You've gotta be Knicking me

Bing bong. New York looks dangerous.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

It’s totally justifiable to have been confused about the New York Knickerbockers at various points in this season. Two years ago, behind Julius Randle and a weird supporting cast, the team earned first-round home court in the East. Last week, with most of the same team in place, they missed the freaking play-in by six games. Randle went from being the Hero of Madison Square to a target for boos in one season. Tom Thibodeau went from a rescuer par excellence to the hot seat. Another flash of intrigue if not excellence seemed dashed by gravity.

Then the Knicks started out their first season with Jalen Brunson running point looking like a very unconvincing .500 team. In fact, they were .500 just after Christmas at 18-18, approaching the actual midway point of the season. They’ve been above .500 since, but did find themselves at 28-26 just a month ago after a tough stretch. It looked like they might be in for a tough play-in battle this time around, in the much with the Heat and Hawks, teams most would consider to have more near-term upside than New York.

Then Brunson went on an absolute tear, and now all of a sudden the Knicks don’t look anything like a very unconvincing .500 team. They look as dangerous as they have since at least the Carmelo era, if not further back. Brunson — February’s East Player of the Month — is on an extended heater, Randle is back to hitting absurd shots while being a force in the paint, Thibodeau has dialed in a rotation that appears to work against most opponents and Mike Breen is unloading the BANGs.

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JULIUS RANDLE IS CLUTCH. BANG!!!

That’s the come-from-behind game-winner from Randle on Friday in Miami, an absurd broken play out of double coverage with just about every other Knicks calling for the ball. Bucket.

That was New York’s eighth straight win. They had a date with Boston on Sunday. The Knicks had shredded the C’s early last week — you may recall Jayson Tatum getting kicked out of that one — and with the game in Boston one imagines the C’s had revenge on their mind.

Instead — even with Brunson sitting — Boston received the gift of the best game of the weekend, topped off with a 38-piece from Immanuel Quickley that included a complete takeover of double overtime.

Yes, double overtime.

The most joyful 38-piece double overtime takeover since, uh, last week when Malik Monk had 40-something in a double overtime takeover. But still: an incredible performance just when the Knicks needed it from an important member of the Knicks’ rotation. Tom Thibodeau dialed up some Quickley, and Quickley delivered.

The Knicks have won nine straight and 11 of 12. In the past month, the Nets also imploded their roster; New York has passed Brooklyn for fifth and has left both Miami (4.5 games back) and Atlanta (6 games back) in the dust. The Knicks are just a game behind Cleveland, in fact, for fourth. Yes, fourth, again.

For so long it looked like that successful 2020-21 season was the fluke. It’s starting to look like the mediocre 2021-22 season was the fluke, and that with Randle and some able guard help (Brunson is more than able, to be sure) the Knicks are just actually, legitimately good.

Exciting times for New York basketball.