The Knicks had already had some impressive victories this season against some of the NBA’s expected top teams, including Milwaukee, Utah and Boston.
A toe-to-toe win Sunday over the high-rolling Clippers would have rocked a packed yard from foundation to rafters, but the Knicks ran out of steam in their empty home arena in a mostly entertaining 129-115 loss against Los. Angeles. .
Starting point guard Immanuel Quickley looked poised to make a comeback from a 12-point deficit in the third quarter with 11 of his 25 points in the fourth, including a pair of 3-pointers to draw them in two with less than eight minutes to go.
But former Knicks forward Marcus Morris, who was traded in last year for the final 25th overall pick that enabled the Knicks to line up Quickley, fell into corner 3 to reopen the LA lead to nine. Kawhi Leonard (28 points) pushed it back over double digits with 5:40 to go when the Clippers (16-5) took off.
Reggie Jackson finished with 18 points and Paul George had 17 points when the Clippers shot 17-for-38 (43.2 percent) from a 3-point range.
Julius Randle led the Knicks with 27 points and 12 rebounds, and RJ Barrett added 23 in 9-for-14 shots for the Knicks (9-12). They will play their next two games on Monday and Wednesday in Chicago, where Tom Thibodeau coached the Bulls from 2010-15.
From the start, this wasn’t a typical afternoon lethargic tip at MSG, as both teams shot more than 50 percent off the floor in a back-and-forth first half. The result was a high-scoring 66-65 lead for the Clippers at half time.
The Knicks buried eight of their first 10 off the field, including five early points each from Randle and Reggie Bullock, to take an 18-15 lead midway through the first quarter. Their lead was extended to seven on Barrett’s steal and slam with just under three minutes to go, but the period ended with the Knicks ahead, 31-29.
Quickley brought new spark to the bench with 10 points in the second quarter, while Randle and Barrett combined 29 before half time, keeping the Knicks within one point during the break.
The Clippers scored the first seven points of the second half, building the first two-digit lead (12) for both teams, with Jackson scoring 10 in the session for a 101-91 game going into the last quarter.