DALLAS – Tom Thibodeau, the notoriously gruff freshman head coach of New York Knicks, grinned when asked about his behavior after Friday night’s 117-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
It was New York’s fifth consecutive victory and marked its longest winning streak in seven years. The Knicks, who had a losing record and missed the playoffs in the previous seven seasons, are sixth in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 30-27.
Am I happy? You know I’m never happy, ”said Thibodeau. “We’re not trying to get into all that stuff. I think you don’t want to get lost, and that’s the most important thing to understand what goes into winning. great things take care of themselves.
“I think we believe we can win, and that’s probably the most important thing. It started like this in the beginning. It doesn’t really matter what outside people think. It’s what we think.”
According to research from ESPN Stats & Information, the Knicks played 545 games between five winning streaks, the second longest in franchise history after a run of 653 games from 1958 to ’66.
“We just have to keep building,” said All-Star forward Julius Randle, who averaged 30.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists during the winning streak.
Randle, a Dallas native who had several friends and family members in the American Airlines Center crowd, continued for perhaps the best part of his career with a dominant performance against the Mavericks. He finished with 44 points on 16-of-29 shots, 10 rebounds and seven assists, becoming the first Knick to have at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game since Bernard King won on March 22, 1985.
“He makes winning plays,” said Thibodeau. “The way we started the game, his aggressiveness set the tone. I’ve said it many times, he’s our engine.
Randle was especially dominant in the past three games, scoring 34 points in Monday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers, 32 in Wednesday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans and 44 points on Friday.
Knicks security guard RJ Barrett said he thinks it’s no coincidence that Randle played so well against his two previous teams and his hometown Mavs, who didn’t chase Randle twice on free duty when they had plenty of salary headroom.
“The way they made the schedule – Lakers, New Orleans, and then back to Dallas and New Orleans – I mean, you kind of knew he was going to come out and do this,” said Barrett, who had 24 points and eight. . bounces off the Mavs. “It doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s a great player.”
Thibodeau cited Randle’s improved 3-point shooting as a key to his success this season, as the most improved player candidate shoots a career-best 41% of the 3-point range after being 6-of-11 in Friday’s win . Thibodeau also raved about Randle’s commitment to off-season conditioning to prepare himself to bear such a big offensive burden on the Knicks.
“It’s a responsibility, but it’s not something that weighs on me or anything,” Randle said. It’s just my approach and who I am. I just try to be the same every day – try not to be too high or too low. I am who I am. Come in and work, put my helmet on, try to be selfless and play for my team. Let that dictate the results. “