GET THE FUNK OUT OF HERE!
Knicks cure their ills with win over Pistons
KNICKS 125 PISTONS 81
Clearly motivated to right their wrongs of the last week, the Knicks took it out on the Pistons on Saturday night, emphatically snapping a three-game winning streak and sending Julius Randle back on track in a 125-81 breeze in Motown.
The 44-point win represented the franchise’s largest margin since 1996, when most of the current Knicks roster hadn’t been born. Overall, it was the sixth largest win in franchise history and just four points off the record set in 1972 and matched in 1994.
The laugher allowed Tom Thibodeau to sit his starters for the entire fourth quarter, a luxury he rarely, if ever, extends because the coach always believes the game is in doubt.
Not on Saturday. Thibodeau just wouldn’t admit he was comfortable. “No,” the coach said with a smile. The game was hilariously over within minutes of the opening tip. The Knicks (25-25) scored the first 14 points. They led 30-7 and then by 26 at the end of the quarter. Randle, who was coming off a dud the previous night against the Mavericks, scored 20 of his 29 points in the first quarter, finishing with eight rebounds in 30 minutes.
The Pistons (14-35) never got closer than 17 in the second half. The Knicks’ 19 3-pointers were just one short of a franchise record, with Reggie Bullock collecting six of them.
Detroit is terrible, of course, a mismatched roster of unskilled players collected by rookie GM Troy Weaver. But it was still an impressive performance from the Knicks considering they lost the night prior in MSG and flew to Detroit for the second game of a back-to-back.
Randle is the team’s engine and he got them going early. In the loss to Dallas on Friday, the 26-year-old managed just 14 points on 5-of-20 shooting with five turnovers. He eclipsed that point total in less than seven minutes against Detroit, shooting 9-of-16 on the night.
“I couldn’t hit anything (against Dallas) so I guess the basketball gods turned it around,” Randle said.
RJ Barrett also bounced back with an efficient 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Elfrid Payton had 11 points and nine assists in 25 minutes.
Randle had been bothered by a thigh contusion, but never used it as an excuse.
“I’m fine,” said Randle, who leads the league in total minutes, then repeated, “I’m fine.”
It was a different vibe the last three games, defeats to the Heat, Timberwolves and Mavericks. A “funk,” as Tom Thibodeau described it, had infiltrated the Knicks roster.
“I think that we’re at a point in the season where if you play this many games, every player in the league has something right now,” Thibodeau said of his players’ health. “That’s pro sports. We have to manage that, we have to play better. Right now, we’re in a little bit of a funk and we’ve got to work our way out of it.”
Thank you, Detroit. The Knicks completed their season sweep of the Eastern Conference bottom dwellers. But the schedule gets tougher with three games upcoming against the Nets, Celtics and Grizzlies.
A little over two-thirds through the season, the Knicks are now in sole possession of seventh in the Eastern Conference but just ½ game ahead of the Celtics. They have to finish sixth to avoid a play-in tournament, and would have to win two play-in games if they slip to ninth. Before Saturday’s rout, Thibodeau’s believed the team’s issues were fixable and not indicative of slamming against the proverbial wall.
“We still have to get it done and I believe this team will,” the coach said. “We have to do better and we will.”
They certainly did in Detroit.