The New York Knicks shocked us all with a blowout win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Sometimes basketball happens. Playing in the second game of a back-to-back against the mighty Milwaukee Bucks, nobody expected the New York Knicks to find a way to win their first game under head coach Tom Thibodeau.
Nobody thought Elfrid Payton, who one night earlier Knicks fans would have taken out a second mortgage to pay their favorite team to staple to the bench, would turn into Allan Houston with a sweet stroke that couldn’t miss.
While we were all making jokes on Twitter, @elfrid was getting ready to prove us all wrong tonight pic.twitter.com/qJy8v6dJvg
— JB (@JeffreyBellone) December 28, 2020
Nobody saw Frank Ntilikina coming off the bench to garner Mike Breen’s patented Bang(!) play-call after hitting his fourth consecutive three-pointer.
Nobody believed Julius Randle could continue to put up impressive stats that aren’t just box score filler for a bad team.
And yet here we are. Basketball happened. The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks in a laugher, 130-110, on Sunday night. What a difference a year makes.
It took us until December 27, but 2020 is finally better than 2019 at something pic.twitter.com/LcIt7yxRPC
— JB (@JeffreyBellone) December 28, 2020
New York shot an amazing 59.3% from downtown in the stunning upset. After going 0-6 from the field on Saturday, Payton remained on the Garden floor to work on his shot late into the night, and something clearly clicked, as he made 12 of his 16 shots on Sunday, including all three of his 3-point attempts.
Meanwhile, after playing only 7 minutes over the first two games, Ntilikina found playing time due to injuries in the lineup and shot 4-6, with all of his makes from beyond the arc.
Perhaps most impressive was Julius Randle. The often criticized Knick scored 29 points on 8-17 shooting (3-5 from downtown), while adding 14 rebounds and wait for it… 7 assists. The expensive forward has never averaged more than 3.6 assists per game in his career. Over the first three games this season, he is averaging 6.3 helpers.
The same problems the Knicks had to start the day yesterday, they still have today. They will probably finish with one of the worst records in the league. But for one night, Knicks fans could feel good about themselves and celebrate (albeit remotely) their new coach’s first win, which hopefully represents the first of many to come over a long-tenured career in New York.