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Before Wednesday night, it had been 2,907 days since Alec Burks scored a career-high 34 points during a 2014 bout between the Jazz and the Nuggets. However, the New York Knicks wing hit the reset button on that particular clock during his team’s 94-85 win over the Pistons in the Motor City.
In 27 minutes off the bench for New York, Burks hit 12-of-17 shots — and 5-of-8 from distance — to match that career-high point total. He also added four boards and three steals in the game.
The 11th-year pro wasn’t just padding stats, though. He and his bench cohorts were doing everything in their power to help compensate for one of the more woeful performances by the Knicks’ starters in recent memory.
Despite the fact that Detroit entered the contest with no Jerami Grant and eight players in health and safety protocols — while owning the NBA‘s worst record at 5-27 — the Knicks somehow found themselves trailing by 14 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.
So, when the fourth quarter began, Burks and Co. went to work.
Picking up the Slack
By the time the final frame rolled around, it was clear that Tom Thibodeau had seen enough of his first five, and he probably wasn’t the only one.
With the exception of substitute starter Quentin Grimes, who registered a minus-17 for the night, the Knicks were outscored by 21 or more points when any one of their starters was on the court. So, the Knicks coach opted to go with a lineup of Burks, Miles McBride, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin and Taj Gibson for the fourth quarter.
That group wouldn’t leave the floor for the remainder of the contest. Instead, they went on to outscore the Pistons — who were held to 2-of-16 shooting — by 16 in the quarter. Meanwhile, Burks scored 19 of his 34 points on just eight shots to lead the way offensively.
“We just came in and tried to play hard; tried to turn the game around,” Burks said post-game. “[We tried to] make plays on the defensive end and share the ball on the offensive end.”
As he sees it, it was just one of those nights for the starters, and the bench was simply doing its job.
“Sometimes that happens. Eighty-two-game season — sometimes it happens,” he said. “Everybody has to bring something every night. That’s why you’ve got so many great players on our teams.”
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Julius Randle Is ‘Nicked Up’
While none of the starters were good against Detroit, Julius Randle had a particularly rough outing. The 2021 All-Star was 2-for-11 from the floor and scored just five points in the game; it was his lowest point total in a Knicks uniform. Consequently, Randle has now made just seven of his 31 shot attempts over the last two games.
However, Thibodeau had his big man’s back after the win, indicating that he’s playing through some kind of injury.
“He’s nicked up,” Thibodeau said, via the New York Daily News. “He’s giving us everything he has. He’s not making any excuses. He just goes out there and keeps going.”
Although his shot was failing him, Randle did chip in with 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals in the game.
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