Knicks 143, Hawks 120: Scenes from such a ridiculously fun game

WOW.

Where to even start?

The Knicks absolutely demolished the Hawks pretty much right from the word “go” tonight. Trae Young got his, but the Knicks played smart defense and went on an absolutely dominant run from the late first to second quarter, a stretch that would prove enough to basically bury the Hawks. New York played fast, potent, destructive offense, leading to an absolutely un-Knicks 143 points to the Hawks’ 120.

RJ Barrett led the way for the Knicks, basically taking whatever he wanted on his way to setting a new career high with 27 points on 10-13 shooting (2-3 from three).

Everything was working for the rook. His jumper...

...drawing fouls...

...oh, and HIGHLIGHTS!

Look, the Hawks suck just as much as the Knicks (well, clearly more, actually). I get that this was an easy matchup. But this was easily the best that RJ Barrett has looked in his young career. Speaking of...

Mitchell Robinson! Oh my goodness, Mitchell Robinson. Talk about a dominant effort.

Final tallies for Mitchell: a career-high 22 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 29 minutes. He was out there looking like Wally’s favorite player growing up, the Human Highlight Film, Dominique Williams.

Kevin Knox too! I mean like, look, every guy on the team looked more or less amazing tonight, but Kevin Knox went CRAZY.

Knox finished with 17 points on 7-14 shooting. Marcus Morris scored the quietest 22 points on 6-11 shooting ever. Julius Randle had 17 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. Dennis Smith Jr. even made his return to the floor and notched eight points, five rebounds and five assists. Just unheard of amounts of optimism and awesomeness tonight all around.

Such a fun game. Might even be worth staying up for the replay at midnight. MMiranda will have the recap later. GO THE KNICKS.