Big Easy Win! Knicks Clip Pelicans Thanks to Big 3’s Efforts

Julius Randle fell short of another career-best, but he had plenty of offensive assistance from his fellow New York Knicks.

Behind a multi-faceted scoring effort from their top three scorers, the New York Knicks won their fifth in a row, crushing the New Orleans Pelicans by a 128-106 final on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

One night removed from tying his career-best in scoring in Washington, Randle led the Knicks (35-27) in scoring again with 28 points while fellow offensive representatives RJ Barrett and Jalen Brunson were right behind him with 25 and 20 respectively.

Appropriately enough, the Knicks put forth a championship effort on the night they honored their last championship squad from 1973, which celebrated its 50th anniversary. Much like the Knicks' five-game victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the championship series, the modern edition put forth a dominant effort, leading wire-to-wire despite coming off a back-to-back on the road. Once they went up 26-15 in the opening frame, that advantage never went under 10 and reached as high as 27. 

RJ WITH THE MOVES 😳 pic.twitter.com/AVXcZiptJQ

— Fireside Knicks (@FiresideKnicks) February 26, 2023

New York has now seven of its past eight and improved to 5-0 when Josh Hart suits up. Hart had 15 against one of his former teams, working with fellow reserve Immanuel Quickley, who had 13 more. Isaiah Hartenstein reached 10 rebounds for the eighth time in the last 11 games and even Derrick Rose, supported by the MSG faithful, got to enter the game, playing the final two minutes as the Knicks ran out the clock to loud Manhattan cheers. Rose made his first appearance in a Knicks game since Dec. 31 upon entry.

His return to the floor was a night of spectacular showcases for New York, which took advantage of the big lead to create its own highlight reel. A Quickley steal from Jonas Valančiūnas toward the end of the game led to an off-the-backboard slam from Randle, sending the Garden into hysterics.

JULIUS RANDLE OFF THE BACKBOARD FROM QUICKLEY

MADNESS AT THE GARDEN 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/3prn6ftKb6

— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) February 26, 2023

Elsewhere in the starting five, Mitchell Robinson had an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double in his second showing back from a 14-game medical absence.

On the visitors' side, the struggles of the Pelicans (30-31) continued: not only did they fall to 7-18 in the new calendar year and now sit only a game up on Oklahoma City and Portland for the final spot in the Western Conference's Play-In Tournament but they also lost reserve forward Larry Nance Jr. to injury. Hart's fellow trade deadline transfer Josh Richardson had 16 points and four steals while Brandon Ingram led the way with 19 in defeat. New Orleans' most threatening run came when they ended the third frame on a 19-12 run, but that only served to partially eat away at the Knicks' largest lead. 

The second half of this interconference matchup will come on April 7, the Knicks' penultimate game of the season and the Pelicans' home finale. In the meantime, the Knicks return to action on Monday night when they face the Boston Celtics in the resumption of a lasting rivalry (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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