Statement Game

The Knicks put a stamp one one of their most successful regular seasons in recent memory.

Game Recap: Knicks 101, Heat 92

⌚️60 Seconds or Less: A throwback game in some ways, a strange game in others, but regardless of the label, this was undeniably one of the biggest regular season victories the Knicks have had in the last two decades.

Entering the night up three games on the Heat but at risk of losing the tiebreaker, the Knicks started off hot thanks to Quentin Grimes…and then immediately became encased in ice, slip-sliding their way to seven turnovers and zero made free throws on six attempts in the first. New York’s defense and an injection of energy by an IQ-led bench kept it close, and after an 11-0 Knicks run punctuated by one of the wildest shots of the season…

…this turned into a dogfight. For a stretch lasting more than half the game, from the 8:05 mark of the second to the 5:40 mark of the fourth, no team led by more than four points. After 23 lead changes and 14 ties, the tug of war finally pulled someone in the mud when a little-used bench unit went on a 14-4 fourth quarter run to put the game away.

Personal Injury Report presented by Weiss & Rosenbloom: Jalen Brunson made his return after a two-game absence and looked rusty, going 5-of-11 for a dozen points. As a result of his uneven play and the groove the closing lineup was in, he wasn’t out there to finish the game.

Nor was Julius Randle, who left late in the second quarter with what appeared to be a badly sprained left ankle:

Randle remained on the ground in apparent agony before getting up and trying unsuccessfully to walk it off. A foul was called on the play, so he stayed in to take both free throws, but then immediately went to the locker room and was ruled out for good at halftime. There is no update on his status moving forward as of yet.

💪 Bench Mob: Heading into last night’s game, Tom Thibodeau had yet to use a five-man grouping featuring his four rotation wings - Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, RJ Barrett and Josh Hart - with a traditional center. According to Cleaning the Glass, those four had played just 18 total non-garbage time possessions, and it was with Randle in the middle.

Entering the fourth quarter last night, Randle wasn’t an option. His backup Obi Toppin got the third quarter start in Randle’s absence and was solid in 17 minutes, but was on the bench to begin the final frame, as was Brunson making his return to game action. As a result, along with Isaiah Hartenstein, the above quartet shared the floor for the first time in arguably the biggest quarter of New York’s season. What happened next was nothing short of a revelation.

With the game tied and a playoff birth essentially hanging in the balance, those five turned up the heat on Miami in a way we haven’t seen in some time, giving up just eight points in the final nine minutes of game action.

The speed and switchability of the IQ/Grimes/Hart/RJ/I-Hart grouping was so effective that Tom Thibdeau let it ride for the entire fourth quarter. Miami broke through with a few buckets, but nothing came easy. The defense was swarming, flustering the normally composed Heat and smothering them into submission.

As the minutes wound down to zero, the team that unexpectedly evolved into an offensive juggernaut harkened back to their bread and butter, beating Miami at their own game. The 16 points they allowed in the fourth was the fewest the Knicks have given up in a final frame since allowing 13 to Golden State way back on December 20.

Could this be something they turn to again if the situation calls for it? The answer may depend on the severity of Randle’s injury, but at the very least, Thibs knows he has another arrow in his quiver that certain opponents may not have an answer for.

🗡 RJ Dagger: Leave it to the basketball player with nine lives to deliver the kill shot:

In the first half, Barrett may have been as bad offensively as we’ve seen him, going 0-of-8 from the field with several attempts not coming close to hitting the mark.

But as he’s done so many times before, RJ did’t let a poor start deter him, finishing the game by making four of his last five field goals and delivering the deciding blow late in the fourth quarter. His defense was also a big part of the reason they won this, so even though this wasn’t one of his best games, credit to him for sticking with it, as always.

📈 Standings Update: Brooklyn beat Houston, so they remain 2.5 back of the Knicks. The Heat are now four back and lost the tiebreaker. Womp womp.

In pick news, the Mavs lost to Philly, so they’re back to a game out of 10th in the West.

New York’s magic number to clinch a playoff birth is now two.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫

⭐️ Isaiah Hartenstein: Had to throw a dart between him and the other half of the Hart Foundation, but Hartenstein’s performance stood out just a little more considering how often he was matched up with Bam and how, yet again, he was very clearly the best center on the team.

After last night, Hartenstein has played 383 minutes with his brother by another mother, Josh Hart. In that time, the pairing has outscored opponents by 20.3 points per 100 possessions. That is a stupid number. No other duo that has played at least 250 minutes can beat that net rating, and on plays like this, it’s easy to see why they’ve become New York’s secret weapon.

⭐️ ⭐️ Quentin Grimes: After 23, 8 & 4 last night, Grimes is now averaging 21.0 points, 6.0 boards and 4.2 assists over his last four games. His scoring kept them in it at the start and his 3-point shooting (5-of-10 from behind the arc) was a weapon throughout the game. More than that, Q is continuing to evolve into the sort of all-around force that had New York’s front office gun-shy about including him in a Donovan Mitchell trade.

Turns out they weren’t that crazy after all.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Take a Wild Guess…

Before Our Very Eyes…

When will the Knicks trade for a star?

How will the Knicks trade for a star?

Who will be the star the Knicks trade for?

There’s a reason that no matter what is going on with this team - no matter how they win, or by how many points, and who does what to lead them to victory - the conversation always, inevitably, goes back to getting a star.

That is because this is, was, and always will be a star’s league. It’s the nature of the beast. For that reason, when you get to a game like last night, against a long time rival with so much on the line, you expect the result to be decided by - you guessed it - stars.

In the NBA, you’re not a star until you’ve been deemed as such. Jimmy, Bam, Jalen and Julius…these are the qualifiers. Herro if we’re being generous. Even RJ has an argument.

But here’s the funny thing about this league, and why the conversation about star chasing is often far more binary than it has any right to be: sometimes, probably more than we realize, stars aren’t christened. Instead, they emerge organically, through sheer force of will and undeniable production in the biggest spots. Heck, the four headliners going into last night all defied expectations to one degree or another, none more so than Jimmy Butler. 30th picks who average 2.6 points as rookies are not supposed to elevate to this level. But he has, and for that reason, the chip on his shoulder will someday wind up in Springfield.

But Jimmy Butler didn’t define last night’s game. Nor did Bam, or Jalen, or Julius - even before he got hurt. Outsiders might look at this result and conclude that this was the rare NBA game that wasn’t defined by its star players.

But we know better than that.

Stars may make the game, but first, the games must make the star. Many have entered the league with unlimited promise and pedigree and amounted to nothing more than a wasted investment. At the end of the day, 48 minutes within 94 feet dictates all narratives.

And no one has shifted their narrative this season more than Immanuel Jaylen Quickley.

For the second game in a row, he was the best player on the court, and for the second game in a row, it was not particularly close. It’s one thing to do that against the 18-win Rockets. It’s quite another to do it against a prideful Heat team that has won five playoff series in the last three seasons and is fighting to stay out of the play-in.

It also wasn’t surprising, not to anyone who has been paying attention. Quickley has, in so many ways, become the perfect singular encapsulation of these Knicks. Not only an underdog, but someone who still has his faults. He is far from perfect. But he is relentless. And more than anything, he will capitalize on the slightest lack of respect you have for his game.

As we come down the stretch of this season, much like how the league’s perception of the Knicks is changing, so too are we beginning to see a shift in how Quickley is viewed as well. Not an overwhelming change, but a perceptible one.

That is how it begins.

How far will it go? The next several weeks (months, even?) will go a long way towards answering that question.

Every star turn starts somewhere.

Thankfully for the Knicks, it’s starting at just the right time, and in just the right place.

🏀

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