NY Knicks: Best Wins and Worst Losses of the Regular Season

NY Knicks: The three best wins

Enough of all this grimness. (That’s a Norm Macdonald reference for about eight people.)

The Knicks won 41 games in the regular season, and here were the best three.

3. January 6th vs Utah Jazz 112-100

How long ago does January 6th feel like?

Looking through the box score from game 8 doesn’t even feel like the same team that will suit up against the Hawks in game one of the first round.

Austin Rivers scored 23 points in 32 minutes of action. 

Payton played 42 minutes and had 22 points to go with 8 assists.

Kevin Knox played 15 minutes while Quickley only played 5.

Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson weren’t even on the roster.

So why is this one of the three best wins of the season? For starters, it’s a win over the team with the best record in the NBA.

But this game really made this for one reason: Julius Randle.

This game was an early glimpse of things to come for him. Randle finished with 30 points, 16 rebounds, and 7 assists.

It was only game 8, but he was already changing the minds and hearts of Knicks fans.

2. May 9th @ Los Angeles Clippers 106-100

Think back to the loss against the Nets from the last slide. This felt like the opposite of that.

The Knicks were missing Quickley and Mitchell Robinson. The Clippers had basically everybody.

The Knicks were coming off of two blowout losses, and confidence was not high going into a matchup against Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Randle and Barrett combined for only 32 points.

All signs point to a Knicks loss, right?

And yet…

The Knicks defense made plays when it mattered, and Randle found other ways to impact the game despite only scoring 14 points. With Rose scoring 25 off the bench, this one felt like a total team effort and came at what was beginning to feel like desperate times.

1. April 18th vs New Orleans Pelicans 122-112 OT

I understand this one will be a controversial choice, but I cannot remember getting as much joy from the team as I did during this game.

This one was over. Done with. Chalk it up as a loss. All those good vibes after beating the Mavs in those terrible jerseys? Gone at the hands of Zion Williamson. The one who got away.

But the NY Knicks pulled it off.

Derrick Rose and Reggie Bullock made a huge play to cap off the comeback and force overtime. (Lonzo Ball, not so much.)

The Knicks dominated overtime and won their sixth straight game.

This one is number one for me because it was the first time where the win streak really hit me. The Knicks went from being, in my mind, “a team on a nice run” to “oh, wow, no, we might actually have something here” after this game.

I also fully believe the good vibes from this game carried them through to wins in the next three. I truly believe that, and for that reason, it’s my top win of the season.