Immanuel Quickley offered a 12-minute tease in the opening of the Indiana Knicks season, then came out with a hip pointer.
A week and a half later, while the Knicks were returning to Indiana, the rookie goalkeeper finally returned.
Quickley had an instant impact and finished with nine points in 15 minutes, while the Knicks defeated the Pacers, 106-102, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“A little rusty, obviously, but overall very satisfied,” said coach Tom Thibodeau. “Good energy. You can see that he is smart about making mistakes, which is very important. ”
After impressing in the pre-season, then missing four games with the injury he suffered when he collided with Myles Turner on Dec. 23, Quickley showed the ability to drive at the rim and make mistakes along the way. , doing it three times in his first nine minutes in the first half. General election no. 25 also drained a 3-pointer.
“It will pick up the pace very quickly,” Thibodeau said. “He is very talented and intelligent and he is a great worker. I like his attitude, I like his approach. He will be a very good player in this league for a long time. “
Thibodeau took his first technical foul as Knicks head coach, with 5:33 left in the third quarter, while making a wrong call on Julius Randle.
“We’re just trying to win,” Thibodeau said. “We try to protect each other, that’s my job, to make sure we get a fair share of calls.
“Everything we have to do to win – I don’t like to receive technical mistakes and I certainly don’t want anyone to receive technical mistakes in the fourth quarter. So they are hard to invent, but they are usually quite a bit technical. “
Austin Rivers, who played in his second game of the season after being sidelined with a groin injury, drove to the rim for a bucket early in the second quarter before falling and blocking his head in pillar. He stayed down for the possession that followed, but after holding his neck during a timeout, he stayed in the game and finished with 15 points.
Veteran goalkeeper Alec Burks (sprained left ankle) missed the third game in a row and is still on the day, but “making good progress,” Thibodeau said.
Although Quickley’s return helped the Knicks on guard, they were still short on position, with Frank Ntilikina (right knee sprain) and Dennis Smith Jr. (left contused quad) remaining out.
Debutant striker Obi Toppin (tense right leg) and Omari Spellman (hard right knee) continued to be injured.