Getty Josh Giddey is having some fun.
The New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder had a showdown on Valentine’s Day at Madison Square Garden in what was only must-see viewing for fans of either team.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is out for the Thunder, and the Knicks are in the midst of a very rough stretch that sees them dropping further and further out of the playoff picture, and that’s also counting the NBA play-in tournament.
One bright spot for the thunder is rising rookie Josh Giddey, someone who is turning into a triple-double machine as of late.
He holds the record for being the youngest player ever with a triple-double, a feat that is impressive no matter how you slice it. In fact, he’s also the second-youngest and third-youngest, showing that although he’s a teenager, his game appears to be very refined.
NBA triple-double history now reads…
Youngest: Josh Giddey
2nd Youngest: Josh Giddey
3rd Youngest: Josh Giddey
Josh Giddey has logged his second-straight triple-double, the third of his career.
In the victory over the Knicks, he made the history books again by being the first teenager to record a triple-double at Madison Square Garden, and he is just one of four players to get one in their first game at MSG, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson and Chuck Person. That’s some good company to have.
After the game, as if his performance wasn’t enough to put the whole league on notice, he tweeted out a simple message that immediately went viral.
Giddey Breaks the Internet
I love the garden 😁
The rising star rookie for the Thunder simply tweeted out “I love the garden,” after the game, and it has garnered more than 45,000 likes at the time of writing.
Coming into the league without much fanfare, Giddey is rapidly making a name for himself and is even thrusting himself into the Rookie of the Year discussion. While many fans might think the award is going to Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers, if Giddey’s recent stretch of success continues, there might be a change of narrative in order.
Keep in mind that this performance did come against a struggling Knicks team, but it’s still a very impressive feat, especially when it came in a game where their star player Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t even playing.
Thibs Owns His Mistake
Tom Thibodeau took responsibility for using a timeout in hopes of challenging the Quentin Grimes foul with 39 seconds to go in Q4 when the Knicks had no challenges remaining:
“That’s my fault, I screwed that up”
While Giddey’s play might’ve stolen most of the headlines, a late-game blunder down the stretch may have ended up costing the Knicks a victory.
With under a minute left in regulation, the Knicks had a chance to come out with a win, but coach Tom Thibodeau called a timeout to challenge a call, a challenge he didn’t have available.
This led to the Knicks having to run up court in five seconds to get a shot off to avoid overtime. Randle did end up getting a look, but it was not successful and New York subsequently lost in overtime.
The team still had its chances in OT, but the Thunder ended up pulling away, large part to the heroics by Giddey. The Knicks definitely have a brutal road ahead of them as they continue to slip more and more out of relevancy by the day. There weren’t any changes made at the deadline, so fans should expect a lot of turnover in the offseason because what they have right now just isn’t working.
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