The Knicks win at home going into the All-Star break 114-104, and we go into the halfway point of the season at 19-18 and with the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference, edging behind the Boston Celtics for a top four spot. In our last ten games we have gone 7-3 shockingly, the fifth best streak in the last ten by any team in the league! The Knicks did very good last night as well, doing great across the board. Going into the second half of the season, there are for sure multiple things we need to key in on and focus on for the latter half, and I am very optimistic in our second half stretch in general. Besides that, Julius Randle will play in his first All-Star game of his career in Atlanta, something I am personally over the moon to watch. Also, Obi Toppin will be participating in the dunk contest, competing against Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trailblazers, as well as Cassius Stanley of the Indiana Pacers.
The Knicks played better than I expected and are back in the hunt for a top four seed in the Eastern Conference standings. Julius Randle played 42 minutes last night, scoring 27 points, 7 assists, and 16 rebounds. Kind of shocked me that our star player only sat for six minutes last night, but he was incredibly efficient and reliable, as he has been all season. RJ Barrett had 21 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, keeping up his hot streak as of late and is seemingly out of his slump, something I am very happy to see. Elfrid Payton came out of nowhere, putting up 20 points in 35 minutes, proving he may be able to survive past the trade deadline if he is lucky. Nerlens Noel also played 42 minutes last night, putting up an efficient 12 points and 11 rebounds, once Mitch returns he will be a force off of the bench. Immanuel Quickley surprised me, not scoring at all last night in only 13 minutes of play, but going into the break it’s no big deal, just some things needing a tune up, no reason to get freaked out. Obi Toppin played 12 minutes scoring 4 points, best of luck to him this weekend in the dunk contest! Ecstatic for the second half of this season, good luck to Julius Randle and Obi Toppin, go Knicks!
TheDyspatch 