The shouts have been incessant recently, fans and the media have wondered when Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau will change his starting lineup to insert the novice electrifier Immanuel Quickley instead of Elfrid Payton.
Payton responded with his best game in a few weeks on Wednesday night in Chicago, helping them propel the Knicks to a 107-103 victory over the Bulls at United Center.
Payton recorded 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes – his longest in seven games – and Quickley added nine points in just 13 minutes.
Julius Randle connected with five triples and finished with a maximum score of 27 points, while RJ Barrett scored 17 for the Knicks (10-13). They did not reach 10 victories until the 34th match of last season, when they started 10-29 and finished the year with a mark of 21-45.
Zach LaVine scored 24 points, and Thaddeus Young added 19 from the bench for the Bulls, who shot just 6 for 36 (16.7 percent) from the 3-point range. Lauri Markkanen scored just four points in the second half and nine overall for Chicago, after winning 30 in a 110-102 victory over the Knicks on Monday.
The Bulls (8-12) dropped an 18-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to three, 99-96, with 5:45 left after a 20-5 run. But a key 3 from Reggie Bullock (nine points) and a short jump from Payton completed the advantage at eight.
Payton played just 18 minutes in Monday’s loss, with Quickley recording 30 from the bench. But the Knicks starting guard won half of his team’s points in an opening 12-4 run. He finished 10th in the opening quarter at 5-5, while Randle buried three straight triples at the end of the period as the Knicks won a 34-17 lead.
The 10 points in the first 12 minutes matched Payton’s high score for any of the previous six games.
Payton also scored seven rebounds while playing the entire quarter, and Quickley fell to a runner in the opening minute of the second. Beginner teammate Obi Toppin also scored a 3 when he first entered the game and then another jumper for the five points in 10 minutes.
Quickley’s recent offensive rise – 20.6 points per game from the previous five appearances – has moved the No. 25 draft pick to second place in all NBA rookies in the score (12.6 ppg overall), despite the fact that he played less than 20 minutes (19.7) on the exit. He only follows the number 1 – Anthony Edwards general team from Timberwolves at 13.6 points per match.
The Bulls closed out at 10 on a Lavine jumper in the middle of the second quarter. But Barrett scored eight of the 14 points in the first half during this period, although his expensive entry figure in the final seconds led to a delay by Young for a 63-52 Knicks lead at the break. Thibodeau had stressed before the game the importance of avoiding such falls.
“You have to bring energy to the whole game,” Thibodeau said. “If you have a single malfunction, a guy returns slowly, a guy complains to the official, whether it’s frustration, thinking you were fouled, you will end up giving up an open shot or a throw.
“We cannot afford to do that. So we have to have discipline. There will be missed calls, there will be some frustration. Come back. If you have a point to make to an official, do it during a dead ball. You can’t do this while the game is playing. ”
The Bulls continued to go 3 points clear, missing the first six attempts to open the third quarter. Chicago climbed back into the ninth with 2:22 left in the period, but subsequent 3s from Quickley and Randle (fifth) gave the Knicks a 91-76 lead in the final quarter.