The Knicks likely lost a chance at a top draft pick on Friday night by taking down the tanking Wizards, but New York did gain a better look at what it might have in starting Obi Toppin.
The former top-10 pick, now seeing more time in the starting lineup with Julius Randle out for the rest of the season, erupted for a career-high 35 points, flexing crisp passing, efficiency from beyond the arc and his usual contagious energy.
"He got hot, and it was efficient, which was even more impressive," Immanuel Quickley said. "Obi's been great. He's been working hard all the time. Really proud of him. That's my guy."
Toppin was indeed efficient, shooting 6-for-9 from downtown and 14-for-22 (64 percent) from the field. More importantly, his last two games have been his two highest workloads of the season in terms of minutes played, and in that time, he has 54 points while shooting 21-for-35 from the field and 8-for-13 from the 3-point line.
For Toppin, having that longer leash has made all the difference.
"I definitely feel a little bit more relaxed now, knowing that I'm not coming out if I make a mistake," Toppin said. "Having that opportunity's helping me a lot."
Since playing under 10 minutes the last time New York played Washington, back on March 18, Toppin has logged double-digit minutes in each of the last 11 games, seven of them coming in the starting lineup. In that time, he is averaging 16.1 points per game on 58 percent shooting, including 45 percent from downtown. Many Knicks fans have been clamoring for head coach Tom Thibodeau to give Toppin more playing time, and both the fans and the head coach have to like what they've seen of late.
"He's a great guy. He's a very positive, upbeat, high-energy guy," Thibodeau said. "Everyone loves Obi…he walks in the gym and he's got energy. He walks onto the bus, he's got energy. A team can feed off of that."
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