The Knicks had already had several impressive wins this season against some of the best teams expected in the NBA, including Milwaukee, Utah and Boston.
A foot-to-foot victory on Sunday against the Clippers, who should be rolling, would have shaken an entire garden from its foundation to the beams, but the Knicks ran out of steam inside their empty home field in a defeat 129-115 against Los Angeles, mostly fun.
Rookie striker Immanuel Quickley looked set to tackle a 12-point third-quarter deficit comeback with 11 of his 25 points in the quarter, including a pair of triples to tie them in two with less than eight minutes left.
But former Knicks striker Marcus Morris, who was replaced on last year’s deadline by the eventual 25th overall selection that allowed the Knicks to draft Quickley, fell into a corner 3 to reopen the Los Angeles advantage again. Kawhi Leonard (28 points) pushed him back over double digits with 5:40 to finish as the Clippers (16-5) moved away.
Reggie Jackson finished with 18 points and Paul George had 17, as the Clippers shot 17 for 38 (43.2 percent) from a 3-point distance.
Julius Randle led the Knicks with 27 points and 12 rebounds, and RJ Barrett added 23 in the Knicks ’9-on-14 throw (9-12). They will play their next two games Monday and Wednesday in Chicago, where Tom Thibodeau coached the 2010-15 Bulls.
From the start, this was not a typical lethargic run over in MSG, as both teams shot better than 50% of the ground in a first round trip. The result was a 66-65 lead with a great score for the Clippers at halftime.
The Knicks buried eight of their first 10 on the field, including five starting points per game from Randle and Reggie Bullock, to gain an 18-15 lead in the middle of the first quarter. His lead was extended to seven in Barrett’s steal and slam with just under three minutes left, but the period ended with the Knicks ahead, 31-29.
Quickley sparked another spark on the bench with 10 points in the second quarter, while Randle and Barrett combined for 29 before the break, helping the Knicks stay within one on the break.
The Clippers scored the first seven points of the second half and built the first double-digit lead (12) for either team, with Jackson scoring 10 in the session for a 101-91 game entering the final fourth.