Knicks 125, Pistons 81: Scenes from Norvel Pelle, the Willis Reed of garbage time

The New York Knicks have been scuffling of late. What they needed Saturday night was a nice, easy victory over a bad Detroit Pistons squad. Boy, did they ever get it.

The Knicks laid a historic 125-81 beat-down on the Pistons. It was the franchise’s largest road victory since 1972. That’s nice.

The game started off delightfully, as the Knicks scored the first 14 points of the game en route to a 41-15 first quarter drubbing. But the Pistons didn’t go away...at first, at least. They climbed back to within 17 points early in the third quarter, and there were some sketchy moments there for a minute or two.

But the Knicks clamped down on defense once again, and pushed the lead from comfortable to laughable. Julius Randle had 29 points in just three quarters. RJ Barrett didn’t shoot much (14 points on 5-7 shooting), but he made his presence known on the defensive end.

The fourth quarter featured a ton of much-needed garbage time. Hell yea, we even got some encouraging Obi Toppin minutes for the second game in a row.

To top things off, recent 10-day contract big man Norvel Pelle got his first minutes as a Knick, and won some fans for life. He got fouled on a dunk attempt in the final minute and totally jacked up his finer six ways from Sunday.

These are the moments when heroes are born. Pelle stayed in the game, shot his free throws, and blocked two shots leading to a Kevin Knox three.

Norvel Pelle forever. Knicks forever. Recap to come.