Stefan Bondy: Winning and joy have gone hand-in-hand with the Knicks
MIAMI— Good vibes are like chemistry on the court. After Friday night’ s thrilling win over Heat, the smiles were wide, the jokes flowing about coach Tom Thibodeau accidentally getting run over during the sideline celebration. Perhaps the mood also had something to do with the extra day in Miami before Sunday’ s game in Boston.
MIAMI — Good vibes are like chemistry on the court. You know it when you see it.
The Knicks are bursting with both right now, the evidence obvious in an eight-game winning streak and the loosest locker we’ve witnessed in years (keep in mind, reporters weren’t allowed in locker rooms the last two seasons because of our potential COVID-19 germs).
After Friday night’s thrilling win over Heat, the smiles were wide, the jokes flowing about coach Tom Thibodeau accidentally getting run over during the sideline celebration.
“That’s going to hurt in the morning,” Mitchell Robinson cracked.
Julius Randle was the culprit. He just nailed the biggest shot of his Knicks career and barreled into an unsuspecting Thibodeau a little too hard.
“He’s a little mad at me right now,” said Randle, who finished with 43 points. “I need to talk to him. But hopefully he has a good night.”
Perhaps the mood also had something to do with the extra day in Miami before Sunday’s game in Boston. It’s a long season and most nights after road games are spent on a plane toward another cold destination.
But this was also a huge win against the Heat, the kind of nail-biting fortuitous victory that only seems to find the good teams.
And make no mistake: the Knicks are good. It’s OK to start dipping your toe into the possibility of a playoff series victory (just don’t jump in yet). Their eight-game winning streak, defined by an outrageously efficient offense and star performances from Randle and Jalen Brunson, was all against opponents either currently in the playoffs or the play-in. No tankers. They’ve beaten every team in the East except the Bucks. They rank seventh in net rating and own the NBA’s fourth-best record since New Year’s Eve at 20-9.
These aren’t the numbers of a fraud. It’s reached the point of Thibodeau complaining that a victory in Miami — a place the Knicks were 1-6 over their previous four seasons — wasn’t crisp enough because of defensive lapses.
“We go to Boston,” Thibodeau said, “we’re going to have to play a lot better than we played [in Miami].”
Once embroiled in rumors about a coaching change, the Knicks entered Saturday just one game behind the Cavs for fourth.
“Fate,” Randle called his off-balance game-winning 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining against the Heat. “We’ve been playing well. We’ve had to win many different ways this season.”
Fate diminishes what Randle did in Miami on Friday night, and what he’s accomplished all season while averaging 25.3 points with 10.3 rebounds. He’s pulling off one of the great comebacks after last season’s emotional and physical deterioration. His wars with fans just a year ago left the impression that the Knicks and Randle were better off divorced.
Now he’s getting another crack at owning New York City, this time with a point guard, Brunson, to shoulder the leadership burden.
Jimmy Butler sees it.
“[Randle’s] scoring at an incredible rate this year. He continued that [Friday night],” the Heat star said. “When he sees his first couple go in, he gains confidence. Like anybody else, like all great scorers who have ever played in this league. He kept it going. He hit big shot after big shot. That’s what All-Stars do.”
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