It’s getting to be that time of year again. The time of year where Kyle “Irish Black Santa” O’Quinn starts to feel the Christmas spirit, as well as the spirit of Eire, and also the spirit of his African ancestors. All three of these spirits combine into the puffy-bearded force known as O’Quinn.
He picked up where Michael Beasley left off tonight, following Beasley’s 24 first-half points with 18 second-half points of his own. Somehow, it didn’t feel as impressive, partly because of the 6-point differential in their performances but also because he hit a bunch of free throws to get there. Still, 20 total points for Irish Black Santa is nothing to sneeze it. The emergence of Kanter as a legit player has really hurt his minutes (sound familiar?), and only in his absence was he able to play his true game without fear.
For those wondering, his true game involves scoring interior buckets, rebounding, and sometimes making Jokic-esque passes to cutters. It does not involve three-pointers, even though the whole reason the Knicks signed him in the first place was because it looked like he was developing a three-ball. Whoops!