The game carried the kind of frenzied buzz I'd expect from one of those abisinthe lollipops if it were fueled with the actual thing the French rhapsodized about at the turn of the previous century: sweet and mind-altering all at once. Some notes:

*  McGrady's 26 point performance was rather subtle for such a marquee acquisition: he was used for 4-5 minute stints in the 1st half because of his lack of play the last few months (and still scored 19 points), then used for one 8 minute stretch at the start of the second half. It looked like that would be it for him given a rough 20-25 minute cap originally envisioned by the coaches, but D'Antoni rolled the dice with him for the final 6:28 after loud MSG chants of "We Want T-Mac!". He had a basket, 2 rebounds and an assist in those final minutes of regulation, and very nearly sealed the win for the Knicks...except for  2 unfortunate missed FTs with a minute left that started the Thunder comeback in the final minute.

T-Mac definitely looks a bit slower and thicker, and it wouldn't be wise to have expectations of him returning to the form of his peak days. Even with that, it's impressive to see the way he carries himself on the court compared to the younger and more athletic players on the Knicks: there's a confidence with the ball and a level of court awareness that's either missing or feels grafted on to his teammates by the coaches. His passing ability for a wing has always been outstanding, and Knick fans can only hope that some of it rubs off onto players like Gallo and Chandler (whose composure and decision making in close games still needs a lot of improvement).

*  Eddie House was at his frenzied, D'Antoni-era best, quick releasing his long jumpers as if the shot clock were running down on every possession, going after loose balls, and showing more savvy with his off-ball activity on offense and defense than I would have expected -- in particular, a two man game he ran with TMac in the fourth quarter for several possessions that was a reasonable facsimile of what Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have done on his old team the last couple of years. What I liked about Eddie is that he never had the defeated, slump shouldered look some of the Knicks tend to show when the other team starts to apply pressure. It's a cliche, but a heady dose of the unflappability and winning attitude he displayed while with the Celtics (even if it looks obnoxious to all other basketball fans) wouldn't be a bad thing for this team.

*  Sergio Rodriguez was exactly as expected, maybe a little better. Full of energy, always looking to create, and darting into spaces (even when there wasn't much space to dart into), with an odd sort of shuffle step after several seconds of pounding the ball that launches his forays into passing or attacking the basket. It's hard to judge him on the basis of such an unusual game with so many new faces and lineups, but he got all the key minutes in the fourth quarter and overtime when T-Mac sat, so I look forward to seeing what he can do once he settles in. 5 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers, and 2 for 8 shooting (that last part needs to improve) in 25 minutes.

*  All three of the new guys ran pick and rolls with David Lee effortlessly for baskets.  Very encouraging, and Lee should suffer no ill effects in his role in the offense...if anything, it may reduce the pressure on him to be the starting point of the offense on such a significant proportion of plays.

*  Most unexpected surprise: Jonathan Bender. He got minutes as a result of McGrady's minutes being rationed, and looked the most spry and versatile he's ever been since...the last time he played the Thunder, when he had 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 20 minutes of play. His numbers weren't nearly as gaudy in last night's game, but he actually looked more useful: his defense on Durant the few times he matched up on him was passable, he was aggressive on offense and on the boards, and he most importantly got off a couple of assists in the flow of play -- in the past, he's too often launched a weak 3 pointer whenever he gets the ball. If he can pick up his play the rest of the season as a result of the infusion of new faces, he'll be an intriguingly cheap option to consider for this summer.

*  It's an obvious pleasure to watch the stars on opposing teams do their thing, but it's not always fun to watch it happen against the Knicks, especially when the expiring contract all-stars don't typically put up much resistance. Let's give some credit to Kevin Durant, though, for working his magic against some decent defense (by Knick standards). Last time the teams played at OKC, the Knicks tried an assortment of double teams and gimmick defenses, with the idea of making Durant more of a playmaker. This time around, the Knicks mostly played Durant straight with a minimum of hard double teams, especially after KD beat early double teams twice to hit Westbrook flashing to the lane for baskets.

Durant started off strong with 14 points and 2 assists in his first 15 minutes of play, with his greatest effectiveness coming in transition or matched up against Chandler. Over the next 27 minutes of play in regulation, he had 12 points, 5 turnovers, and 1 assist and missed 10 of 13 shots, as Gallinari spent more time matched up on him (Gallo protected the 3 point line particularly well -- the points he gave up were in early transition or drives where Durant used his quickness). KD then made that final killer 3 pointer to tie the game in regulation, and scored 7 points in OT (meaning 10 points in the final six minutes).

The pleasure of watching superstars like Kobe, Lebron or Wade is obvious to even the most casual of fans, because the moves and athleticism that fuel their scoring are out there for everyone to see. Durant's scoring is smoother and "quieter", but no less spectacular if you take the time to scrutinize his possessions and look at how he scores. He has a remarkably consistent and economical shooting stroke that he gets off effortlessly with just the slightest space running off a curl, or isolated behind the 3 point line. And he's gotten better at using the aggressiveness of defenders against them, as he did last night when he twice faked toward screens and then went the other way for baskets. A lot of times when watching Knick games, I rewind over plays with weary resignation seeing blunders on help defense or sloppy execution of offense; but when it's the Thunder, I can't help going over plays involving Durant. I could watch hours of tape on him.

*  Despite the decision to defend Durant with a single defender with some soft help, Westbrook still destroyed the Knicks (again), exploding to the lane over and over again for layups. He was an equal opportunity abuser of Knicks in this game: Duhon, House, and Rodriguez were all burnt at one time or another. His elbow jumper comes and goes, but it seems to go in most of the time against the Knicks, making him almost impossible to defend, like a guard equivalent of Amare Stoudamire. And the most unsung player of the game award goes to Jeff Green, a 30 percent 3 point shooter who hit a very difficult shot in regulation and another in OT. The latter shot was taken from a spot where he's shot 11 percent all year. Knicks can't be blamed too much for that. (The Knicks *can* be blamed for giving up 20 points off their 17 turnovers, and 56 points in the paint)

*  There was a lot of internet wailing last night over the plays that were run for the Knicks at the end of regulation and in overtime, one of which was superb (a pass to House who was freed as a result of multiple screens for a corner basket), but the others which resulted in heavily contested 3 pointers or weak inside shots. Let's keep in mind that halfcourt plays designed to produce a quick basket generally work best when 1) there's a player skilled enough to command the attention of more than one defender 2) there are more than one or two passers capable of moving the ball to a second or third option 3) players on the court can set credible screens and  4) there is a player capable of inbounding the ball effectively, not a trivial thing in the closing seconds. It also helps if the players on the floor have been together for more than one game. The reality is that the player best equipped to create his own shot in regulation and OT for the Knicks was gassed at the end, and was mostly used as a decoy in those sidelines out of bound plays. 

I'd rather withhold judgement on the poor execution in those final sets until the lineups stabilize a little...and I'm still going to be realistic about the fact that those sets will still have a modest chance of success until more talent arrives. I'm also going to give credit to the Thunder defenders, whose length and quickness made it very difficult for the Knicks to get that much needed sliver of opportunity in the closing seconds.

*  Wilson Chandler and Al Harrington looked most befuddled by the presence of the rental players; Wilson had some highlight-worthy scoop drives, but also had difficulty regulating the pace of his game surrounded by so much manic energy (five turnovers), while Al mostly looked lost on offense (2 for 10 shooting despite many fine passes from Sergio to set him up). Gallo was very good on defense, and better on offense than his last atrocious game against the Thunder, though still tentative.

*  The final play of regulation that led to the Durant 3 pointer was a terrific instance of deception where Durant inbounded to Westbrook, Collison ran away from the ball and then circled back to fake a screen for the ball, then screened off Gallo which freed Durant. The fail on the play was David Lee, who inexplicably dropped back into the paint when Collison moved up to screen, rather than moving up to crowd the 3 point line and switch on the screen. Collison deserves credit for doing the dirty work most of the game on screens, garbage baskets, and charges; as he said in his post game interview about the screen on Gallo, "I just wanted to get set...it felt pretty good to pop someone like that". (The Knicks could use someone like that...oh right, he was traded for cap space! OK, never mind...)

*  Walsh could certainly use a tape of this game to show future free agents how good New York and MSG can be with star power in the building; the energy was so good that even Clyde was caught up in it enough to deliver one of his best broadcast performances, throwing out the multisyllabic words and rhymes at a breakneck pace, as if mandated by D'Antoni to match the Knick pace. There were so many good examples, but the one that comes to mind is when D'Antoni ran onto the floor to berate the refs on a non-call on Lee; Clyde spat out "Cantankerous! Belligerent! Pugnacious!" in a perfect cadence to describe D'Antoni's heated mood. New Yorkers may not have Lebron, but Clyde beats Austin Carr nine ways till Sunday.

*  On to the next one. With 3 games in 4 days (last night's game plus the back to back with the Bucks and Celtics starting tomorrow), McGrady's knee is going to be tested heavily, and there are likely to be more minutes for Toney Douglas and possibly Harrington. Despite the playoff hopes continuing to recede, I'll give credit to Walsh for giving fans something to look forward to in these final 28 games beyond what to do with cap space.