DALLAS – It’s three o’clock in Big D.
Buoyed by a devastating first-half dominance, the Knicks picked up their third straight win in this six-game road trip and blasted the red-hot Mavericks in a stunning 107-77 game Wednesday at the American Airlines Center.
With Julius Randle’s wife Kendra, young son Kayden and his mother Carolyn Kyles sitting in the yard, the Knicks rolled around Randle’s hometown.
Randle, who scored 46 points in Monday’s win in Sacramento and has always played well in Dallas, stopped the Mavericks in the second half and scored 26 points and five assists. After the break, he had 19 points.
Dallas failed, missing the first 19 three-point shots, and trailed by 28 points in the second quarter. The Mavericks (40-26) worked their way to an embarrassment of 6 of 44 with 3 points.
“It was crazy,” Randle said. “But even with 3 we didn’t shoot so well. It was probably our best defensive performance this year.”
Julius Randle, who scored 26 points, is looking to make a move against Spencer Dinwiddie during the Knicks’ 107–77 smashing victory over the Mavericks.
All five Knicks starters hit double figures as they went 28–38 and snapped Dallas’ five-game winning streak. RJ Barrett had 18 points and four assists, mostly in the first half.
After defeating the Clippers, Kings and Mavericks, the Knicks are 3¹/₂ games behind Atlanta and Charlotte, who are tied for ninth place.
R. J. Barrett, who scored 18 points, gets an A from Alec Burks during the Knicks win.
“The glass is half full,” Randle said when asked if this was a real Knicks run.
A return to Dallas has always given Randle a spark in his career. He playfully interrupted coach Tom Thibodeau’s post-match press conference to continue the evening with his family. The Knicks stopped in Dallas before heading to Memphis to end that six-game trip on Friday.
“It’s automatic, man,” Randle said. “Played in front of my mom, sister, obviously my wife and sons were here. But every time I play in front of my family, I always want to give them a nice little show. I like coming home. Sleeping in your own bed is not New York.”
It was an astounding collection of ineptitude for the Mavericks, who were 0-for-19 for 3 at the end of the first half. The NBA record is 22 misses with 3 points early in the game, and 19 is the Mavericks’ record for futility.
“A lot of them were wide open,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “You do something, you miss something. And we missed a lot.”
Kidd, who was interviewing for Thibodeau, hugged Knicks president Leon Rose and chief counsel William Wesley in center court after the buzzer sounded. This time it was Knicks executives with big smiles.
It wasn’t until former Net player Spencer Dinwiddie hit a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left in the half that the Mavericks fell behind the historic Schneid.
Immanuel Quickly intercepts the ball from Maxi Kleber of Dallas during the Knicks’ first half win. USA TODAY Sports
“We flew, we moved, we helped each other,” Barrett said. “We drove them off the line. The next man helped. Overall, it was great defensively.”
The Mavericks rallied in the third quarter and a Luka Doncic 3 over Taj Gibson led the Mavericks to a 74–60 record with 2:52 left in the period. Doncic finished with a narrow 31 points as he faced five different Knicks defensemen.
But Randle became a powerhouse, getting to the rim in two ferocious buckets, including a nifty reverse stop. Going into the final period, the Knicks maintained an 83–65 lead.
“Who doesn’t love to play at home,” Randle said.
By intermission, the Knicks had taken a 61–34 lead. The Knicks’ defense was solid, and Dallas’ farthest shot before 1:40 left in the inning was from 11 feet.
Meanwhile, center Mitchell Robinson, while pretending to be ill, received many loud hits, including catching Miles McBride’s 4-foot airball, which he rammed. Robinson was 4-for-4 in the half and scored 11 points.
“These guys were great, they played great basketball,” Thibodeau said of Dallas. “Sometimes there are nights like this. But I love the way our boys are playing and the intensity with which we play and the solidarity on both sides of the ball.”