ATLANTA — Before Wednesday night’s game against the Hawks, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was asked if he was concerned his players might have had one eye on the upcoming All-Star break.
“You hit on something that we all worry about,” Thibodeau said. “Don't go on the break before the break. That's human nature. So you’ve got to fight that. Be ready. Put the necessary work into it. And then after the game, then go on your break. Don't go on it before. Just come out with an edge and have the discipline to do the things that are necessary to win.”
Mission accomplished. The Knicks, in their final game before the All-Star break, came out flying, leading by as many as 24 in the first half, and cruised to a 122-101 victory at State Farm Arena.
The Knicks (33-27) have won three in a row (all since Josh Hart made his debut) and eight of 12 overall.
Six Knicks scored in double figures, with Jalen Brunson leading the way with 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists. All-Star Julius Randle had 25 points and 11 rebounds and RJ Barrett scored 17 one game after totaling four points in Monday’s victory over the Nets.
Immanuel Quickley scored 14 points and Hart added 13 with five rebounds.
The Knicks don’t play again until Feb. 24 at Washington.
De’Andre Hunter led Atlanta (29-30) with 20 points. The Hawks were the squad that came out as if the players already had one toe in the sand for their All-Star break vacation.
The Knicks led from the start, led by as many as 20 in the first quarter, and went into halftime with a 66-44 advantage. In the first half, the Knicks hoisted 26 three-pointers and made nine. Atlanta tried 15 threes and made one.
The Knicks came out sluggish in the second half and an incensed Thibodeau called a timeout with 7:01 left and the lead down to 15. Randle came out from the timeout and scored twice on layups around a three-pointer from Hunter.
When Barrett followed with another layup to make it 80-62, it was Hawks coach Nate McMillan’s turn to call timeout. The Hawks got the lead down to 11. But the Knicks went into the fourth with a 91-76 advantage as Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein (six points, 11 rebounds) each had a pair of putback baskets to close out the third, and they pulled away in the final quarter.
Randle, Quentin Grimes (Rising Stars game) and Jericho Sims (slam dunk contest) will all be heading to Salt Lake City for All-Star weekend.
Brunson, who has All-Star worthy stats, could still be named as an injury replacement if Boston’s Jaylen Brown (facial fracture) bows out of the game.
And what are Thibodeau’s plans for the break?
“I’ll be at Club Tarrytown,” he said, referring to the Knicks’ practice facility.
Grimes, who had six points in 22 minutes, will be a Rising Star at this weekend’s All-Star festivities.
But the second-year guard’s minutes have done the opposite of rising after the Knicks acquired Hart at the trade deadline (22 in each of the last three games). Hart scored 13 points in 24 minutes on Wednesday.
Before Hart joined the Knicks, Grimes had gone 10 straight games with at least 30 minutes per outing. Thibodeau said someone was going to lose time when Hart got into the rotation. He wasn’t kidding.
“I think that’s how it’s been really the whole year,” Grimes said. “Thibs kind of goes with who’s playing good, who definitely deserves to be out there. So you’ve got to go out there and whoever’s making the most impact in the game is who he’s going to rock with, which he should, for sure.”
Thibodeau has been rocking with Grimes for some time and the 22-year-old had been delivering until recently. Grimes had five consecutive games with at least 10 points from Jan. 28-Feb. 5, but hasn’t cracked double-digits in scoring in the last five games.
