Piece of Kings cake.
The Knicks sacked Sacramento on Tuesday night at home, 116-96, leading for the final 43 minutes to snap a three-game losing streak.
It was a balanced performance from the Knicks (24-27), with five players (Julius Randle, Evan Fournier, Obi Toppin, Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley) contributing at least 14 points.
The only drama in the second half was whether Cam Reddish would get playing time, which seemed especially significant to the Garden crowd that loudly chanted his name. Reddish entered to a ovation with five minutes remaining and finished the victory on the court, which followed his healthy DNP three nights earlier in Milwaukee. He only scored four points and missed his two field-goal attempts. But it didn’t matter.
The Knicks led by double digits the entire second half. They carried an 18-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
This was a winnable game for the game sandwiched by daunting contests. In other words, it was important imperative to get a positive result after three consecutive defeats and a five-game Western Conference road trip on the horizon.
“Just focus on the game in front of you,” Thibodeau said.
The Kings (18-34) are an annual train wreck and were missing their best player on Monday, De’Aaron Fox, who sat with a sore ankle. Their frontcourt was a disaster at MSG, with Harrison Barnes (-21) and Richaun Holmes (-22) getting pummeled in the paint.
It was a good matchup for Randle, who carried a strength advantage over opposing forwards Harrison Barnes and Moe Harkless. He finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and shot 7-for-14 in 29 minutes. The Knicks outrebounded the Kings, 47-35.
Randle had been in a deep slump offensively, averaging just 14.6 points while shooting 37.6% in his last 11 games before Monday. Thibodeau continued to push idea that Randle’s success isn’t tied to points.
“I don’t want to measure him on scoring. I want to measure him on all the things he does for our team and that’s a compilation of a lot of things, whether it’s the playmaking, playing with speed, getting it up the floor quick, him running the floor,” the coach said. “We’ve got to figure out how to get him some easy buckets, too. I want us play with more pace, kick the ball ahead more, hopefully we can get some easy buckets that way. Just play an all-around game and really, that’s what he does. It’s not any one particular thing.”
Randle has also displayed a volatile side this season, warring with the referees and fans. Kings coach Alvin Gentry, who guided Randle for a season in New Orleans, said the emotion from Randle is nothing new. It’s just magnified in a big market.
“Obviously, it’s a little bit different when you play in this city. You need to be strong in all areas,” Gentry said. “He’s a pretty emotional guy. But I think it’s all for the better, to me. We had episodes of that (in New Orleans). I think it comes from a good place. I enjoyed coaching him and he played really good basketball for us.”
