The Knicks didn’t quite need Julius Randle to blow out the Wizards on Saturday night.
Randle was home in New York with his wife, Kendra, expecting, leaving Obi Toppin as the starting power forward and promoting Kevin Knox into the rotation as the backup power forward, and the duo came through, combining for 25 points in the Knicks’ 117-99 preseason win over the Wizards.
Toppin got in early foul trouble, so Knox came off the bench and proved his critics wrong with a team-best first half. After a scoreless first half, Toppin got in his groove, too, and the rout was on at Capital One Arena, which was filled with a pro-Knicks crowd.
Knox finished with 12 points — all in the first half. Toppin added 13 points — all in the second half — and hauled in eight rebounds.
“To see the first one go in was huge,’’ Knox said. “I always tell my teammates when I see the first one go in, I feel pretty good after that. I had really good looks. They got in the paint and found me.’’
Knox knows he must make the most of Randle’s absence.
“Every minute matters,’’ Knox said. “That’s my mindset every game and make a statement. [Randle] was out so my minutes went up and Obi’s. When he comes back everything changes. So every minute I get I have to make the best of it.”
After vowing to shoot more 3-pointers, the Knicks went 24-for-52 from 3-point range. That would have set the team record if it were the regular season, but the mark of 20 from 3-point range stands.
“It’s the importance of being ready,’’ head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Knox and Toppin. “If you’re not in the rotation, your job is to work every day for when your opportunity comes. Over the course of the season everyone will get an opportunity. I watch Kevin every day and Obi. Obi’s role changes to be a starter and he handled it perfectly. Kevin the same thing. He got into the rotation. When they got in they were ready to go. That’s a team.’’
In his second preseason game in a Knicks uniform, Kemba Walker was relatively passive (six points, four assists, 2-for-7 from the field), but six Knicks finished in double figures.
RJ Barrett had three early turnovers, but finished with 18 points and hit four 3-pointers. Derrick Rose added 15 points before coming out in the fourth quarter with an apparent ankle injury. Rose said afterward he tweaked it, but it’s not serious.
In the second quarter, the Knicks grabbed a 13-point lead as Knox was drilling 3-pointers — he was 4-for-6 from deep in the game. But the Wizards rallied when Knox came out and the Knicks led by just 59-55 at intermission.
Knox, the unlikely star of the first half, got the rolls early. One of his 3-point launches bounced high off the front of the rim and in. Knox, who had fallen out of favor with Thibodeau, scored his 12 points in 10:36 of action in the first half.
Toppin had a solid run at summer league in the starting lineup, but committed three early fouls Saturday and didn’t get the ball much either.
After being held scoreless before halftime, Toppin pumped in two 3-pointers in the second half and threw down an alley-oop pass.
The Knicks also played without starting center Nerlens Noel. That gave rookie Jericho Sims a larger role, and he came off the bench for seven points and 13 rebounds.