2. RJ Barrett's night -- and, potentially, season -- ended with a sprained right knee in the second quarter. The diagnosis was an unfortunate one for Barrett, who scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting in 15 minutes.
3. Immanuel Quickley picked up the slack after an uptick in minutes. Quickley finished with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including a 4-for-9 mark from deep, and 10 assists in 36 minutes off the bench.
4. Mitchell Robinson (non-COVID illness) remained out, but the Knicks got a productive split between the starting Jericho Sims and Taj Gibson off the bench. Sims made all four of his free-throw attempts as he totaled six points while adding nine rebounds and two blocks in 34 minutes. Gibson added 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 mark from the charity stripe, plus six rebounds and two steals over 23 minutes.
5. The Knicks trailed by a largest margin of 13 points, a 31-18 deficit following Ish Smith's triple with 44.1 seconds left in the first quarter, but New York did not go away. Miles McBride answered with a trey 12 seconds later, Quickley added a 20-foot jumper at the buzzer and the Knicks' momentum spilled over. A 36-19 second quarter put the Knicks up nine at halftime, but they kept their foot on the gas pedal in the third quarter. The Knicks, who have grown accustomed to blowing second-half cushions, never came close to relinquishing a largest lead of 26.
Highlights
