Knicks 131, Kings 115: Light
The Knicks found themselves in a familiar situation against the Kings: on the road, down big, in the midst of another nightmare. But a second-half explosion propelled them into a comeback win.
I have a recurring dream. I’m back in my hometown, walking the street I grew up on, heading home. It’s nighttime. Everything I thought familiar takes on a menacing tone. Before I can reach my house, it becomes clear to me that everyone walking about is a vampire. The moment I realize this, they come at me from the street, the sidewalks, they come flying out of houses.
In real life, I struggle with C-PTSD. Most of my nightmares are some variance on this theme: of a seemingly normal situation quickly revealing itself as out of my control and violent. I have recurring nightmares that freeze me in place just thinking about them, even in the light of day. But you’ll note I didn’t call this particular recurrence a nightmare. It is a dream. It is my favorite dream.
Because once the vampires attack, I suddenly remember I can fly. There’s no flapping of arms or crouching and leaping into it like Superman. A lightness of being lifts me up to the sky. Effortlessly I spend the rest of the dream flying over the vampires, over the town, over all the ugliness down below. It’s glorious. I never land. I fly till I wake.
Entering the second half of last night’s game in Sacramento, the New York Knicks may have felt they were headed into a recurring nightmare. They trailed the Kings 63-48 and were shorthanded in the middle: with Nerlens Noel already out, Mitchell Robinson had to leave the game two minutes in with an illness and didn’t return. They’d lost 17 of 21 and were playing the back leg of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights. Their neck was bared. The teeth were near. Then, a hint of light.
Julius Randle got a screen from Taj Gibson, Alec Burks found him at the top of the arc and Randle drained an open, easy 3-pointer. Evan Fournier went right at De’Aaron Fox and laid it in off-glass. Kings coach Alvin Gentry called time 53 seconds into the quarter. Predators’ senses can taste when the wind changes direction. The hunted had become the hunter, with Randle the tip of the spear.
Randle scored 17 in the third en route to a career-high 46 and personal best eight 3-pointers (when was the last season two different Knicks scored 45-plus in a game?). It was vintage Randle: the long game was there; he was driving past and through bigs to finish; and he looked for his teammates, too.
Immanuel Quickley has looked lighter of late. He’s shown growth this season despite struggling with his shot, but the shot has come around, and with it, his impact is so much greater. After last night’s season-high 27, IQ for the first time all season has scored double-figures five games straight; for the first time in his career he’s hit 50% or more of his shots four games in a row. His shot selection has been better, too. He’s not just making more ‘cuz he’s taking more. There is evident wisdom in when he should pull the trigger and when he can hold and wait to find himself or someone else a better look.
Tim Thibodeau carries himself like a man for whom any lightness of being may as well be surrendering an uncontested lay-up. But while we don’t all get a Jacob Marley in our lives to warn us of the chains we forge and carry around with us, the universe unfolds continually in ways that can teach us if we’re open to it. In addition to Noel and Mitch’s unavailability, Obi Toppin missed the game with a strained right calf and Cam Reddish had to head to the locker room in the second half after a scary fall ended in him landing hard on his shoulder. Thibs was going to have to change things up.
So Miles McBride played 20 effective minutes, reminding us there are players you can fall in love with watching them without the ball. Jericho Sims played double-figure minutes for the sixth straight game after doing so only twice in the first 59. In the fourth, Thibs played a lineup featuring Randle at the 5 and RJ Barrett at the 4; RJ and McBride hooked up for a highlight.
A good dream doesn’t erase years of triggered trauma. A good half doesn’t erase the hurts and letdowns of an entire season. Still, for the Knicks and their fans, their 131-115 win last night was a reminder of what feeling good feels like. However much we wish last year had staying power, you can’t go home again, and if you do, you’ll find it changed. The best anyone can do is own where you are and to not lose sight of this truth: no matter how familiar the dark feels, we are creatures of light and lightness. We’re meant to fly.
