NEW YORK — Obi Toppin basically defended his dunk title.
A rash of transition opportunities and the Pacers’ lazy defense allowed Toppin to convert four breakaway dunks in a span of about seven minutes of the second half, including his trademark under-the-legs jam that had the crowd — and his teammates — in awe.
Toppin, the 2021 Slam Dunk Champion, also converted four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 24 points in the Knicks’ 131-114 preseason victory over Indiana.
“O-BEE TOP-PIN,” the Madison Square Garden crowd chanted.
Toppin’s exclamation dunk occurred off his steal about midway through the fourth quarter, which he tomahawked with his left hand.
It’s tough to embarrass a team in the preseason but that’s what Toppin did to the Pacers. After his under-the-legs dunk, the third-year power forward even pointed at Pacers point guard TJ McConnell, who missed an attempt to swipe away the ball mid-dunk.
Blown chance
The Knicks starters again packed an offensive punch but their new tryout, Cam Reddish, couldn’t take advantage of his opportunity.
Reddish started Friday because Evan Fournier was resting and Quentin Grimes remained injured. Reddish, who is fighting for a spot in the rotation, made a quick recovery from his own injury — a sprained ankle sustained three nights prior — and scored just two points in 22 minutes on 1-of-7 shooting.
Reddish, 23, appeared lost and rusty in the first half. He recovered a little with a pair of nice plays in the third quarter, including an up-and-under layup in transition.
Coach Tom Thibodeau said he considered starting Immanuel Quickley instead but he wanted to keep the reserves together.
“I thought about both. I like what the second unit did. Unfortunately we never really got to that last year as much as we had the year before. But that’s another one of Quick[ley]’s strengths. Quick can play with everybody. He can play with the starters, he can play with the bench, he can play on the ball, he can play off the ball, you just plug and play with him.”
The Knicks’ other four starters Friday — Mitchell Robinson, Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett and Julius Randle — combined for 60 points, with each hitting double digits.
“Last year, he didn’t have the opportunity to be in training camp. So the big thing is the health piece, to be out there and play well. We liked his length, athleticism, long wing,” Thibodeau said. “He’s gotta knock shots down for us. Knock shots down, play defense, create pace, move without the ball. Help on defense, use his length, rebound the ball and get it out.”
Sucker punch?
At least one Knicks player couldn’t be Draymond Green’s teammate after getting slugged.
Not long after a video leaked of Green punching his defenseless Golden State teammate Jordan Poole, Evan Fournier tweeted, “There is no way you can get back to being teammates after a punch like that.”
The video of the incident at the Warriors' practice, leaked to TMZ, showed Green angrily approaching Poole for a chest bump. After Poole responded with a shove, Green connected with a flying punch that appeared to wobble his target.
The Warriors declined to suspend Green but made that decision before the video was leaked. The optics of the incident changed.
Still, former point guard Chris Childs indicated it would’ve been commonplace on the Knicks about 25 years ago.
“Listen, this Draymond thing is nothing,” tweeted Childs, who famously punched Kobe Bryant during a Lakers-Knicks game in 2000. “Good thing never got out of our Knicks practices and locker room that was real pressure.”
The enforcer of those 90s Knicks teams, Charles Oakley, told the New York Daily News he hadn’t seen the video but acknowledged fighting a teammate at least once during practice.
“I had an incident where a guy tried to take my legs out a couple times,” Oakley said. “And then the next time he did it, I took action. I don’t know what happened with them but a lot of s--- happens in practice. Fights happen all the time. But if you sneak somebody, that’s a different story. "
