What’s scary is that the Knicks didn’t play badly.
In fact, his offensive attack was as good, if not better, than all season.
Julius Randle was his usual handful. The feel of rookie Immanuel Quickley was electric, his game called “Crazy and Fearless” by Clippers star Paul George. And RJ Barrett was a powerful 23-point force.
“I liked his mindset,” said Kawhi Leonard, a free agent this coming low season about Barrett. “The sky is the limit.”
It’s the Knicks Big 3 of Hope itself, aged 26, 22 and 20, respectively.
And even though the Knicks went from foot to foot with the Clippers for three-and-a-half quarters, scoring two points with 7:42 left after a wave of Quickley baskets, it still wasn’t enough. Not very well.
The Clippers of Paul George and Leonard are loaded, similar championship material to beating the Knicks 129-115 on Sunday afternoon in the garden.
The best team the Knicks have faced this season? Yes, said Randle, who racked up 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
“Absolutely 100 percent, no doubt,” said Randle, who scored inside, out and in between to conduct an All-Star caliber campaign. “It can be said that they are a championship-level team that we aspire to be. We put ourselves in position. After all, they are really good, for them.
The incorporation of Serge Ibaka into the offseason was a gem he overlooked and buried the Knicks with a triple and a three-point play after an offensive rebound.
Marcus Morris, the former Knick, looks perfectly comfortable as a complementary bench piece for the Clippers instead of last season’s No. 1 option in orange and blue.
Morris hit a dagger on the left 3 in the fourth quarter Sunday, finishing with 11 points. Morris had three of the 17 3 Clippers that probably kept Thibodeau up all Sunday night after the team arrived at their previous job, Chicago.
Missing New York Morris, traded on the deadline last February? Heck, no. He now sees the garden as his stepping stone.
Morris later said he would play with the “best staff” in the NBA led by Tyronn Lue, who holds the Clippers to the second-best NBA record in 16-5.
“We have something going on,” Morris said. “I had my chance to show what I could do in New York. Everyone noticed. I used this platform to climb a bigger stage. I’m here to compete for a championship. I want to be part of this team to win the Clippers first championship and we are moving in that direction.
The Knicks did the right thing in Morris ’trade last February for a first-round finish that turned into Quickley, who fell another 25 points in 27 minutes off the bench on Sunday.
Quickley confronted his idol Lou Williams, shook his hand and told him. But Quickley was not intimidated. In the fourth, he caught an offensive rebound in the lane for his own 3-point foul and still made it float. He then paid his respects to the Clippers.
“It takes everything to go your own way,” Quickley said. “They were making a lot of hard shots.”
Don’t tell that to Thibodeau, who guided the NBA’s top defense and 3-point defense. Thibodeau said the “Knicks’ closings were short” in the triples. He also felt they didn’t catch a handful of loose balls and long rebounds that caused more Clipper 3.
“Offensively it was good,” Thibodeau said. “Defensively it wasn’t what we would have liked. [Scoring] 115 points should be good enough to get a win. “
After the game, the Knicks flew to snowy Chicago, where Thibodeau did his best job in five seasons as head coach, achieving a record of 394-255. Thibodeau lived at a great height overlooking Lake Michigan and was a toast to the city. Fans loved him, though they can’t cheer him on Monday and Wednesday for his back with the Knicks.
Thibodeau is 9-12 in New York, but has gained a lot of confidence from fans. This loss did not consist of training or rotations. (He called two timeouts 17 seconds apart in the fourth quarter). Pat Riley, Red Holzman and Jeff Van Gundy could not have won the win in the way the Clippers played.
“I spent a lot of time there and I definitely enjoyed it,” Thibodeau said of Chicago. “It is a great city, a great organization, a great tradition. I probably enjoyed my stay in Chicago. “
With a basic Randle-Barrett-Quickley trio to work with, Thibodeau could have nice moments on the road, but the Clippers proved he was long.