Things Were Just a Little Different This Time

Just over a week ago, on Nov. 10, Knicks front office Steve Mills and Scott Perry hosted an impromptu press conference condemning the Knicks' effort and consistency after an embarrassing home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While not explicitly saying so -- when asked directly, Mills and Perry expressed confidence in David Fizdale -- the implication was that, if things don't start looking up soon, Fizdale could be on the hot seat.

Tonight, redemption came knocking rather quickly, thanks to some odd scheduling luck. Eight days later, same opponent, same building... very different result.

The Knicks -- and another previously struggling member of the organization, Julius Randle -- looked more dominant than perhaps any game they've played this season, tearing up the Cavs, 123-105. 

Randle was the story of the game, scoring a game-high 30 points on 12-17 shooting (3-5 from three) and looking a lot more like the player the Knicks handed their only guaranteed multi-year free agent contract to this past summer. 

While not necessarily looking like a player that had entirely recreated himself on the offensive end, Randle certainly looked more confident, and was hitting looks that he had previously been missing. 

“I’m always going to be confident, man," Randle said. "My confidence comes from my work. It’s frustrating, it can be frustrating at times when you don’t get the results that you want. I’m very impatient, and that’s something in basketball, you have to have patience. I’m trying to learn that over the course of my career."

Learning to take on defenses that are more focused on stopping him over anyone else has made it difficult for Randle to find a rhythm in the first 14 games of 2019-20 season. Previously more of a secondary or tertiary player, Fizdale has leaned heavily on Randle as a primary option this season, with mixed results. But if this game was any indication, Randle might be figuring it out, and he said as much postgame.

“The biggest thing is I just I got to find ways to get defenses off balance so it can make the game easier for me, where I can be quick and make quick and efficient decisions," Randle said. "Where I’m not going to over-dribble and face a crowd and face a set defense. So today, for me, it was running the floor and getting good position to make the easy ones. And that’s me, honestly. I don’t know why I’ve gotten away from it, but that’s me. I just got to keep going.”

To those that have for the past month frustratingly watched Randle put his head down and drive into two or three defenders (only to lose the ball or force an errant shot) tonight was a much-needed shot in the arm. If his 3-pointer can start going in at even something close to the 34.4 percent he put up last year, that may help keep defenders more honest with him around the 3-point line. Either way, Randle showed the ability to make the right read more than once tonight. Take, for example, this look to RJ Barrett:

In games past, that could have easily been an ill-fated Randle foray into the paint. Instead, he assessed the situation, waited for Kevin Porter Jr. to get fully lulled to sleep, and delivered an easy dime to Barrett for the three.

The game almost definitely carried more implications to the coach and players than was let on by their postgame comments, but most players were succinct and cautious about making the game seem like more than just another on an 82-game schedule.

"Today, really we've been playing really good basketball for the past three games," said Barrett, who finished with 15 points on the night after just nine in the last meeting between these two teams. "We just kept building on that today. We know that they came in here and beat us last time. We took care of the job tonight."

Others weren't quite so coy, like Marcus Morris, who contributed 23 points and scored 12 of 13 attempts at the line -- many during the third quarter, where he and the Knicks got into the bonus early and were able to stymy a number of attempts by Cleveland to get back into the game by hitting a blistering (by the 2019-20 Knicks' standards) 27 of 35 free throws, good for 77.1 percent.

"They did a great job and caught us off guard last time," Morris said. "This time we were ready for it. We were trying to hit first, and we did just that. They went on a couple of runs and we withstood it and got the win. We just have to keep getting better and hopefully go into Philly and try to steal one."

The Knicks deployed an interesting defensive scheme at times, and one that seemed to mitigate the defensive shortcomings of Randle and Bobby Portis. Part switch-everything, part 3-2 zone, part just attacking every ballhandler and throwing near-reckless double teams in an attempt to force turnovers -- whatever you want to call it, it was effective, and the 19-7 turnover margin in favor of the Knicks was a huge reason that they came away with the win.

Frank Ntilikina, as he often is, was a huge part of the defense forcing turnovers at the point of attack, hounding Collin Sexton and Darius Garland in a way that was certainly a far cry from their romp at the Garden a week ago.

"Team defense," said Frank regarding the keys to the Knicks' success. "Working on the pick and roll. Being aggressive, stepping out to deny their rhythm and just closing out to the passes and containing. We did a good job with that. The bigs did a great job at talking and communicating. It was a step up tonight."

Tonight was potentially a big step forward for the Knicks, ousting a very recent demon. But, as Mills and Perry said last week, this team needs to start showing consistency on a  game-to-game basis. Until that happens, the front office won't be fully proven wrong for their postgame comments a week ago. 

However, the Knicks look more on their way to consistently good play than they have all season, and that's something to be proud of for now.