Knicks 110, Sixers 96: “Got to have these if we want to keep pace.“

When was the last time a New York Knicks reserve led all teammates in points scored in a single game?

As far as I remember, that happened on Thursday, Feb. 22, as the Knicks trumped the Sixers and beat them on their home turf, 110-96, in the first game both teams have played following the All-Star break.

Bojan Bogdanovic’s 22 points off the pine led all Knickerbockers on Thursday’s brotherly lovely triumph, one in which that was only possible because of 1) the many injuries currently keeping three starters out of New York’s lineup, 2) Jalen Brunson’s day off on the shooting front, and 3) Bodega Bog bagging 19 of his 22 pops in a hella-hot first half alone.

This is the thing. Bogey won’t win New York the title. Brunson (maybe) will. Randle, possibly. OG Anunoby, perhaps, too. Not Bogey, because he’s not that type of player. Neither is Alec Burks, nor Isaiah Hartenstein. The latter two—along with the Croat—returned to the court on Thursday after missing one or more games before the break, and the difference is what they made.

Everybody has a bad day at some point, and yesterday was Brunson’s turn. Don’t get me wrong, though, as JB still found a way to score 21 points (11-for-11 from the charity stripe) and he finished the matchup with a game-high 12 dimes (new Sixer Buddy Hield had the second-most accounting for both teams and he stopped at six, just imagine), but someone has to put the rock in the basket and on Thursday that was all about the role/rotation players.

Bogey’s 22 were the most pops (he was perfect from three going 6-for-6) but to those you can add, in order, Precious Achiuwa's and Josh Hart’s 18 apiece, Donte DiVincenzo’s 16, Alec Burks’ seven, and Jericho Sims’ and Deuce McBride’s four each.

(No, Hartenstein didn’t score a single point nor attempt a field goal, for that matter, although he only logged 11 minutes while playing on a pitch count in his first game back from injury).

But all of the above is why this team can already turn any game into a nightmare for whoever they’re facing, and why once everybody is back and fully healthy they will have everything to contend for a place in the NBA—let alone Eastern Conference—Finals.

“You would like to have the whole unit together as much as possible,” DiVincenzo said on Thursday. “But in the grand scheme of things as long as you’re going into the last little bit of the season with everybody going into playoffs, that’s when you want to be playing your best basketball. You don’t want to be playing your best basketball in December. You want to be playing it going into April.”

Could this recent streak of players going down injured be an actual blessing in disguise for the Knicks? Are we just drinking the Kool-Aid? I guess both statements are equally valid and both questions have a halfway-true answer to them.

Not having the three main big men available has opened the door for (mainly) Hartenstein and Achiuwa to get highly valuable reps two months from the playoffs. The injuries have also shortened the amount of available bodies, forcing (mostly) Hart and DiVincenzo into much larger roles than they ever dreamed of having. No need to mention the lack of warm bodies sounded the alarm at the right time for New York to pull off a (perhaps) season-changing trade that landed Bogey and Burks in Manhattan, two more than capable veteran contributors.

There is no denying we’d all be much happier—and the team better—having a full 82-game season of the best-five-on-paper lineup getting to the court on a nightly basis. OG Anunoby came to New York and turned the Knicks' defense into an automatic blender. Julius Randle was having his third-in-four-years All-Star season. You don’t remember but last December we were celebrating Mitchell Robinson’s blocks, O-boards, and steals daily.

It’s fair to assume all three will return at some point throughout the next eight weeks leading up to the first round of the playoffs scheduled for an Apr. 20 tip-off. It’s also reasonable to say that the current rotation will know every one of the players’ strengths and weaknesses to perfection by mid-April and that all of the role players will fit smoothly with the soon-to-be-available starters even if that means taking on lesser, more specialized roles playing off the bench.

“You have to have the belief that you can win every game,” Thibodeau said. “So whoever is being called upon, get in there and get the job done.”

For now, the Knicks are 34-22 and sitting pretty in the fourth seed out East. The Doc-led Bucks (35-21) are just one game ahead, and the regression-bound Cavs (36-18) are only three up.

The Boston Celtics (league-best 44-12) are coming to the Garden on Saturday. Primetime event. Tip-off at 8:30 pm. Drink the Orange-and-Blue Kool-Aid. And don’t miss this game.