It’s all gravy for Knicks following gritty comeback

THERE was no need for qualifiers now. The final seconds were bleeding off the clock, and Tim Hardaway Jr. was exhorting the soldout crowd to shout ever stronger, roar ever louder. The other Knicks were flipping the ball around, the basketball equivalent of the victory formation. A few Raptors extended their hands.

“This,” Hardaway said soon after, “was an all-out team effort.”

So much of the first quarter of this Knicks season has been about italics and asterisks and parentheses. (*It’s early ...) (*There’s been so many home games …)

(*They’ve beaten an awful lot of dog teams …)

Much of that was fair, of course, and all of it was true. Part of it was the fact that people had actually started to enjoy the Knicks again, and when that happens there is always a rush among the faithful to ensure no jinxing is going on. Some of it was just reason and ration and caution, all useful tools for not getting too far ahead of yourself.

Except there was no need for that now, not on this night, not with the final seconds melting away and this 108-100 victory over Toronto soon to be in the books. Not after that third quarter, which featured a 28-0 run — not a typo; a 28-0 run — that worked out to 41-10 across all 12 minutes, easily the best quarter the Knicks have played in eons.

Not after the Knicks held off the inevitable Raptors comeback in the fourth quarter, a surge that was eerily reminiscent of what the Cavaliers had done here nine days earlier and elicited a sound among the 19,812 people that approximated nausea.

And not after vanquishing the Raptors, who had outclassed them in Toronto last Friday, who had won eight in a row over the Knicks dating to early in the 2015-16 season, who may not be the Celtics, but are in that rung just below them in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks have won plenty of confidence builders this year.

This was for something else. This was to prove they belong, that they really can play with anybody. They hinted at that against Cleveland, but couldn’t close the deal that night. They closed this time.

“We challenged the guys at half- time,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. “We played hard in the first half but that’s a great team with a lot of energy and they really got after us. But we told them to put the pressure on and make nothing east and they responded in that third quarter. They were great.”

Hardaway especially, who poured in a career-high 38 points and added seven assists and has become in every way the team’s unquestioned emotional core. It was Hardaway (12) and Courtney Lee (11) who combined for 23 points and fueled the brunt of that 28-0 third-quarter explosion, one that came with Kristaps Porzingis contributing only a couple of free throws on offense. “This is such an unselfish team,” Hardaway said.

“He’s an intense person,” Hornacek said of Hardaway, before adding with a laugh, “Sometimes too much, almost. But he’s all about winning.”

That, clearly, is what the faithful enjoy most about this team, the share-the-wealth philosophy on offense so infectious, so easy on the eyes. And while they will make nobody forget the ’90s-era Knicks on defense, there is at least an effort now on that end of the floor, too. Just trying can win an awful lot of hearts and minds.

“They were tired at the end of that game,” Hornacek said. “But that’s what you’re supposed to be.”

Said Porzingis, who finished with 22 points while seeming to welcome his role as a supporting player: “Running, sharing the ball … it was fun. When it all comes together it’s beautiful basketball. And we’re capable of beating anybody.”

That, really, was the beauty of this game. The Raptors were up 11 and then they were down 11, 14, 18, 20 … and it happened so quickly, so completely, the Knicks dominating both ends, the crowd involved and invested, everyone enjoying what they were seeing even if it was a little hard to believe what they were seeing.

Believe it. No need to qualify this one. No asterisks. No italics. No parentheses.

“We wanted to get a win so everyone can enjoy their Thanksgiving,” Hardaway said.

Mission accomplished. Pass the potatoes.