Julius Randle and Obi Toppin shared the court for a grand total of 39 minutes last season. They’re already closing in on that number this season.
In part because of the absence of Taj Gibson, who became a father on Tuesday, and Nerlens Noel’s left knee injury, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau went to the small-ball lineup in Wednesday’s double-overtime win over the Celtics, to impressive results.
“It got us going, it got us into the open floor, which was good,” Thibodeau said. “That group played really well together.”
When Randle and Toppin were on the floor together for a shade under 16 minutes, the Knicks outscored the Celtics by 12, with Toppin burning Boston in transition, taking off after missed shots and finishing with ease at the other end. In 28 minutes, the second-year forward scored 14 points.
“When I am on the court with him and I see that he has the rebound, I take off and that is what I do best,” Toppin said.
Thibodeau has said the Knicks lose defense, in particular rim protection, when he uses Randle at center and Toppin at power forward. But playing them together, now that Toppin has improved at both ends of the floor, makes them difficult to defend. With five players all capable of stretching the floor, the improved court-spacing gives Randle more room to maneuver.
“I think it was really effective, us being able to create activity, get stops and get out and run on the offensive end,” Randle said. “If they put me at the 5, I feel like any 5 in the league, it’s going to be a mismatch. I do embrace that role, but I’ll do whatever Thibs asks me.”
The Knicks experimented with the lineup some in the preseason and it worked in the opener for significant stretches. Randle and Toppin shared the court for the second part of the third quarter, when the Knicks took over, and almost the entire closing stretch of the fourth, before Thibodeau went back to Mitchell Robinson for most of the two overtimes.
It remains to be seen if Thibodeau will keep going to it once Gibson and Noel are back. But if Toppin continues to perform, he may not have a choice.
Randle has been fined $15,000 for throwing the game ball into the stands at the conclusion of Wednesday’s game, the NBA announced Thursday.
Wednesday night’s Knicks-Celtics game was ESPN’s most-watched season opener in 18 years, according to Nielsen. It averaged 1.96 million viewers, peaking with 2.87 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 p.m.