There’s nothing like facing a couple of also-rans to get a team back on track.
After a concerning three-game losing streak, the Knicks got the perfect tonic the past two games. They beat up on the Bulls with a 136-96 rout Friday night at Madison Square Garden. The win clinched the Knicks’ third straight 50-win season — the first time they’ve done that since they had four straight from 1991-95.
Amid so much discourse over slow starts, the Knicks dominated from the opening tip. They stormed out to a 20-1 lead and led by 22 after the first quarter. They shot a stellar 58.3 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from 3-point range in that first quarter as the Bulls bricked on the other end.
By 7:41 left in the second quarter, the lead was up to 28. By halftime, it was up to 37. It looked like the drills in practices where players go up against assistant coaches. Even that might be generous. The disinterested Bulls were content to jack up low quality shots, offer minimal resistance on defense and get out of town with another loss as they play out the string of their failed season.
Mitchell Robinson, starting in place of the injured Karl-Anthony Towns (right elbow impingement), helped spark the Knicks’ overpowering start with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals in the first quarter. He finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and two steals.
A balanced scoring attack, which had two often been missing in recent weeks, was led by OG Anunoby with 31 points — his second straight big-scoring night. He drilled seven threes, which tied a career-high.
There was much better ball movement and cohesion, rather than different stars taking turns being aggressive in looking for their shot — something that had been a growing problem recently. Jalen Brunson was more of a distributor, recording 17 points and 10 assists. Mikal Bridges added 12 points but missed all five 3-pointers he took.
Jeremy Sochan surprisingly saw pretty extensive action off the bench — over Mohamed Diawara — in what was likely a tryout to stake a claim for the playoff rotation. He played 17 minutes, his most with the Knicks, and finished with seven points and eight rebounds. It wasn’t like it came in garbage time, either.
Coach Mike Brown was able to pull his starters and empty the bench for the entirety of the fourth quarter. That’s when Jose Alvarado notably saw his first action — he did not play the first three quarters.
Neither the Bulls nor the Grizzlies — whom the Knicks beat handedly on Wednesday — are true bottom-feeders, but both are well under .500 and already eliminated from the playoff and play-in picture. The Bulls in particular have been miserable for months after a surprisingly promising start to the season — since the start of February, they are 5-23.
And the Knicks used the two opponents to improve the vibes around the team, at least for a few days.
It comes after three straight losses to playoff teams in the Hornets, Thunder and Rockets. Josh Hart had sounded the alarm, challenging his teammates to play with more of a “sense of desperation” and acknowledging that they were “not going in the right direction.”
But if there’s one thing the Knicks have done recently, it’s handle low quality opposition. Since the start of March, the Knicks are now 9-0 against teams below .500. That’s compared to just 3-6 against teams above .500 during that stretch.
And the Knicks will return to quality opposition when they face the surging Hawks along with the Celtics and Raptors their next three games. Atlanta and Toronto are both potential first-round opponents.
“You always want your team to be playing at the highest of high cylinders,” Brown said. “Do I think we’re there right now? No. Do I have belief in this team? Yes I do. I’ve seen us play really good basketball throughout the course of the year.”
Friday was much closer to that standard. Now back to the real tests.
