It's just been three games, but Randle's already averaging 23.7 points on 55.3 percent shooting, 10 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.

Sunday night, he helped raise those stats by dropping 29 points, 14 boards and seven assists on the Bucks — last season's No. 1 seed in the East — and beat them by 20.

"[Went] into the summer to improve and come back better," Randle said after the game.

Now before getting too far ahead here, the Knicks opened their season with back-to-back double-digit losses, so even though Randle is playing well, there's still things to improve on, but this is a team sport. It's got to be a collective effort.

The Knicks are surely happy with Alec Burks so far this season, as he's been contributing as much as any bench player can.

Burks looks like a steal early on, dropping 22, 22 and 18 points off the bench in the first three games of the season. Most importantly for the Knicks, he can shoot from the perimeter — he's 10-15 from three in 83 minutes of play.

The 10-year vet signed just a one-year, $6 million deal with the Knicks during the offseason.

With the NBA playoffs expanding to include two more teams in a four-team play-in tournament for the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, the Knicks could be eyeing a playoff berth this year if they play well enough.

Between Randle's All-Star level play, Burks' three-point shooting display and the development of the rest of this group under Tom Thibodeau (Elfrid Payton had a huge comeback game Sunday after not scoring scoring a point on Saturday against the Sixers), could the Knicks shock many and grind their way into the playoffs this season?

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