Unlike a lot of teams, the Knicks have decided to take advantage of the preseason to fully work on their automation. The team is coming out of a failed season and Jalen Brunson must be integrated. Last night, they received the Pacers, and their first half was perfect with a Brunson-Barrett-Randle trio who took turns in attack to bring the gap to +20 at the end of the first half (69-49) .
But the Knicks substitutes relax, and in the middle of the 3rd quarter, thanks to Bennedict Mathurin, the Pacers nibble their delay, and they come back to -8 two minutes from the end of the quarter (93-85). Tom Thibodeau leaves his replacements to fend for themselves, and it is Obi Toppin who will transform the last quarter of an hour into a “Slam Dunk Contest”.
Randle’s understudy begins with a “Rider” after blocking a 3-point shot. He continues with dunks on the counterattack. The Garden explodes. And to make matters worse, he starts crashing from afar, and even from afar. In seven minutes, the strong winger signed 14 of his 24 points, and New York took a 21-point lead (117-96).
When Tom Thibodeau takes him out for the public to give him a “standing ovation”, New York leads by 25 points (124-99), and the “garbage time” allows Indiana to limit the damage with a final success for the Knicks: 131 -114.
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