Veteran coach Tom Thibodeau got his first win as a Knicks head coach. Forward Obi Toppin got his first points as a Knicks rookie.
They each made sharp debuts as the Knicks won their preseason opener, 90-84, over the Pistons at fan-less Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
The entire Knicks franchise was benched for exactly nine months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the return was almost worth the wait as Thibodeau’s new defense was disruptive and Toppin was dynamic, especially in the first half.
“It was amazing,’’ Toppin said. “It’s still feels unreal. Our guys did what we had to do today to pull the W.’’
Drafted last month with No. 8 pick, the Brooklyn-born, 6-foot-9 forward was silky smooth as he came off the bench. He notched 11 points, shooting 4-for-9 from the field, and had seven rebounds in 20:11 while spelling starting power forward Julius Randle.
Toppin committed four fouls and made a couple of ill-advised passes in the second half. Thibodeau said the Pistons were coming at the rookie more in the second half and he needs to read the defense a little better. But otherwise, Thibodeau was excited enough, calling it “40 pretty good minutes.’’
“[It was] good,’’ Thibodeau said. “The first game, very aggressive to start the game. He scored the ball then there was more attention on him. For his first game he did a lot of good things and saw when things work in the first half it’s different in the second. But overall, I loved his aggressiveness.’’
The Pistons shot just 32 percent and committed 22 turnovers as the Knicks swarmed passing lanes and knocked balls away.
“Just the effort,’’ said Thibodeau, who still showed his anger on the sidelines at each miscue. “It’s a first preseason game, so I don’t want to read much into it.’’
During one timeout, Thibodeau, who has a 352-246 career record, lashed out at his team after the defense hesitated and allowed Blake Griffin to drill a wide open 3-pointer. No, it wasn’t perfect for Thibodeau’s tastes, as he withheld lavish praise.
“We were high in turnovers as well and I think that’s not uncommon at the start of the preseason,’’ Thibodeau said. “They had some unforced errors and had some good shots that they missed.”
The Knicks led by as many as 18 points early in the fourth quarter before holding on, with Randle hitting the clinching 14-footer with 34.8 seconds left that drove the lead to eight points. Thibodeau felt the Knicks got lax on defense late, but it could only go down as a success though the Pistons are considered one of the East’s leasts.
“He’s a defensive coach, so he emphasized defense and I feel like today we did great defensively,’’ Toppin said. “We knew what we had to do to win. That’s how we’re going to go into every single game moving forward. Coach is a great coach, he knows what he’s talking about and defense is going to help us win a lot of games.”
Toppin entered with 4:17 left in the first quarter, subbing in for Randle. While the rookie showed nerves in his opening minute, missing his first two shots, including a wildly banked 3-point miss, he then got rolling.
Toppin said earlier in the day he was not yet nervous, but when his number was called, he tensed up a bit.
“I wouldn’t say it hit me, but it was kind of a shock,’’ Toppin said. “As soon as coach called my name and told me go to the scorer’s table, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s my time.’ When I got in, I had all my other guys with me so I wasn’t really nervous or scared. Just because I knew everybody else was going to pick me up.’’
The 22-year-old scored on two straight possessions on post-ups — the first on a spin move to the basket for a layup and the second on a soft turnaround in the lane.
In just 10:30 of first-half action, Toppin put up nine of his 11 points, including a fastbreak lay-in after he grabbed the rebound to start the play.
Nerlens Noel, making the start at center over Mitchell Robinson, notched all his 10 points in the first half and had eight rebounds and two blocks. Robinson came off the bench to secure four steals and two blocks.
The Knicks’ 2019 lottery pick, RJ Barrett, after an 0-for-6 start, settled down and finished with 15 points (7-for-16 shooting) off a strong second half.
Before the game, Toppin sounded ready, saying he didn’t have any nerves.
“It feels a little different,’’ Toppin said. “I’ve been training for this moment for a very long time. And the time is finally here.’’
“I haven’t ever gone that long without playing a game before, so it was interesting,’’ Barrett said. “Everybody had my back, everybody was positive. Second half was able to slow down so it was good overall.’’