As a franchise, the Knicks go back to the very beginning of the league’s history, even before the league was known as the NBA–in 1946, the team opened its schedule in the BAA (the NBA’s fore-runner) with a game against the Toronto Huskies, a team that folded after that season.

They’ve played more than 6,000 games since, but on Tuesday night, something happened for the Knicks that had not happened before: Two players registered a triple-double in the same game. 

It happened against a flagging Mavericks team, and just as the Knicks were in need of some momentum. The Knicks had gone just 4-6 in their last 10 games, most of which were played without star Jalen Brunson. 

But New York has needed different stars to step forward without Brunson, who is still out with an ankle linjury. In the 128-113 win, the Knicks got 26 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists from big man Karl-Anthony Towns and 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists from guard Josh Hart. 

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns

Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

OG Anunoby had 35 points on 15-for-24 shooting, and Mikal Bridges had 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting. 

During the game, the Knicks pointed out on Twitter/X: “Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart are now the first pair of Knicks teammates in franchise history to record a triple-double in the same game.”

Towns pointed out that it was good for Hart to post box-score numbers, because so much of what Hart contributes goes beyond the stat sheet. 

“The way he does it is special, it’s all energy and effort and for the betterment of the team. I’m just happy that Josh gets stats on the sheet that show the impact he’s making on the game,” Towns said. “There’s much more stats that don’t show up on the stat sheet that he does for our team.”

The Knicks are 45-26, and while their hold on the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference has been firm, they are only 3.0 games ahead of the Pacers, who have won seven out of their last eight games.