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Ricky Rubio nearly was traded to the Knicks in 2017, but the president of basketball operations with the Timberwolves at the time — Tom Thibodeau — dealt him instead to the Jazz for a protected first-round draft pick.
Rubio insisted that revenge — or showing the Knicks what they missed out on — was not on his mind Sunday night, but the 10-year veteran guard positively scorched Thibodeau’s current team with career-highs of eight 3-pointers and 37 points off the bench in the Cavaliers’ 126-109 win at the Garden.
“Not at all. I have a lot of respect for Thibs, the way he coaches and the way he loves the game,” Rubio said. “It happened to be against him. But it was nothing personal.”
With starting point guard Collin Sexton knocked out of the game in the first half with a knee injury, Rubio was unstoppable over his 31 minutes. He buried his first eight 3-point attempts until finally missing one in the closing minutes, while also tying his season-high with 10 assists.
Asked about the Knicks’ interest in him in the past, the 31-year-old Spaniard added that Sunday’s atmosphere inside the Garden “was the best in my 10 years in the league.”
“It’s just special. One of the best arenas to play in, for sure. Playing here, I like it, it gives you a little boost,” Rubio said. “Great city, great atmosphere. Now they’re winning and they have a really good crowd. … I’m happy for them. I know they’ve been waiting to have success and fun.”
Former Nets center Jarrett Allen also was complimentary of the MSG crowd after combining with impressive fellow starting big man — and No. 3-overall draft pick — Evan Mobley for 44 points, 26 rebounds and 19-for-30 shooting in a dominant dual performance.
“Everybody knows MSG. I lived in New York. I know how New Yorkers are. I know how they can be, cheering, yelling, saying nasty things behind the bench. But Evan stayed locked in for all four quarters and didn’t let the moment get to him,” Allen said of Mobley, who dropped a career-best 26 points in his Garden pro debut. “I’ve been playing here for five years now. From when I first got to Brooklyn, you can definitely feel like the energy has changed.
“I probably will get killed for saying this, but at first it was like a tourist attraction. People coming because it’s MSG. But now it feels like they’re getting the real Knicks fans back and they’re getting the spirit of New York back.”
Still, that spirit wasn’t enough to lift the Knicks, who lost for the third time in their past four games to fall to 6-4. They dropped a half-game behind rising Cleveland (7-4), winners of four straight, in the Eastern Conference.
“If you were in that arena in the fourth quarter when we were trading buckets, when they went on their run, we held our own,” Allen said. “We didn’t get flustered, especially when we could have. It’s Madison Square Garden, it can get to your head. But we stayed locked in and stayed ready to play.”
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