Knicks 128, Pelicans 106: Luxurious
Five wins in a row, four straight at home, seven of eight overall. A guy could get used to this.
“Something fascinating about sentences,” Jane Alison wrote, “is that when I’m in the thrall of one, I’m held in its temporal and spatial orbit . . . holding and directing me until ready to let go. . . luxurious language makes me linger.” A basketball season is a temporal and spatial orbit; it has seasons and rotates on its own axis every day while every year rotating around a round raison d'être, whether the sun or the Larry O’Brien trophy. The New York Knicks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 128-106 last night, a luxurious win that lends itself to linger, lovingly.
The Knicks led wire-to-wire and pretty much by double-digits throughout. Julius Randle was still off-gassing whatever god particles he’d been on in Washington the night before, piling up points. RJ Barrett bounced back from a tough shooting night in D.C. Unlike Friday night’s game, when the Knicks fell behind by 19 in the first half and had to fight their way back, this time they were the frontrunners and they never let up, up 16 after one quarter and 21 at the half.
It is possible to write a paragraph about the Knicks as they have played for most of this century. That paragraph would have to be written in such a way to disappoint the reader. The paragraph would also be repetitive. That’s what’s been so difficult about so many, many Knick seasons. They start the same, i.e. low expectations. They go the same, i.e. poorly. They end the same, i.e. a draft pick that’s never high enough, the messianic star-in-waiting always beyond their reach. This paragraph is repetitive. The first sentence in it began with a subject/verb coupling : “it is.” The second did, too. The third did too. They all repeat, ad nauseam, as the years have.
And yet to write about the Knicks as they stand, here and now, would require a radically different structure. For how could one settle for the simplicity of repetition with such a rich efflorescence of talented leading this Broadway revival? The last time the Knicks made the playoffs Mitchell Robinson was out injured and Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson were nice guys in over their head. Now Mitch and Isaiah Haretenstein have combined for 10+ points and 20+ rebounds in the two games after the All-Star break. Even against a team with the Lithuanian leviathan, Jonas Valančiūnas, it was New York’s giants who ran the show down low.
And what of Randle? And Jalen Brunson, the modern marvel of a Manhattan point guard who even on an off-night puts up double-doubles or 20 points? It may be a mite too early to make Josh Hart/Dave DeBusschere comparisons, but the Knicks are undefeated since acquiring a player genetically designed to be loved by Madison Square Garden. All that quality AND the continued warmth and light that Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin provide? Last night was more than a win. It was a sea change, one that started the night before.
At no point in the Washington game was I ever worried the Knicks would lose. That vibe is not standard issue for a team down 19 in the first half. At no point in the New Orleans game was I worried the Knicks would let the Pelicans back into it. That vibe is not standard issue for any Knick team for a long time. Those are luxurious feels. The Knicks are spinning a story this season that has fans floating in space, holding us as they direct themselves and their fans on a ride . . . where? Where will it end? It’s getting harder to settle on a ceiling, which means it’s getting easier to stay enthralled.
