Something special is happening at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks aren’t the best team in the NBA. And they aren’t the best team in the Eastern Conference, though they have moved to within walking distance of the Detroit Pistons.
They are, however, ridiculously difficult to beat at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks’ 116-94 victory on Sunday over what until this weekend had been a red-hot Toronto Raptors team raised their home record to 10-1.
That’s better than any other team in the Eastern Conference. Heck, that’s better than all but one team in the NBA. Only defending champion Oklahoma City (20-1) has a better home record at 10-0.
Maybe it has something to do with sleeping in their own beds. Or maybe it’s just wanting to perform their best in front of a rabid Garden crowd. But with more than a quarter of their home games played, the Knicks are on pace to tie or beat the franchise-record home mark of 37-4 set in 1992-93. That team finished 60-22 before losing to Michael Jordan’s Bulls in six games in the Eastern Conference finals.
“Our fans make playing at home so fun, and the support they give us and energy they give us is priceless,” said Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 22 points and eight rebounds against the Raptors.
“Of course we want to give the fans the best product, the best version of ourselves every single night. But it’s the fans that bring out the best in us, and shout-outs to them. They’ve carried us to the finish line many more than just home games.”
On Sunday, the Knicks looked determined from the start to move to double digits in the home win column. They sank nine of their first 13 three-point attempts and outscored Toronto 41-22 in the first quarter as Deuce McBride scored 12 of his 14 points, going 4-for-5 from three-point range.
McBride believes it is important for the Knicks to send a message about how tough it is to beat them at the Garden.
This is a place in which top players love to shine. Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant. Reggie Miller. The game’s biggest stars love playing in front of the celebrities who line the courtside.
The Knicks want them to love it a little bit less.
“I feel like protecting home court in the NBA is really important,” McBride said. “MSG is a place where guys want to come in and really get off, so we have to be even more locked in at home than other places.”
The Knicks’ only loss at home this year was to Orlando, and it was not a pretty one. The Magic defeated the Knicks, 124-107, on Nov. 12 in a game in which Jalen Brunson suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the next two games, both against the Miami Heat.
Since his return, the Knicks (13-6) have gone 5-1 overall. Brunson has averaged 29.3 points and 5.7 assists in that span, scoring more than 30 points three times.
The Raptors (14-7) — a team the Knicks will play in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Dec. 9 in Toronto — had a nine-game winning streak going before losing to the Hornets in overtime after taking a 17-point first-half lead on Saturday.
Six players scored in double figures for the Knicks on Sunday. Josh Hart had 20 points and shot 8-for-12, going 4-for-7 from three-point range. He also had 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Brunson had 18 points and seven assists. Mikal Bridges had 14 points, two blocks and two steals. Jordan Clarkson added 13 points off the bench and Mitchell Robinson had 15 rebounds in 16:46.
The Knicks went ahead 48-24 with 10:19 left in the second quarter, but a 22-3 Toronto run cut their lead to five. The Knicks put together a 16-1 run in the third quarter for an 86-68 lead, and the Raptors never got closer than 12 again.
“I don’t know,” Hart said when asked why the team plays so well at MSG. “Obviously, the fans come out and show love and they’ve been great in terms of support. So give them love. And . . . I don’t know. Comfortable, I guess.”
Now it’s time for the Knicks to get a little more comfortable on the road, where they are 3-5. On Tuesday, they will play at Boston’s TD Garden, where they haven’t found it all that easy to win over the years.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
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