The Randle-sance

Guess who came up huge (and very accountable).

Good morning! My oh my, what a difference a couple of days makes…

Game Recap: Knicks 106, Nuggets 103

⌚️30 Seconds or Less: From the outset, this looked like it was going to be one of New York’s best performances of the year. With one exception that we’ll get to in a bit, everyone played well at both ends of the court, and had it not been for the struggles of one notable Knick, this was a game that New York played well enough to lead by double digits at halftime.

Unfortunately, they only led by one, and only some early second half play-making by Jalen Brunson prevented a true third quarter of doom. Their advantage slowly devolved into a 10-point deficit with eight minutes to go in the game, but that’s when Julius Randle, the offensive star of this night, took over - not with his shot-making, but with his energy and toughness. Thanks to his effort, the Knicks went into Denver and came out with a W for the first time since Moses wore short pants.

📸 Play(s) of the Game (non-Randle edition): Julius has his own category of plays of the game that we’ll get to below, but this honor goes to Jericho Sims and Immanuel Quickley, each of who came up huge on defensive stands in the final 30 seconds.

Jamal Murray is a guy who once scored 50 points twice in a single playoff series. He’s not all the way back from his torn ACL yet, but the dude still had it going last night. For Sims to be able to hang with him on the switch here and not go for the pump fake is nothing short of an extraordinary stand for last year’s 58th overall pick. Grabbing the rebound to finish off the possession was icing on the cake.

Not to be outdone, New York’s best defender (he is) and maybe one of the best guard defenders in the league (he’s getting there) ensured that there would be no heroics from Murray before the final buzzer sounded.

Immanuel Quickley’s offense is coming. It has to. He’s too skilled for that not to be the case. But what a testament to him that he continues to play this level of D, possession after possession, even amidst his shooting struggles.

How’s this for a stat to accompany his late game stand:

• New York’s defensive rating in 331 minutes with IQ on: 101.8

• New York’s defensive rating in 399 minutes with IQ off: 119.5

Impressive stuff for the third year backup.

🤔 Rotation Reflections: So here’s the thing about Quentin Grimes being situational: it means there are situations when you are still allowed to use him.

Or at least that’s my understanding.

What I can’t quite understand is why last night wasn’t one of those situations. RJ Barrett, as you may have heard, is under the weather. That’s what we were told contributed to his 5-for-18 performance in Utah, and that’s what we better hope is the case after a 4-for-18 night in Denver.

It’s hard to express how bad Barrett was in this game for anyone who didn’t see it live. After zero makes in nine tries from deep, he is now 0 for his last 16 from long range. In a game the Knicks won, he was a minus-18. And apparently whatever bug RJ has is affecting his vision, because IQ was flailing around like a wacky waving inflatable tube man at the end of the first quarter, but Barrett decided to go 1-on-4 instead:

Whatever is going on, Barrett is currently playing less like a $100 million consolation prize and more like a nine-figure anchor around the neck of this team. Grimes, we have been told, is healthy enough to go. If ever there was a time to deploy him, last night seemed to be it.

Thankfully RJ rode the bench for most of the fourth, and the best players brought this one home. And to be clear, Thibs coached a hell of a game overall. The players pretty clearly haven’t quit on him. Still, it was a curious decision to send Barrett out there in the first place.

🕐 It’s been a while: I present your Knicks box score totals from the last time they won a game in Denver, on November 8, 2006 - a mere 5,853 days ago:

Renaldo Balkman, playing in his fifth NBA game against the Melo-led Nuggets, has now been out of the league for over a decade. Nice pick, Isiah.

So yeah, even with Denver missing two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and key starter Aaron Gordon last night, this was a big deal, especially with the Knicks on the second night of a back to back coming from Salt Lake City.

8-7 never felt so good.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫