kemba walker

Bing Bong! Inside the culture behind Knicks’ early success

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The New York Knicks are on top of the Eastern Conference.

It is expected to remain that way after Saturday’s night road game in Big Easy with no Zion Williamson as a roadblock.

“Whenever [Zion] is on the court, it makes it a lot tougher, for sure,” RJ Barrett, the hero in the Knicks’ road win in Chicago, said. “Nonetheless, they’re still a good team. They have a lot of weapons. We can’t overlook anybody.”

The Knicks have made that mistake against the Orlando Magic, and they paid dearly for it — the only blemish so far in an otherwise perfect record dating back to the preseason.

They have won in a myriad of ways and best quality teams. They have also lost to a bad team. But this team is built for overcoming adversities.

“It’s hard to win in this league,” Kemba Walker said following their tough win in Chicago where the Knicks almost blew a 13-point lead inside the final three minutes.

They have found ways to win even when their odds are stacked against them. They have risen above adversities early in the season because, as Tom Thibodeau would always say, “don’t fight pressure with pressure.”

Past Knicks teams would have folded up easily to pressure. But not this new, rejuvenated Knicks team of misfits and outcasts tied together in a string by a journeyman coach who’s been kicked out twice but found a way to get up and reinvent himself.

They all found a home in New York.

They have been winning on the court and stealing the hearts of fans in a demanding city that requires toughness and recognizes real hard work.

“I think the way we play together, you know our connection, our togetherness, it’s unreal,” said Walker who has never felt great and looked healthier than this in the last two seasons.

That cohesiveness made them survive against Boston and Chicago and made them reign over Orlando and Philadelphia.

Walker is starting to find his groove and spot in the team after early struggles to start the season. The Bronx native has racked up back-to-back 20-point games, and his backcourt partnership with Evan Fournier has juiced up the Knicks offense.

Walker and Fournier have combined for 36 three-pointers through the first five games. The Knicks are winning even when the teams are loading up on their All-Star leader Julius Randle.

“I love the way every game they get better and better. So, they’re building chemistry,” Thibodeau said of his reloaded starting unit.

“We’re gelling so well. We care for each other,” Walker added. “Nobody cares who scores the basketball or who makes the play. We just want to win. That’s what this game is about, man. It’s all about guys playing to win. And that’s going to make us special. That’s going to take us a long way.”

The selflessness had been infectious.

Derrick Rose quickly put to bed any issue between them and Walker right on the first day of training camp. The former MVP has ceded the starting role to Walker. When Rose closed out the first three games, Walker didn’t have qualms about it. Eventually, Walker’s rising play earned him minutes to close out the last two wins.

Their mutual admiration and respect have made them seamlessly fit in Thibodeau’s egalitarian system.

The Knicks have carefully constructed a balanced roster that is two-deep in each position. That keeps players on edge and makes each scrimmage competitive.

Iron sharpens iron.

Not every team can boast of that.

One example is the team they have recently beaten. Ahead of the Knicks-Bulls game, Chicago coach Billy Donovan admitted that they didn’t have anyone resembling Mitchell Robinson in practice. Donovan has staggered his starters with his bench throughout the game to compensate for their lack of depth.

On the other hand, the Knicks have one of the best second units in the league. Their bench currently ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 39.2 points per game and third in plus differential with 4.6 plus/minus.

“When we sub, there’s not a drop-off. And so whoever is going good, some nights one guy will play a little more and the other guy a little less,” Thibodeau said. “But I love the fact that everyone is sacrificing for the team and putting the team first. And that’s how you win big in this league.”

Selflessness is fueling their togetherness.

Culture is a buzzword that is thrown around often these days. That word seemed to have remained foreign to the Knicks until Leon Rose shifted from representing stars in the league to accepting the challenge of cleaning the mess in New York. When Rose handpicked Thibodeau, a few eyebrows were raised. Thibodeau, critics argued, is coaching rethread, who has quickly worn out his welcomes in his past two stops.

Rose’s first offseason quietly came and went. But Thibodeau, like in Chicago and Minnesota, made some noise right away. The challenge for him is how to sustain it longer than his past two stops.

Nobody saw this New York thing coming. Nobody thought the rebuilding would be this quick. From ping pong (balls) to bing bong, the Knicks are making the headlines now for all the right reasons.

For Thibodeau, culture isn’t just about the Knicks’ defense or how they are blitzing a pick and roll.

“Culture is what you do every day. It’s not one particular thing. It’s how you approach everything from draft, free agency, trades, player development, practice, travel, summer program,” Thibodeau explained during the training camp.

That starts by showing up in the training camp in good shape. In a nutshell, that is Thibodeau’s way or highway. The Knicks treated preseason like regular-season games. They went 4-0 with the starters playing deep in the fourth quarter.

Thibodeau defended that as his way of setting the tone for the season and keeping his players extra sharp ahead of the league.

“You have to be in shape to play for Thibs. It’s non-negotiable,” said Barrett, who dropped a season-high 20 points in Chicago on an array of drives and transition points. “That’s what we do. That’s what we practice.”

What happens when you’re not in top shape?

“You’re not going to play,” Randle said. “It’s the standard. We have a standard and a culture. That’s a part of it. It’s not just Thibs standard. It’s our standard that marks us as a team. We hold each other accountable. Everybody comes in the right shape. That’s the first thing.”

Randle earned Thibodeau’s respect when he showed up in great shape ahead of last year’s training camp. It set the tone for his breakthrough season that carried the Knicks to a surprising playoff run. That golden standard is what is driving them again to early success this season.

“How are you going to win games if you’re not in shape?,” Randle asked.

The minutes’ police keenly monitored Thibodeau’s first season with the Knicks. But Randle, who led the league in minutes, proved to be durable. He played all but one of the 72 regular-season games.

Even Walker, who did not play back-to-back games last season, has only missed one so far in a nine-game stretch dating back to the preseason. Walker revealed after the Knicks win in Chicago that taking care of his balky knees is a whole day routine, not just when he’s in the practice facility.

“I think guys know when they’re coming here to the Knicks, they’re coming here to play for Thibs. That’s what it is,” Randle said. “When you sign up to play here, you expect that of yourself. You expect that other guys to come in [with the same mindset].”

Thibodeau loves being around this team because they have embraced the culture of hard work, accountability, and togetherness.

It’s becoming a norm to see Knicks players working on their game outside their schedule in their practice facility. Randle’s road game routine of having extra work in the gym rather than checking out bars — something that he’s learned from the late Kobe Bryant — has caught on with the whole team.

But all work and no fun is no fun at all.

Thibodeau has learned that the hard way from his previous stops. There is still his gruffness and toughness on the court. But off the court, he’s now socializing and opening himself up a little bit.

The report coming out in Chicago is another reminder of that. The Knicks reportedly have stayed the night after their grueling win. Usually, they fly out to their next destination after games. Instead, they went out for dinner as a whole team.

“I don’t think I’ve seen that all my years in the NBA,” NBA analyst Brian Scalabrine, who played for Thibodeau in Chicago and Boston, said on SiriusXM’s NBA Radio.

Thibodeau still yells and yanks his players out of the game when he sees them repeatedly committing mistakes. But you will never hear Thibodeau throwing any of his players under the bus in postgame pressers, unlike other coaches around the league.

He still runs brutal practices. But he also throws around occasional jokes and cut short scrimmages when he feels his team needs a break.

“[Culture] is how you do everything and approach each day. If you have an organization putting everything they have and teaching every day, good things come out of that,” Thibodeau said.

From top to bottom, the Knicks have a synergy never before seen in James Dolan’s era. And to Dolan’s credit, he has given everything the team asked for — from robust analytics department to installing the league’s most comprehensive Noah Basketball system at their practice facility, from keeping out of any PR mess to letting Rose and the Thibodeau run the organization and the team.

“You couldn’t ask anything more [from Dolan]. Leon (Rose), Wes (Wiliam Wesley), and Scott (Perry) have been terrific,” Thibodeau said.

“Our players have been very committed. It’s a hardworking group but we don’t have it all figured out and there’s a long way to go. And it doesn’t go away. You have to do it every day. You can’t let up. There’s no shortcut to this. So everyone has to be willing to pay that price.”

Not everyone is built to play in New York. In the same way, not everyone is fit to play for Thibodeau. You have to be mentally tough and always ready for the grind — the price of sustainable success.

The Knicks are not the same old Knicks. Even with a large salary cap space in the offseason, they did not go after the flashy names. Instead, they signed role players to team-friendly contracts. They are keen to continue developing their own young players into stars with flexibility to trade for one who fits their culture.

Even if devoid of superstars, the Knicks are winning. They are thriving because of their culture.

“It’s still early, but we just want to continue to fight for each other and play the right way,” Walker said.

The Knicks are on top. And they don’t have any plan to come down.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Julius Randle holds the key to unlocking Kemba Walker, Knicks offense

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knicks, kemba walker

With six seconds left on the shot clock and 4:41 to go in the second quarter, New York Knicks‘ All-Star forward Julius Randle posted up Philadelphia 76ers’ swingman Tobias Harris and demanded the ball. From the top of the right-wing, Evan Fournier acknowledged Randle and gave him the entry pass.

Randle faced Harris with one motion, then did the side-to-side before dribbling to his favorite spot on the floor– the right corner.

It was a classic isolation play that the Knicks heavily relied on last season.

But as the shot clock ticked away to three seconds, Seth Curry abandoned Fournier and went to help Harris. The double team blurred Randle’s vision and forced him to settle for a tough fadeaway that fell short.

The ball didn’t even graze the rim. Airball. A shot-clock violation against the Knicks.

It was Randle’s lone attempt at the basket in the second quarter. He had a rough offensive start, going 2-for-9 from the floor, but the Knicks went on to sit on a 20-point halftime cushion.

Why and how did the Knicks do it with Randle laying an egg in the second quarter?

After the Orlando Magic pulled a shocking 110-104 upset of the Knicks on Sunday night, Randle was up until the wee hours of Monday.

“I was sick, man! Like I didn’t go to sleep ‘till like 4 o’clock because I was sick, everybody else was sick that we let that slip. But you know we need those games like that. Like last year, we had a game like that earlier in the season versus Oklahoma City,” said Randle.

He referenced last January’s 101-89 loss to a young, tanking Thunder team following a three-game win streak capped by a 112-100 pummeling of the Utah Jazz two nights earlier.

He felt they let that slip away on their homecourt just like they did Sunday night against Orlando, where they lacked the energy to finish the game after racing to a 13-point lead in the first half and another nine-point lead in the second half.

“We just respond and that’s the thing about this league, thinking about the high-character teams. It’s okay to have adversity. [It’s okay] to have slip-ups. It’s about how you respond,” Randle said.

Randle responded to the challenge after bricking that shot against two Sixers defenders midway. He switched gears.

In the next play, after crossing the midcourt following a defensive rebound, Randle did something that threw off the Sixers’ defense. He passed the ball to Kemba Walker and set a screen to free his point guard from Danny Green. Walker darted to the left wing inside the arc and met Joel Embiid, who sagged down, anticipating a drive. But instead of falling to the trap, Walker went to his pet move — a 16-foot pull-up jumper. It was his first basket after missing all his three shots in the opening quarter.

Randle unlocked Walker.

Walker suddenly regained his All-Star form. He unloaded 10 straight points in a two-and-a-half-minute stretch, and the Knicks blew the game away with a commanding 17-point lead.

Walker would finish with 19 points on 15 shots, five three-pointers and five assists — all season-high. Randle assisted on Walker’s three shots and set several screens that did not reflect on the box score.

Randle would finish with seven assists, 16 points on 17 shots, and 11 rebounds.

In their heartbreaking home loss to Orlando, Randle had a monster night — 30 points and 16 rebounds. But it took him 24 shots to take there, and he had his fewest assists of the young season with only three. As a whole, the Knicks issued a season-low 20 assists.

It was not just a mere coincidence that they lost. It was the culprit. The ball stopped moving.

In the Knicks’ three wins, Randle averaged 7.7 assists, and the team shared 28.3 dimes that would have tied the unbeaten Golden State Warriors for the second-best mark in the league.

Despite the Knicks’ 2-1 start, Walker looked lost on offense, averaging just 10.3 points across 25.7 minutes, with a team-worst -17 plus-minus rating. During that span, Walker’s usage rate had not reached past 19 percent. That changed dramatically against the Sixers. Walker ended up with a team-high 27.1 percent usage rate. In contrast, Randle posted his lowest usage rate of the season at 23.8 percent. In the Knicks’ first three games, Randle’s usage rate did not go lower than 30 percent.

Randle flipped the script and went out of his way to involve Walker more on offense.

Randle made a total of 25 passes to Walker that resulted in three assists. In the previous three games, Randle only had one assist to Walker out of 54 passes.

“I thought the way Kemba played helped set the tone. Julius was unbelievable in terms of making plays early. That made us unselfish and we all got into a rhythm and we played hard,” Thibodeau praised.

Walker came home to New York with the intention to blend in and play off Randle’s game the same way he did in Boston, acknowledging that it’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s team.

In his first signature game in Knicks uniform, Walker carried the Knicks’ offense as much as his teammates carried him.

“I was just trying to take whatever the [Sixers] defense kind of gave me. My teammates did an unbelievable job — just setting screens for me, you know, Taj and Mitch even Julius. They always had some great screens for me, I was able to get to my pull-ups and they were just dropping,” Walker said.

Randle remains the hub of the Knicks’ offense. Walker and Fournier were brought in to ease his burden and avoid the pitfalls of their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks that came back to haunt him and the Knicks in their first loss of the season at the hands of the Magic.

Once he realized that, everything clicked for the Knicks and his brand new point guard.

“We’re a team, man,” Randle said after the emphatic win over the Sixers. “Like any night, anybody can get hot. Everybody can score and make plays. That’s what this team was built to do. It’s great, man! I don’t have to go and get 30 to feel like we got a chance to win. As long as we defend, we have a shot to win every game.”

It finally dawned on him. He holds the key to unlocking the real potential of this new-look Knicks team. It was always in his pocket.

When Randle rammed into the Sixers’ defensive wall, he finally reached down his pocket.

Walker and the Knicks’ offense got unlocked. It was a beautiful sight to see. The ball movement led to easy baskets. And they feed off that energy playing for each other like a puppet on strings, moving in one direction. The puppet master, Thibodeau, pumped his fist in the air as the Knicks act had the Garden rocking.

“It’s just a great weapon. When we’re sharing the ball like that, it makes it hard for anybody to defend us. It just makes the game a lot easier. It just takes a lot of pressure off the guys especially guys like Julius who kind of has to do a lot sometimes,” Walker said. “That’s what we’re here for. We want to take the pressure off him. Get him some easy opportunities and then play off him as well.”

After that airball in the second quarter and letting Walker do his thing, Randle would knock down five of his next nine shots, and the Knicks cruised to an easy win against a team picked to go deep in the playoffs.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Kemba Walker silences doubters as Knicks end 15-game skid vs 76ers

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knicks, kemba walker

Kemba Walker’s return to New York to play for his hometown Knicks was initially met with mixed reactions.

On the one hand, there was a palpable excitement that the Knicks’ biggest hole would finally be filled by one of the finest New York-bred point guards. But on the other hand, there was also cynical skepticism owing to the past injuries that are fast catching up with him.

Walker’s underwhelming first three games as a Knick only reinforced those doubts. But in an early matchup against one of the Eastern Conference heavyweights, Walker erased them with an All-Star caliber play.

After averaging only 10.3 points in the Knicks’ 2-1 start, the 31-year old Walker, a four-time NBA All-Star, scored a season-high 19 points on five three-pointers and five assists to power the Knicks to cruise to a 112-99 win over the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks improved to 3-1 and snapped a 15-game losing spell to the Sixers since Carmelo Anthony’s final game with the franchise in 2017.

After missing his first three shots, Walker caught fire, leading the Knicks’ huge second-quarter surge. In a two-and-a-half-minute stretch, Walker’s 10 straight points blew up the Knicks’ lead to 20 at halftime after trailing by three at the end of the first stanza.

New York outscored Philadelphia, 39-16, in that pivotal quarter.

Walker picked up from where he left off, adding nine points after the first half. The Knicks enjoyed their largest lead, 83-56, on Walker’s back-to-back three-pointer that rocked the Garden.

“I was waiting for that moment,’’ said Walker of his breakthrough game in front of his family, friends, some college and high school teammates, and coaches. “I was waiting for that moment. It was the kind of moment I dreamed of when I was a young kid wanting to be in the NBA, watching the Knicks play, coming to a Knicks game, and seeing how the crowd goes crazy. That was a great moment for me.’’

After watching Derrick Rose closed out the Knicks’ first three games, Walker finally earned the minutes down the stretch and made sure there was no Sixers comeback, unlike their shocking loss to a young Orlando Magic two nights earlier.

“I wouldn’t say it was a relief but it definitely felt good. It was fun. Hopefully, we can have more moments like that,” said Walker who reiterated he had no qualms sitting on the bench down the stretch.

The Knicks returned to playing fun basketball with crisp ball movement that froze the 76ers’ defense.

Their 24 assists on 41 field goals, including 16 of 37 three-point attempts, were a testament to their unselfish play. They had a sizzling start, sinking 15 of their first 23 attempts from downtown.

Their 70 three-pointers made during their 3-1 start tied the 2020-21 Bucks’ record for most makes through the first 4 games of a season in NBA history, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Julius Randle did not have to do the heavy lifting as Walker led five Knicks players in double figures. All 10 players Tom Thibodeau used in the game scored at least four points.

Randle flirted with a triple-double (16 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists), while Evan Fournier came through with 18 points, four threes, and four assists. Derrick Rose again led the Knicks’ bench with 13 points.

“That’s what I love about our team. We have great depth,” Thibodeau said. “Tonight I thought the way Kemba played helped set the tone. Julius was unbelievable in terms of making plays early. That made us unselfish and we all got into a rhythm and we played hard.”

Even Sixers coach Doc Rivers was in awe of the Knicks’ much-improved offense.

“Clearly they’re a better offensive team because they have more shot makers. They have more playmakers,” Rivers said. “That’s one thing about Kemba and Fournier. They’re not just scorers. They’re playmakers and the more playmakers you can add to a team, the better. We didn’t have any playmakers tonight.”

The Sixers could have used one more playmaker and a defensive stopper in Ben Simmons. But the versatile All-Star is out indefinitely as he claims he is still not mentally ready yet to rejoin the team after an ugly fallout last summer.

‘Where is Ben Simmons?’ chants from a good Tuesday night Garden crowd added salt to the Sixers’ injury.

With one less headache, the Knicks’ defense focused on Sixers’ All-Star center Joel Embiid, who was questionable to play before the game due to knee soreness. A bulkier and much stronger Mitchell Robinson played solid one-on-one defense against Embiid. A perfectly timed occasional help defense from the weak side cut off Embiid’s passing lanes, forcing him to commit five turnovers. Embiid struggled with 14 points on 2-of-7 shooting and six rebounds in 31 minutes.

The Knicks also put the clamps on Seth Curry, who ended up with just four points on 2-of-6 shooting after exploding for 28 two nights ago in Oklahoma City. Tobias Harris led Philadelphia with 23 points.

It was the type of response Thibodeau was expecting from his team following their slip-up against the Magic.

“Long before the ball went up tonight, immediately after the [loss to Orlando], I could tell [we’d have a good game],’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We knew we didn’t play well. We got a real group of serious-minded guys. I could tell that night, the next day and last night, the gym was packed with people working. I knew this would be a good test for us.’’

Indeed.

But the tests keep on coming. On Thursday, they will face Thibodeau’s old team, Chicago Bulls, who are off to their best start since 1996.

Both the Knicks and Bulls’ hot starts have pushed the league to add their early showdown for the Eastern Conference’s top spot to NBA TV’s schedule. It could rekindle their rivalry in the 90s when Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Patrick Ewing’s Knicks were the fiercest playoff rivals in the Eastern Conference.

But following a feel-good win like this, Thibodeau warned his team about slacking off like how they played against the Magic in New York after crushing them in Orlando.

“It doesn’t stop,’’ Thibodeau said. “We can’t feel good about tonight. We go to Chicago to play an undefeated team that’s loaded and playing really well. We’ll have to play our best.’’

On the heels of Walker’s breakthrough game for the Knicks, his matchup against Lonzo Ball will also come with intrigue. Ball was on the Knicks’ radar for their starting point guard role as far as the February trade deadline last season.

Then the Bulls snatched Ball with a fat $85-million, four-year contract in a sign-and-trade with the New Orleans Pelicans last summer. On the other hand, Walker fell on the Knicks’ lap on a much cheaper $18-million, two-year deal after his contract buyout with Oklahoma City Thunder.

It will be another opportunity for Walker and the Knicks to shut down the outside noise.

“Those guys are playing really, really well. It’s gonna be a dogfight,” Walker said.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Knicks cast 3-point spell on Magic on historic night

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knicks

After teasing a new-look offense tailored to the pace and space era in the preseason, it only took two games into the new season before the New York Knicks shattered their three-point record.

The Knicks hit a franchise-record 24 three-pointers en route to a 121-96 rout of a young Orlando Magic team Friday night at the Amway Center.

Eight different players made at least one three-pointer as the Knicks are off to a 2-0 start for the first time in nine years. The Knicks’ first five field goals came from downtown, setting the tone for the record-breaking night.

The 24 three-point shots made broke their previous record of 20, which they did thrice (2011, 2013, and 2018), while the 54 attempts also eclipsed the 51 they threw up in a quadruple overtime loss to Atlanta Hawks on January 29, 2017.

They also made 24 3s in a preseason win against the Washington Wizards two weeks ago. This time, the Knicks made it official.

“I think it’s a reflection of the team playing for each other and just making the right play,” Thibodeau said. “We talked about it a lot of wanting to shoot more 3s, but we want them to be the right 3s. When the second defender comes, guys are making the right read.”

The Magic had no answer to the Knicks’ vaunted offense, which kept on poking holes in their porous defense.

The Knicks had a smooth sailing save for a Mitchell Robinson injury scare and a Julius Randle technical foul.

Robinson clutched his hamstring before Kemba Walker replaced him with 4:19 to go in the third quarter. But the 23-year old Knicks center, who was playing in his third game back from a fractured foot injury, returned to play five more minutes in the fourth quarter.

“It should be fine,” Thibodeau’s curt reply when asked about Robinson’s hamstring.

Randle flirted with a triple-double (21 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals) before a technical foul forced Thibodeau to take him out with 4:28 left and the Knicks leading by 32.

Randle shoved Orlando’s Wendell Carter, Jr. after the Magic forward knocked him down in a fastbreak play.

“The one thing that I could assure you is that if I play [Randle] too much, you’ll gonna let me know. If I don’t play him enough, you’ll gonna let me know. And the one thing I know for certain it’s never the right amount,” said a smiling Thibodeau eliciting laughter from the reporters.

Walker went 3-for-3 from downtown in the first stanza, where the Knicks seized a 20-point lead that swelled to as large as 34 in the second half. He wound up with 11 points while his fellow newcomer and former Magic Evan Fournier continued his red-hot shooting with four three-pointers and 18 points.

Obi Toppin picked up from where he left off. The sophomore forward scored 13 points — from fastbreak slams to corner three-pointers — in 24 minutes that electrified the large Knicks crowd who showed up in Orlando.

Veteran guards Derrick Rose and Alec Burks also came off the bench and kept the ball moving. They produced identical numbers — 12 points and seven assists off the bench. The Knicks recorded 34 assists on a staggering 50 percent (44-of-88) shooting from the field.

They will aim to keep their perfect start when the Magic visit them at the Garden on Sunday for a rematch at 7 p.m.

After a quiet season opener, Immanuel Quickley came off the bench and joined the three-point party. Quickley finished with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, including 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.

“Everybody loves playing for each other,” Quickley said. “Everybody can make plays. We can all shoot, dribble, pass and we play for each other. That’s the Knicks culture. — play for each other, play hard every night and that’s gonna get the job done.”

So far, job well done.

Welcome to the new era of Knicks basketball.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Broadway Thriller: Knicks survive Celtics in double OT season opener

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evan fournier, knicks

When reporters asked Julius Randle what to expect in the New York Knicks season opener, there was something compellingly prescient about his answer.

“Chaos,” Randle said. “We’re expecting chaos.”

A chaotic final sequence in the regulation nearly cost them the game, but the Knicks regrouped and leaned on their preseason experience to pull off a 138-134 double-overtime win over old rival Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.

It was the first season opener with multiple overtimes since the Knicks’ 118-117 triple-overtime win over the Grizzlies on Nov. 1, 2006.

“Every time before we go out [of the locker room], coach [Tom Thibodeau] always puts on the board, ‘find a way to win.’ They talk about us taking preseason seriously, but this is why we take it seriously so we can win games like this,” Randle said.

Their undefeated run in the preseason kept them sharp and mentally ready for a brutal opening game that needed 58 minutes of basketball to decide the winner.

Randle started the season proving that his All-NBA season was not a fluke. In a battle of All-Star forwards, Randle answered Jaylen Brown’s 46-point performance with a near triple-double (35 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, three blocks in 46 minutes) and clutch free throws in the second overtime. Randle became the first player in Knicks’ history to log in at least 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists in multiple season openers, per ESPN Stats and Info.

Newcomer Evan Fournier validated the hefty contract he signed last summer. The Frenchman gunner scored a career-high 32 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 56 seconds remaining.

Derrick Rose showed that he can still close games more than a decade removed from his MVP season. He kept fighting through his shooting woes to hit the dagger — a floating banked shot off Dennis Schroder with 22.2 seconds left for the final tally. He wound up with nine points on 3-of-11 shooting and five assists.

It was a massive win against a conference rival that is projected to finish ahead of them in the standings.

But the Knicks had to earn it the hard way after blowing an 11-point lead late in the fourth quarter. They failed to protect a three-point cushion with 4.8 seconds left in the regulation when they seemingly forgot to foul.

“There was a slip but we did want to foul,” Thibodeau later said. “We got to work on it. We’ll learn from it.”

A Jayson Tatum slip caused a chain of reactions, leading to a wide-open Marcus Smart three-pointer that beat the buzzer to force the first overtime. Fournier went to double team Tatum that left Schroder open for the pass. Schroder found Smart as Kemba Walker, who had two costly turnovers inside the final 30 seconds, scrambled for defense.

Fournier atoned for his blunder with four triples in the two extra periods. After an underwhelming preseason, Fournier found his rhythm in his official Knicks debut. He shot 13-of-25 overall and accounted for six of the team’s 17 three-pointers.

The Knicks attempted 45 three-pointers, 34 in the regulation.

“I’ve never worried about him making shots,” Thibodeau said referring to Fournier. “To me, he’s proven throughout his career that’s who he is. It’s nice to see him and Julius build some chemistry together.”

The same cannot be said of Walker, who has yet to make his signature Knicks moment through four games dating back to the preseason. In this game billed as his official homecoming debut, Walker hardly had an impact with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting in 36 minutes. He had more turnovers (4) than assists (3) and watched on the bench in the second overtime.

“I think [with] Kemba, the more he plays with that group the more he gets into a rhythm,” Thibodeau said. “He’s got great instincts in the pick and roll. And I think we can take advantage of that even more than what we’re doing right now. So, we’ll continue to work on that.”

“Kemba and Evan are two terrific players. We’re excited about the possibilities.”

However, their performance in the first 28 minutes did not elicit excitement. The Knicks trailed by as many as 12 points. After a roaring 8-0 start buoyed by a couple of Randle’s three-pointers, New York fell into Boston’s trap.

They could not solve the Celtics’ switching defense that held them to only eight assists in the first half and forced them to rely on isolation plays. Jaylen Brown’s 25-point outburst in the first half, 20 in the opening quarter, compounded their problem.

Not until Thibodeau switched to his small-ball lineup again in the third quarter that they found an answer. Sans Nerlens Noel (sore left knee) and Taj Gibson, who just became a first-time father, Thibodeau leaned on the Toppin-Randle frontcourt to ignite their comeback.

After Toppin replaced Mitchell Robinson with 8:36 left in the third quarter, the Knicks outscored the Celtics, 28-15, to seize an 86-82 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

They pushed the pace, and the space they created gave Barrett enough room to operate. After a scoreless first half, Barrett uncorked 14 of his 19 points during that big run.

“It got us going. It got us into the open floor which was good. That group really played well together,” Thibodeau said.

Toppin then teamed up with Robinson at the start of the fourth quarter. Their back-to-back dunks opened up an eight-point lead for the Knicks, 90-82. Toppin and Robinson combined for 11 of the Knicks’ first 14 points in the fourth quarter.

A Schroder three-pointer cut Celtics’ deficit down to six. But Toppin’s alley-oop dunk over Payton Pritchard restored an eight-point Knicks’ lead, 100-92, with 8:58 left in the regulation.

The second-year pro looked every inch the lottery pick that he was hyped to be as he finally spread his wings. Toppin finished with a career-high 14 points in 28 minutes, the most he’s played since he entered the NBA. He added five rebounds and one block.

His breakthrough performance was a testament to Thibodeau’s player development acumen and his body of work with his trainer David Zenon in the summer.

Robinson delivered a monster double-double in just his second game back from a foot injury. The 23-year old center collected 11 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks against only two fouls in 35 minutes.

“I think we’re seeing just the tip of the iceberg with Mitch. I think Mitch is gonna be really, really good for us,” Thibodeau said. “RJ, in the second half, he was a monster. The thing that I liked was he kept his composure. He wasn’t rattled and just kept playing. He kept working in the game and then the game got going his way. So, it was really good to see.”

More than his offensive contribution, Barrett held his end of the bargain on the defensive end. He played a major role in slowing down Tatum, who bled for 20 points on 7-of-30 shooting, including 2 for 15 from downtown.

After a chaotic first half, the Knicks’ offense flowed like the Hudson river in the last two quarters and two overtimes with 19 assists.

Amid the chaos that reigned in the Garden in their season opener, the Knicks found harmony in their continuity, stability, and flexibility.

It’s going to be a long season. But the Knicks are equipped to battle chaos.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

New-look Knicks offense will be tested against Celtics’ switching defense

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kemba walker, knicks

All eyes will be on Kemba Walker on Wednesday night as he makes his official New York Knicks debut against his old team Boston Celtics at 7:30 pm.

An expected raucous, sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd will be on hand to witness the opening of one of the most anticipated seasons in Knicks history coming off a playoff run.

Walker has a chip on his shoulder after the Celtics dealt him to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a future pick in the offseason before finding his way to New York via a contract buyout.

“Does it matter [that I’ll be facing the Celtics in my Knicks debut]? Of course. It’s my old team,” Walker said after Tuesday’s practice. “But I don’t go into any game thinking I want to lose. So, I definitely want to win. Does it make it that much better than it’s my old team? Yeah, no question.”

Walker, alongside another former Celtic Evan Fournier, will add another layer to the Knicks offense, which heavily relied on Julius Randle’s shot creation and playmaking in the past.

While Walker (39.3 FG%, 29.4 3P%) and Fournier (38.5% FG, 30 3P%) groped for form as they tried to fit in, the Knicks’ new-look offense looked good in the preseason. In their undefeated preseason run heading into Wednesday’s home opener, the Knicks landed second in offensive rating (113.4) buoyed by their spiked three-point shot volume.

Derrick Rose harped that they are targeting to jump from 30 per game (27th in the league last season) to 37-40 attempts. They were above their target with 41 attempts, sixth in the league during the preseason, and hit 38.4 percent of them, which landed in the top three.

New Celtics coach Ime Udoka has taken notice of the Knicks’ new-look offense. Walker’s mastery of the pick and roll and Fournier’s off-the-bounce game have made the Knicks more unpredictable on offense despite the newcomers’ shooting struggles.

“We’re really recognizing that in the preseason, they’re playing with tremendous pace,” Udoka said after Monday’s practice. “I think that’s a league-wide thing but the Knicks are really good up and down pushing with their guards, hunting threes in transition, playing fast, and looking to shoot the three a lot.”

The Knicks, who played with the slowest pace (96.32) last season, played faster in the preseason (102.50).

Whereas the Knicks have been picking up their new-look offense a lot quicker based on their 4-0 preseason result, the Celtics are adjusting to Udoka’s coaching a little bit slower as they went 2-2 in the preseason, splitting their games against Orlando, picking up a close win against Toronto and losing in double-digits to Miami.

Udoka, who previously worked for the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, and Brooklyn Nets as defensive coordinator, is switching up everything on defense. He wants the Celtics to prevent dribble penetration and minimize help defense by keeping the ball in front of the defense. It’s a significant change from Brad Steven’s drop coverage, where the defensive bigs were responsible for containing dribble penetration off screens while teammates recover their defensive position.

The Celtics’ switching defense will be a good test to the Knicks’ new-look offense, which now enjoys multiple shot creators off the dribble with the addition of Walker and Fournier to ease the burden on Randle.

On defense, the Knicks will focus on slowing down the Celtics’ two rising stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum is back at health after a bout with COVID-19 last season. Brown will be playing his first game back from health and safety protocols after experiencing mild COVID-19 symptoms.

RJ Barrett, who is embracing the role of the Knicks’ designated wing stopper, will have his hands full against Tatum. But Thibodeau, a defensive genius, will not put the defensive pressure squarely on Barrett’s broad shoulders. His defense relies on the Knicks playing like a string.

“Defensively, they are who they are and they’re gonna play extremely aggressive and hard and deny elbow catches and be physical,” Udoka said. “So, that doesn’t change regardless of who their roster is but offensively, I noticed some different things like they’re playing with a faster pace and shooting more threes. And so we prepare for that.”

With Al Horford still out due to COVID-19, Thibodeau might give his small-ball lineup another run in select minutes to give the returning Mitchell Robinson some breather. The Randle-Obi Toppin frontcourt was a plus-14 against the Wizards that sparked their comeback. But there’s still the ever-reliable Taj Gibson who will likely be matched up against former Knick Enes Kanter in the second unit.

The Knicks bench, led by Derrick Rose, will be Thibodeau’s trump card in this match.

But when push comes to shove, a Cardiac Kemba moment in the Garden could be in the offing.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Knicks: Kemba Walker is a huge fan of Immanuel Quickley

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immanuel quickley, knicks

When Kemba Walker signed with the New York Knicks, it meant there was another former All-Star point guard who would crowd Immanuel Quickley in the backcourt.

But Quickley did not see it that way.

“We added a guy, Kemba Walker, who can do it all, somebody I can learn from, compete with to expand my game. I want to be where he is eventually one day. So no better guy than Kemba Walker to come in — just like I learned from Derrick Rose, I can learn from somebody else,” said Quickley during the NBA Summer League in August.

It turns out the admiration is mutual.

Guesting on ESPN NBA insider Zach Lowe’s podcast on Friday, Walker revealed that Quickley is one of his closest Knicks teammates.

“I’m a huge fan of Quickley. I think he can be really special,” Walker said. “I think I can help him get his game to another level.”

Through the first three preseason games, Quickley’s playing time (19.3 minutes) stayed the same as last season (19.4 minutes).

Quickley’s shooting numbers (36.4 percent from the field, 30 percent from three-point territory) are down, primarily hurt by his last game where he missed all five shots.

With Walker resting, Rose started in his place, leaving Quickley the main target of the Pistons’ second unit defense.

But there’s an encouraging sign that Quickley could be up for a bigger sophomore season. He has improved as a table-setter with an uptick in his assists numbers (4.7 from 2.0 last season) as he has been getting more run as a point guard even when he’s paired with Rose for the most part.

The Knicks have made a conscious effort to let Quickley grow as a point guard starting in the Summer League that carried over in the preseason. Aside from Rose, Quickley has been learning the ropes from Walker, a four-time All-Star and a former All-NBA point guard.

“First of all, he’s just such a great kid. He asks a lot of questions,” Walker said. “He wants to be good and I love that about him. And he’s literally always in the gym like he is such a gym rat. I just see so much of myself in him. So I think he’s one of the guys who I kind of gravitating towards.”

While the preseason games are just a small sample size, and we shouldn’t be reading much into it, it’s different with the Knicks. Coach Tom Thibodeau has been treating it like the regular season. It’s safe to say that there’s a defined role for Quickley, and with a pair of former All-Star point guards to glean from, he can only grow from here.

Quickley wasn’t the only Knicks player that caught Walker’s eye.

“Another guy is Obi (Toppin). Obi is such a great kid. Another guy who is always in the gym,” Walker said. “It’s gonna be a big year for Obi. Obi is gonna be so great for us because he’s gonna do a lot of the small things for us.”

“And his personality is second to none. He’s such a great dude. He’s always smiling, always joking. And he brings energy. He’s gotten so much better and he’s always in the gym.”

Toppin had gotten so much hype as the most ready-made rookie when he entered the NBA. But without the benefit of a Summer League and the sudden rise of Julius Randle as an All-NBA forward, Toppin got lost in the transition. But Toppin’s confidence started growing after the All-Star break and when Rose arrived.

With Rose finding Toppin more in transition, he started to get comfortable and played solid in the playoffs. That spilled over to his first Summer League and the preseason games. Toppin looked more fluid and playing with more confidence.

Last year, Toppin averaged 25.4 minutes in the preseason and produced only 7.3 points on 37.9 percent shooting and 6.0 rebounds. In his first three preseason games this year, Toppin averages 9.7 points on 46 percent shooting and 5.7 rebounds despite playing just 18.9 minutes.

“Those two guys are always in the gym. And I know from experience that when you’re always in the gym, it always pays off for sure. Those are the two guys I can highly speak of,” said Walker.

Walker knows it because it’s the same route he took to add a solid outside shot to his arsenal and grew from a 30.5 percent three-point shooter on 3.4 attempts as a rookie to last season’s 36 percent on a career-high 8.2 attempts.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

‘Most GMs never played basketball’ Kemba Walker, RJ Barrett react to NBA GM Poll’s Knicks snub

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kemba walker, knicks

Three past and present NBA general managers have already given up on Kemba Walker. But on Tuesday night, in an emotional preseason debut with his hometown team New York Knicks, Walker began a new chapter on his career and proved he still has plenty to offer.

Playing with a chip on this shoulder, Walker looked healthy and shifty. He scored 12 points on 50 percent shooting and dished out three assists in 21 minutes to help the Knicks steamroll Indiana Pacers, 125-104, in the Garden.

Walker was in no mood to spoil the sweet homecoming win when asked about his reaction to the latest Knicks snub in the annual NBA GM survey released earlier in the day.

“I could care less. Most [of these] GMs never played basketball. Let’s be real,” Walker said. “Who cares what they think? I could care less. We believe in ourselves. We’re gonna play so hard every night. And that’s gonna give us a chance to win every night.”

Despite his addition to the team, alongside Evan Fournier, the consensus among GMs around the league is that the Knicks would regress this season. Not a single GM voted for the Knicks to finish among the top four teams in the East. Their preseason victim Pacers received fourth-place votes. At the same time, Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Boston got third and fourth place votes behind the top favorites in the East, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee.

While most GMs voted for Tom Thibodeau as the head coach with the best defensive schemes in the league, the Knicks were left off in the list of their top defensive teams.

RJ Barrett was flabbergasted.

“I don’t know. I agree with you. It makes no sense,” Barrett told reporters when the topic was brought up. “First of all, a Thibs-coached team is automatically gonna be a good defensive team. You have Nerls (Nerlens Noel) and Mitch (Mitchell Robinson) on the team like we’re gonna be good defensively. I’m not worried about that.”

Even without Noel and Robinson, the Knicks stamped their signature Thibodeau defense in the preseason opener. The Pacers’ offensive futility Tuesday night was on par with the Knicks’ league-leading defensive stats last season:

  • Points Allowed: 104 (last season 104.7)
  • 3P% Allowed: 34.1% (last season 33.7%)
  • FG% Allowed: 41.3% (last season 44%)

There were concerns that their defense might drop when Walker and Fournier were brought in to replace Reggie Bullock and Elfrid Payton in the starting lineup. The win against the Pacers proved Walker and Fournier are competitors too on the defensive end.

Barrett was no longer surprised by the doubters and slanders that were coming their way.

“As you know, I’m used to it. It happens all the time. I mean I don’t really care. All I can do is just go out and improve. All we can do as a team is just play together and get wins. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what any other GM thinks, what anybody thinks. [What matters] is what we think, what work ethic that we have, and how that translates on the court.” Barrett said.

“Whether it’s me personally or us as a team, we just get disrespected all the time. As I said, it doesn’t matter. We just do, just like what we did last year — just go out and show we have improved.

The steadily improving Barrett dropped 17 points on an efficient 3-for-6 from the 3-point zone and 7-for-14 overall shooting Tuesday night. He flaunted his much-improved offensive arsenal — from catch and shoot to off the dribble and coming off screens — developed from his thrice-a-day summer training and extra shooting drills the night before games.

The 2019 third overall pick said the NBA All-Rookie Team snub had fueled him. This summer, the ESPN Top-100 snub added to the chip on his shoulder.

“First of all, I’m still motivated by that. That’s never gonna change. Every time I stepped on the court, I gotta prove, I gotta show everybody who I am, what I can do on the court, and why everyone was wrong about me,” Barrett said. “Being the underdog is fun. It makes winning better.”

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

 

Knicks flaunt new firepower in 21-point rout of Pacers in preseason opener

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It’s just the first preseason game, but the New York Knicks treated it like a regular-season game in a true Tom Thibodeau fashion.

Thibodeau scowled and bemoaned on the sidelines despite the Knicks rolling past a hapless Indiana Pacers team, 125-104, Tuesday night at the Garden.

It set the tone for the upcoming season that comes with a heavy expectation.

After the New York Knicks gave up an offensive rebound that led to a Jeremy Lamb three-pointer cutting their lead to a single-digit, Thibodeau was livid and called a timeout with 1:43 left in the second quarter.

“The thing is it’s early on but it was a mental mistake,” Thibodeau later said. “And so I think it’s important to correct those things. And no one’s gonna be perfect. We’ll make mistakes. If we hustle, we’ll cover up for that but when you make the same mistakes twice, we can’t allow that to keep going. So we want to fix it.”

It was the kind of hard coaching and culture-setting that propelled the Knicks to a surprising playoff run last season. But this year, they will no longer be operating under the radar, not after plugging their holes with four-time All-Star in Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, France national team’s leading scorer in the recent Tokyo Olympics.

The new Knicks backcourt quickly settled in and played well as advertised. Walker and Fournier supplied the early firepower when the Knicks seized control in the opening quarter.

The Pacers scored the first four points of the game. But once Walker, a Bronx native, felt right at home, there was no stopping the Knicks.

The 31-year old Walker signed with the Knicks on a bargain $18 million, two-year deal after securing a buyout from Oklahoma City Thunder. A sparse but loud Garden crowd welcomed him with a standing ovation during his introduction.

Walker responded by buckling down to work early in the game. He countered the Pacers’ early 4-0 burst with his first unofficial basket as a Knick — a shifty drive against last season’s shot block leader Myles Turner.

Walker added a stepback jumper and set up RJ Barrett for a wide-open three-pointer in a Knicks’ 10-0 run that broke the game wide open. Fournier had nine points and the new Knicks backcourt tandem combined for 13 of the Knicks’ 36 points in the first quarter.

“It was a pretty unreal feeling, to be honest,” Walker said after the game. “When I first arrived, I was like ‘wow I’m really just back home.’ It came full circle where everything started. It was a surreal feeling but a great feeling. I’m really, really happy to be here.”

Walker started to carve his name in basketball in this arena, starring for Rice High School. He stamped his signature on the Garden floor with his Cardiac Kemba moment that fueled UConn to the Big East title and a national championship in 2011.

Along the way to his stardom, Walker upset Derrick Rose and his Simeon High School team in 2007. More than a decade later, they found themselves playing on the same side, chasing the elusive NBA championship to complete their decorated resumes. Against the Pacers, they alternately led the Knicks’ attack, finding gaps on their opponents’ porous defense.

They led by as many as 27 points.

Then the Knicks momentarily stopped playing. But Thibodeau didn’t stop coaching.

“I didn’t like our defense at the end of the third [quarter],” Thibodeau said.

The Pacers went on a mini-run, cutting the Knicks’ huge lead to 21, 101-80, heading into the final quarter.

“We’ll take a hard look at that. We have to strive to be a 48-minute team and we’re nowhere near that right now. And conditioning is a big part of that.”

The Knicks played without their top two centers. Mitchell Robinson has yet to be cleared to do contact drills six months after his surgery to repair a broken foot. Nerlens Noel was listed out with a sore left knee. But Thibodeau explained before the game that Noel just took a rest and will be available next game. The plan is to rest one rotation player in every preseason game.

It turned out the Knicks were fine despite facing the formidable tandem of Turner and Domantas Sabonis.

The 36-year old Taj Gibson sprang out with youthful zest as a starter. Then rookie Jericho Sims jumped out from the end of the bench.

Gibson, a Brooklyn native, stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, one block, and a team-best 22 plus-minus. Sims, the 58th overall pick, added eight and six rebounds in a backup role while soaking up learnings from Thibodeau’s tongue lashing. A couple of defensive lapses caught Thibodeau’s ire. But the rookie center responded well.

“It’s a good first step. But we have to understand what this is. This is the preseason. But every time they throw it up, it’s important to compete and establish how are we gonna compete,” Thibodeau reminded.

There was more good stuff to unpack in the Knicks’ preseason debut.

All of their starters finished in double figures — the first sign that their offseason moves will be a boon this season.

Fournier was aggressive from the start hunting for his shots. He scored 14 points, mostly on drives off the dribble that drew fouls. He was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.

RJ Barrett had a quiet but efficient 17 points, three rebounds, and two assists. He popped up for 3-of-6 three-pointers and shot 7-of-14 overall as he benefited from the much-improved spacing and added playmaking to the starting unit.

Thibodeau said he was pleased to see Barrett in the gym the previous night, signifying that the Canadian wing is back to his routine.

Julius Randle didn’t force the action early on, allowing Walker and Fournier to get settled first. After a quiet 10 points in the first half, he exploded for another 10 in the third quarter before being taken out for good. Curiously, Randle scored his final seven points with Walker on the bench.

Walker had taken the ball out of Randle’s hands, unlike last year when Randle doubled as the lead playmaker and shotmaker by default in the first unit. The Knicks relied heavily on him in isolation to create plays that came back to haunt them in the playoffs.

This time, there will be multiple players to ease the pressure.

Walker said it’s just the preseason. They’re still in the getting-to-know-each-other stage.

“Right now, it’s just the time to get into the rhythm and the flow. Just being out there with my teammates. Get to know those guys, their tendencies, and things of that nature. Get a feel of each other,” Walker said.

If this was just a glimpse of their potential, then their ceiling is much higher than what the Las Vegas oddsmakers thought.

Walker dazzled his way to 12 points, on 5-for-10 shooting, four rebounds, and three assists in 21 minutes showing no ill effects of the knee issues that hounded him in Boston.

Thibodeau lauded him for coming in and setting the tone.

“The game tells you what to do,” Thibodeau said. “And I think he reads the game extremely well. That veteran leadership, shotmaking ability, he’s very good at pick and roll. He puts a lot of pressure on you. And he’s unselfish.”

“If he gets blitzed, he’s gonna get off the ball. He’s not gonna fight the pressure with pressure. I thought we made the extra pass out of the blitz pretty effectively.”

The Knicks flaunted their new firepower sinking 46.5 percent from the field on 26 assists.

They pushed the pace and played with a lot of space but took care of the ball with more precision in their execution. Committing just three turnovers in 48 minutes would attest to that.

With Walker and Rose leading both units, they leaked out when there was an opportunity. The Knicks racked up 15 fastbreak points, six more than their league-worst 8.9 per game last season. It was a lot closer to the league-leading 17.6 transition points generated by Memphis Grizzlies.

It’s a by-product of having more capable playmakers in both the starting and second units.

“I don’t get wrapped up in pace. I’m concerned with us winning. So I want us to be strong on both sides of the ball,” Thibodeau said.

“There’s a lot of different ways to go. It’s just like taking the three. I want to take more threes but I want them to be the right threes. We talked about that in our first team meeting — how are we going to generate the threes that we wanted and to have a balance to get into the paint and spray it out and make good rim reads.”

With more space and ball movement, the Knicks generated 37 three-point shots and hit 11 of them. The number of attempts was just right on their (37-40 range) target.

On the flip side, the Knicks relentlessly attacked the Pacers’ interior defense and came away with 56 points inside the paint, 16 more than the Pacers had.

As much as their offense was popping all night, their defense was on par with the standard they set last season. They forced the Pacers to commit 16 turnovers and held them to 41.3 percent, worse than their league-leading 44-percent field goal shooting allowed last season. The Pacers’ 104 total points were right on their sweet spot. Last season, the Knicks limited their opponents to a league-best 104.7 points per game.

Their much-balanced offense overflowed though it was just a preseason game.

Seven Knicks players ended up in double figures, with second-year players Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin adding 10 each off the bench.

Quickley grabbed six rebounds and issued a game-high seven assists though the bulk came in garbage time. Rose and Alec Burks combined for 16 points and five assists.

It was Toppin who generated the most buzz among the reserves.

Toppin moved with more confidence and fluidity. The Knicks’ 2020 lottery pick scored on transition dunks and around the basket. But his most electrifying bucket wasn’t the one he made above the rim. It was a spin move to the basket off a nasty crossover. 

Kevin Knox put the cherry on top of their preseason-opening win with two successive attacks in the paint in the final moments of the game, signaling the shift in his mindset as he desperately fights for minutes in the last year of his rookie deal.

It was a total masterclass from a deep Knicks team that is getting slept on once again.

In the annual NBA general managers survey, the Knicks did not receive any vote to duplicate or surpass their top-four finish in the East. Seven teams, including the Pacers, received votes and were ranked ahead of them.

“I could care less. Most GMs never played basketball. Let’s be real,” Walker said in response. “Who cares what they think. I could care less. We believe in ourselves. We’re gonna play so hard every night. And that’s gonna give us a chance to win every night.”

It’s a Thibodeau tenet that was on full display Tuesday.

There’s no such thing as fake games to Thibodeau. He demands the best effort in every game as they strive to become a 48-minute team and move closer to true contention.

When Thibodeau called that timeout with 1:43 left in the second quarter, he was disappointed with the dispirited effort. Then he reminded his team of their goal.

Message sent.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

NBA GM Poll: Knicks outside East’s Top 7 despite having best defensive coach

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New York Knicks, Tom Thibodeau

Just like last year, the NBA general managers keep on sleeping on Tom Thibodeau and the New York Knicks.

Despite the addition of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier to a core that finished fourth in the East last season, the general managers around the league don’t see a top-seven team.

In the annual NBA GM survey released Tuesday, Knicks’ crosstown rival Brooklyn Nets emerged as the heavy favorites to win the title, netting 72 percent of the overall votes, followed by Los Angeles Lakers (17%) and Milwaukee Bucks (10%). 

The Knicks were nowhere to be found among the Eastern Conference’s top seven teams. According to the general managers, the Nets, Bucks, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and Indiana Pacers are better than the Knicks.

But this is the least of concern of Thibodeau, who likes their chances once he gets the same buy-in as last season.

“It doesn’t really matter what outsiders think,” Thibodeau said in the training camp. “What matters is what we think. And we have an understanding of what we’re doing each and every day. And we understand we have to do it together.”

“I think you go into every season and we feel if we’re doing the right things, the results will take care of themselves.”

Naysayers view the Knicks’ surprising fourth-place finish in the regular season as a fluke, inflated by the COVID-related absences of key players of the other teams and the crowd-less games for most of the season. The playoffs exposed the chinks in the armor of the overachieving Knicks.

Leon Rose and his front office tried to plug those holes with the addition of Walker, a four-time All-Star who had knee issues in the past two years, and Fournier. Walker ranked fifth on the list of the most underrated player acquisition.

They have also added two defensive-minded rookies who can shoot the lights out in Quentin Grimes and Miles McBride to add more depth to a roster that can go as deep as a 12-man rotation. McBride, the 36th pick, also received votes for the biggest steal at where he was selected in the Draft.

The Knicks’ front office was also recognized for their prudent decisions, getting votes in the list of teams that made the best overall offseason moves.

Thibodeau, who won his second NBA Coach of the Year award last year over Monty Williams, isn’t considered a top-five head coach in the league next season. Heat’s Erik Spoelstra topped the list for the second year in a row, followed by Williams, Quin Snyder, Gregg Popovich, and Mike Budenholzer.

However, NBA GMS overwhelmingly picked Thibodeau as the top head coach with the best defensive schemes. He also received votes in the head coach who makes the best in-game adjustments.

“Understand what goes into winning, do everything you can to help the team win, and if we get the whole group doing that, we like our chances. There’s no easy way to do this. The teams are good, all 30 teams have great talent so you have to find a way to win games,” Thibodeau said.

Finding that edge is one of Thibodeau’s strongest suits as he has the uncanny ability to squeeze everything he can from his team.

With the crowd returning in full force this season, the Knicks were voted third behind Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets as the top teams with the best home-court advantage.

That will be in full display starting Tuesday when the Knicks host the Pacers in a preseason game at 7:30 p.m. in the Garden.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo