It was a money game from Immanuel Quickley.
Even in defeat.
Two days after failing to come to an agreement on a contract extension, the sparkplug guard dropped 24 points in just 28 minutes and was the Knicks’ best offensive player in Wednesday’s 108-104, season-opening loss to the Celtics.
He shot 7-for-11 and carried the Knicks to a second-half comeback, picking up the slack for struggling starters Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle (combined 11-for-43 shooting).
“I always try to bring energy,” Quickley said. “Try to add something to the game, add something to the team. Most of the time I’m just having fun. Any time I get to come out here and share a gift from God. Share it with other people. Just try to inspire others. And have fun. Also just trying to send a message, try to get us going, things like that.”
Quickley will become a restricted free agent after the season after gambling on himself by not agreeing to an extension.
Day 1 looked like a good bet.
“It just shows how deep we are as a team. Those guys played phenomenal. They pretty much kept us in that game,” Brunson said of the bench. “I said it [Tuesday], Quick is going to play how he plays [even with his contract status].
“It’s not gonna faze him at all with the stuff he went through these past couple of weeks. I’m not really surprised the way they played. We have a deep bench, in the things they’re able to do. It’s gonna help us win a lot of games.”
The first game featured two technicals for flopping — one on Brunson, the other on Kristaps Porzingis — as the NBA is trying to crack down on flailing players.
But the most contentious play of the evening involved an errant elbow to the face of Isaiah Hartenstein, which prompted blood on the Knicks center’s lip and another technical foul on the Celtic.
“I love it. The grit. That’s a part of the game,” Hartenstein said. “That’s where us as a team, we kind of like that grit.
“You look at us last year, we want to still keep it. I get elbowed in the face, I’m cool with that.”
Porzingis said he didn’t realize how hard he hit Hartenstein until seeing the blood and the replay.
The Knicks missed 12 of their 26 free throws for an abysmal 53.8 percent, which became a point of emphasis in the locker room.
“I don’t know, man. We just missed shots,” said Julius Randle, who was off from everywhere while shooting 5-of-22 from the floor. “The basket had a lid on it. But those are shots that we’ll take and we’ll make.”