A new star emerges for the New York Knicks

The Knicks turned to an unexpected hero on Christmas Day as they mounted the most sensational comeback in festive history since Buddy the Elf got his Christmas spirit back and saved the day.

Behind by 17 points early in the fourth quarter, the Knicks were staring into the abyss; fans were slumped in their chairs as the Cavaliers ran riot at Madison Square Gardens, galloping around like Rudolph with a new pot of red polish.

And then Tyler Kolek turned on the style. He scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to help pull off the victory in a game that ended 126-124, with a key block with seconds to go against Donovan Mitchell enough to make fans believe. “We always talk about next play speed,” Kolek said.

“I saw him running, and honestly if he ran and just did a regular layup, I wouldn’t have caught up to him. But he wanted to do some windmill s--t. He slowed down, he was trying to do something crazy.”

“You got to change the game, you got to do something different”

“Change the game,” Kolek said. “That’s what I always say. Cam Payne actually taught me that last year whenever we won a game. You got to change the game, you got to do something different to make the game flow differently."

“It’s fun, man,” he added, beaming from ear to ear. “Playing at The Garden on Christmas, it doesn’t get much better than that. I’m grateful for the fans that come out and support us every night.”

Speaking of the fans, they were chanting his name around the stands as the game drew to a close, conscious of the fact that Jalen Brunson’s 34 points, Jordan Clarkson’s 25 points, and Mitchell Robinson’s eight of his 13 boards wouldn’t have meant anything were it not for the actions of the Rhode Island native.

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The Knicks are next up against the Hawks on December 27. The game will be played at State Farm Arena, in Atlanta.

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