, did they need that.

I think we all did.

Game Recap: Knicks 105, Cavs 103

⌚️60 Seconds or Less: On a night when the Knicks had all the pressure in the world on their shoulders, Julius Randle came out of the gate and put the team on his own. Randle scored 17 points in the first quarter, helping the Knicks withstand some early iffy defense to take a 34-27 lead after one. Then, behind his backup Obi Toppin and running mate Immanuel Quickley, they briefly pushed the lead to 13 before the Cavs began making their push. Over the middle third of the game, Cleveland outscored New York 39-18 as the Knicks suddenly couldn’t do much against a stout Cavs’ D.

That’s when the home team flipped the script, going on a 32-13 spurt and gaining an 11-point lead with eight minutes to go. 10 of New York’s 12 field goals were assisted over that stretch, but after it, their offense stagnated. Cleveland made one final push behind - who else? - Donovan Mitchell, whose third 3-pointer of the fourth quarter brought the Cavs to within two.

From there on in, there were no shortage of huge plays, starting with an Isaiah Hartenstein put back dunk, followed by a massive Julius Randle triple, and then two big defensive stops by RJ Barrett on the man he was nearly traded for. Even so, Cleveland had the ball with a chance to win or tie, which brought us to the…

📸 Play of the Season: It’s fitting that after what has become a year from hell, on a day when he was mentioned as a trade target for his former team, Isaiah Hartenstein came up with the most important play of New York’s season to date:

After the Cavs got the switch they wanted and Julius Randle did a nice job taking away the three from Mitchell, the diminutive guard from Elmsford, New York ramped up, with only Hartenstein between him and the hoop. At that moment, not only was overtime in play, but potentially even a Cavs win in regulation if I-Hart fouled him for an and-one.

No such fate transpired, and after a desperation miss by Evan Mobley, the Knicks managed to escape with the W.

💪 Strong When It Counts: Speaking of fitting, how ironic is it that arguably the three most necessary wins of the year have all come against either Donovan Mitchell’s current team or the one that almost traded him to New York this summer:

• November 15 at Utah: Following a 3-6 stretch that culminated in an embarrassing 145-135 home loss to the Thunder and put the entire organization on notice, the Knicks began a West Coast trip that seemed like it might end their season. Instead, they went 3-2, starting with a 118-11 win over a Jazz team that was 10-5 and had been undefeated at home.

• December 4 vs Cleveland: New York followed that nice western swing with four straight home defeats: three tight ones and then a loss to the Mavs that felt like the final nail in Tom Thibodeau’s coffin. Tnstead of giving up on the second day of a back to back though, they held an opponent under 100 for the first time all season, limiting the Cavs to 81 points in the first of eight straight wins.

• January 24 vs Cleveland: Heading into the night riding four straight losses and a 4-6 record without Mitchell Robinson (with a total scoring margin of minus-54 in those 10 games, no less), the Knicks turned in their best defensive performance in nearly a month en route their biggest win of the season.

What happens now? New York’s upcoming schedule is still no bargain, but if they can scrap together four more wins in their 11 games before the All-Star break, they will be at .500 heading into the stretch run, likely with Mitchell Robinson back in the lineup. I’d sign for that right now.

🔥 Scorching Success: For the 18th time under head coach Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks hit at least half of their 3-point attempts in a game, going 17-for-33 in all.

Their record, by the way, in those 18 games?

18 wins, 0 losses.

(Their record in such games over the previous 20 years, in case you were wondering: 124-59.)

📶 Trending Up: After an eight-game iso-fest in which they averaged just under 17 dimes an topped 20 assists just once, the Knicks are in the midst of their best passing stretch of the season. Following games of 27 and 30 assists, they had 25 last night, making it just the second time all season they’ve topped 25 dimes in three consecutive games. Better yet, pretty much everyone got in on the sharing last night, with six players totaling three assists or more, and Immanuel Quickley leading the way with six.

New York will probably continue to have their defensive issues for as long as Robinson is out, but on offense, the formula is simple: when they ball moves, they score.

🥊 Knockout Punch: Julius will get some more love below, but this 3-pointer with 2:07 left to break a tie at 100-all deserves its own section, and had to feel so, so good:

Before this shot, Randle had been 1-for-9 from deep in “clutch” situations¹ on the year. He picked a great time to up his accuracy.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫

No one on the team played poorly last night. They might not have won this game if someone had. Even so, this was a pretty clear top three, although special honorable mentions go to:

• Deuce McBride, who continues to make small but important strides on offense that could be the difference in his playability

• RJ Barrett, whose defensive plays on two late Mitchell drives were keys to this victory), and of course…

• Obi Toppin, who did as much as anyone could reasonably expect in his 10 minutes. In what continues to be a less than ideal situation, Toppin delivered for the second game in a row.

They all fall a bit short of our top three through, starting with…

⭐️ Immanuel Quickley: Ho hum, another game, another night where IQ is New York’s leader in plus/minus.

That’s six straight games he’s led the team in that stat, moving him up to 20th in the NBA in plus / minus this season, trailing only five Nuggets, five Grizzlies, two Celtics, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Jrue Holiday, Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Huerter and Isaiah Joe.

Good. Things. Happen. When. Immanuel. Quickley. Plays.

Many of those things don’t show up in the box score, although IQ certainly has his moments:

Quick played 15 consecutive minutes starting late in the third quarter, as Thibs knew he needed his 6th man on the floor to defend Cleveland’s dangerous backcourt. Great to have him back after a one-game absence.

⭐️ ⭐️ Isaiah Hartenstein: Talk about getting off the schneid.

It had been 40 games since Hartenstein earned a star in this section. It had also been a while - 16 games, to be exact - since I-Hart saw more than 20 minutes of action, but there he was last night, playing the entire fourth quarter over Jericho Sims. In a season in which Tom Thibodeau hasn’t always pushed the right buttons (including and perhaps especially with the use of his backup center), against the Cavs, sticking with Hartenstein was an easy call.

Hart’s fingerprints were all over this game when it mattered most. In those final 12 minutes, he had six rebounds, including two on the offensive glass, a put-back dunk, assists on three straight New York baskets, and a huge block that came before his game-saving defensive play:

Watch where Hartenstein is when Mitchell starts his break down the court. For a guy that has been this maligned to show that sort of hustle, and then actually pull off the block / tip to maintain possession, it says an awful lot about his character and dedication to the team.

Hopefully this is the start of a turnaround. The Knicks desperately need it.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Julius Randle: 36 points on 21 shots, 8-for-12 from deep (!!!), 6-of-7 from the line, 13 rebounds, four assists, and yes, five pesky turnovers.

Because among the many things Julius Randle is, perfect is never one of them.

Thankfully, for this team to be successful, he doesn’t need to be. He just needs to be the best version of himself.

There was a moment last night, when it look like the game and the season might have been slipping away, that was most impressed I’ve been with Julius in a while.

It came midway through the third, right as the Cavs were seemingly taking command of the game. RJ Barrett posted up Donovan Mitchell and drew the help defender, but instead of passing it to a subsequently open Randle behind the arc, he took a contested two that missed. Julius dropped his shoulders in a moment of bad body language we’ve seen far too often. Making matters worse, he didn’t put a body on Jarrett Allen at the other end, who tipped in a miss to give Cleveland their biggest lead of the night. Timeout Knicks.

On his way back to the bench, Randle raised his arms in disgust, apparently still angry at the pass that didn’t come his way.

This, to be clear, is the Mr. Hyde of New York’s most talented player - the reason why he has often failed to translate his prodigious talent into winning. But unlike many games in the past, Randle didn’t let this moment fester and grow into something worse. Instead, on the ensuing Knicks possession, Julius got himself into the exact same position as RJ on the previous play, but rather than taking a tough shot, kicked it to Barrett for an open three that gave the home team some sorely needed momentum².

It was a moment of growth for a player who has previously shrank in the face of adversity.

At the end of that quarter, after closing with back to back threes to give New York all the momentum heading into the final frame, Randle and the home crowd had themselves a moment:

What a journey it’s been for Randle, to go from free agency consolation prize, to beloved face of the franchise, to a borderline pariah, to now once again someone fans are willing to adore.

Somehow, I think his journey still has some more important stops in store.

If this season ends up being a springboard to bigger and better things, I wonder if last night will be one that we remember for a while.

🏀

That’s it for today! If you enjoy this newsletter and like the Mets, don’t forget to subscribe to JB’s Metropolitan, or his hockey newsletter, Isles Fix. Also, a big thanks to our sponsors:

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1. Under five minutes left, with the score within five points.

2. H/t to Benjy Ritholtz for calling this all out as it was happening on our Playback watch party.