Another game night, another Knicks victory. In an excellent dynamic over this month of December, the soldiers of Tom Thibodeau validated their 5th consecutive success, by winning in Chicago in overtime (128-120). New York during the month of Christmas is the big party.
La Fouine would be almost proud, because the question must resonate in the loop of Julius Randle.
But who can stop me?
Already particularly hot lately, the strong winger of the Knicks has again offered a great game (31 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists), putting the franchise on his back to crush the defense of the Bulls who could nevertheless count on Alex Caruso and Pat Williams. Yet it was stress and perspiration that dominated at the end of regulation time, when Randle offered a last atrocious possession to try to offer the win to his people, Thibodeau simply drawing an isolation to his star player. We thought then that New York was holding out the stick to get beaten.
However, with Quentin Grimes’ big shots (14 points) and Jalen Brunson’s arabesques (30 points), the 5-minute overtime period was only anecdotal.
5th victory for the Knicks, and therefore a piece of history when we remember the season which followed the Orlando bubble.
5 straight Knicks wins?
This is the first time this has happened to them since April 2021, when New York was placed Top 4 in the Eastern Conference.
A near-perfect December for Julius Randle and his pals, so far.
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) December 15, 2022
If from a tricolor and effective point of view, New York is and will be in the rumors of transfers in particular around Evan Fournier, Cam Reddish and Derrick Rose to name a few, from a purely sporting point of view and on the pitch, everything is fine. The Knicks can count on a solid defense, aligned with a fiery Randle that inevitably hurts: before the Bulls, their last 4 opponents had failed to hit the 105 point mark. The kind of defensive curtain that helps to get back in the Eastern Conference, New York now being at spot number 6.
The upcoming program? Very interesting since there will already be a rematch against the Bulls this Friday evening.
Mitchell Robinson’s pals will then head to Indiana for a classic East Coastbefore returning to Madison Square Garden to face the Warriors, Raptors, Bulls again and then the Sixers.
What to crack and fall back into reality? Maybe. But what could beautifully punctuate 2022 and start 2023 on the best possible basis? Maybe also.