The Knicks won their home opener at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, as several players contributed in an all-hands-on-deck win over the Detroit Pistons.
Friday’s game marked the first time that the home crowd would see Jalen Brunson in a Knicks uniform, as the newly-signed point guard took the court for 28 minutes, and scored 17 points. He also added six assists and two rebounds.
Immanuel Quickley came off the bench for a terrific performance, leading the team in points with 20 (Quickley came off the bench and was scoreless, missing all six of his shots).
But on Friday, he helped New York secure their first victory of the young season. They previously lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in their season-opener on Wednesday.
RJ Barrett, who also struggled with his shot in an overtime loss in Memphis, rebounded with 18 points.
Obi Toppin scored 16, Julius Randle had 15 and there was no chance of another tense finish in this one after the Knicks seized control late in the first quarter.
Interestingly for the Knicks, Toppin played for 21 minutes in the game, as opposed to Randle’s 25 — which comes as there is a brewing positional battle between the two power forwards.
Randle is under contract until after the 2025-26 season, but Toppin has excelled whenever he has gotten a chance. Fans are eager to see what head coach Tom Thibodeau has in store for the both of them.
On the Pistons side, Saddiq Bey scored 26 points, while Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18 points and rookie Jaden Ivey had 17.
The Knicks began to pull away with their reserves on the floor late in the first quarter, with Derrick Rose’s 3-pointer capping an 11-2 run and making it 30-20 after one. Rose made another 3 for New York’s first basket of the second, this time starting a 12-2 burst that extended it to 42-24.
The lead reached 69-44 on Evan Fournier’s 3-pointer with 2 minutes remaining in the half and it was 72-52 at the break.
The Pistons did cut a 29-point deficit to 91-79 late in the third, but the Knicks answered with an 18-2 run into the fourth quarter, with Toppin slamming down two dunks early in the period, to put it away at 109-81.
The Knicks will now host the Orlando Magic on Monday, looking to build on their success from Friday’s matchup.
