Immanuel Quickley dropped face down on the court and made a swimming motion with arms and legs after nailing his third of five 3-pointers on Friday night.
The electrifying rookie point guard helped the Knicks returned upstream after three straight defeats and finished their last road trip off the bench with 25 points in 23 minutes, 14 of them in the fourth quarter, in a 102-81 win over Cleveland at the Garten.
After that Still didn’t want coach Tom Thibodeau to commit 21-year-old Quickley to take on Elfrid Payton’s Starting Point guard job, but Kentucky 25th overall still deserve significant minutes to finish the games.
« It says a lot. You always want to have trust between a player and a coach, ”said Quickley, who shot just 11-1 in Tuesday’s Utah defeat, one game after hitting a career high of 31 in the previous Portland game. « When a trainer trusts you, it means that you do the job and have worked hard. I feel like I did and will continue to do so.
» Continue to deserve the trust of the trainers, don’t just [Thibodeau], but the entire coaching team and my teammates. I will continue to do that. «
The Knicks (9-11) also kept the great All-Star man Andre Drummond in another strong defensive position despite nine combined fouls between the centers Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel Points – albeit with 15 rebounds.
Darius Garland had 24 points for the Cavaliers, who scored 37 in the first half and 55 in three quarters. The 81 points were the second-smallest points the Knicks had this season admitted, behind just the 75 points they had on January 17th with the Celtics.
« You’re not guarding him individually. … You have to have team awareness and protect him with your team, ”said Thibodeau. « You can’t do it at the expense of many other things either. » RJ Barrett added 24 points, Austin Rivers added 13 from the bench and Julius Randle finished the race on 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists for them Knicks, who will face the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Sunday.
The Knicks missed eight out of nine shots and saw Cleveland a quick 13-3 lead, but Rivers and Quickley together scored a dozen points during a 16th : Run 4 and had a two-point lead by the end of the quarter.
Randle didn’t attempt a field goal until there were four minutes left in the second quarter, but his 19-foot jumper scored two dunks from Robinson the curtsey to 38-31. Barrett’s two drives and turn three extended the Knicks’ lead to 14, and they led the break at 47-33.
Drummond only had four points in the half, but Noel was called for three fouls and Robinson had two, which sparked veteran Big Man Taj Gibson’s first appearance – if only for a minute – since signing back to the Knicks on Jan. 7.
The Knicks ended the third quarter on a 12: 1 run, including a baseline dunk for a three-point game by Quickley and a late three-point game by the rookie point guard for a 72:55 lead.
Quickley’s performance was still floating in the fourth game, as it fell on the square to celebrate another 3-pointer as the Knicks withdrew. He also converted the season’s first 4-point game of Knicks with four minutes left.
« I was just having fun, that’s all, » said Quickley of his impromptu freestyle celebration. « We were in the cold tub and [Rivers] said, ‘What was that? «
» I thought I couldn’t explain, brother, I don’t know what I did to be honest. I think I saw Steph [Curry] once. But otherwise it was only when I was having fun. “
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