OG Anunoby block party shows why Knicks fans love this team

There was one sequence that stood out from all the rest. That’s saying something when you spend most of the fourth quarter nursing a 20-point lead, cruising toward a 125-101 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

This one was telling, though. This was a reminder that Madison Square Garden, when it has a basketball team with which it’s fully engaged, understands the rare pleasures of basketball better than any gym, any arena, any fieldhouse you can name.

The Knicks had shaken off the first-quarter blahs, turned what early on had been a 13-point deficit into a 22-point lead, 95-73. You could sense the crowd was growing restless, as had the last two at the Garden, matching blowouts of the Pelicans and the Magic. This one was of the same blueprint.

They were eager to start chanting for Tyler Kolek and Matt Ryan.