After lollygagging through most of the first three quarters on Friday, the Knicks awoke and forced overtime before overtaking the Memphis Grizzlies, 133-129, behind an outpouring of bench scoring, combined with courageously clutch performances from Julius Randle and RJ Barrett.
The victory comes as a pleasant surprise. The Knicks trailed all night and have been ice cold (1-5 in their previous six games), while the Grizzlies have been on fire (5-1 in their prior six games). Randle and Barrett barely registered on the radar until late, but both ended the evening as heroes. The second unit, led by Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks, was responsible for roughly 54% of New York’s offensive output (the bench scored 72 total points, including 20 from Quickley and 19 apiece from Rose and Burks).