Just two days after scoring a career-high 19 points, New York Knicks rookie Immanuel Quickley followed up that performance by once again setting a new high mark in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Quickley produced 23 points, five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 27 minutes off the bench. He shot 9-of-17 from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range, to lead the Knicks’ efforts off of the bench.
The 25th overall pick recently went through a four-game shooting slump, in which he totaled just 10 points on 8% (2-of-24) shooting from the field. Since then, though, Quickley has responded by scoring 42 points on 50% shooting from the field in two games.
It’s safe to say that he has snapped out of that funk.
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Following his outing on Friday, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was asked if he would consider moving Quickley into the starting lineup. The veteran coach kept it diplomatic and added that every possible tweak to the lineup is in play after dropping five straight games.
The problem for Thibodeau is a good one, though. With a few more strong performances, Quickley will likely force Thibodeau to really consider making such a move.
In the meantime, Quickley has given the Knicks a strong offensive boost off the bench this season.
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