The New York Knicks managed to hand the Memphis Grizzlies a rare loss after a third-quarter stampede helped them pull off a 103-98 win. The victory makes it three straight for the Knicks, but despite coach David Fizdale asking them not to make it about him, shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. insists his teammates definitely went to war to avenge his firing.

“Coming into halftime, Fizz knew that we had that type of mindset coming into the game, he told us at halftime just to calm down and don't make it about him. (But) that's what we were playing for,” Hardaway told ESPN's Tim MacMahon. “We were playing for Coach.”

Fizdale's rift with Grizzlies center Marc Gasol was well-chronicled, and one that ultimately resulted in his firing after losing eight straight games through the early get-go back in 2017.

The firing was one of many concerns teams had prior to hiring, concerns David Fizdale had to clean up through the interview process — first owning up to it and then explaining his newfound approach to coaching in the league.

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David Fizdale has always been a player's coach, until he wasn't that player's coach, resulting in that smear on his brief head-coaching resume.

The Knicks did their part by pounding the Grizzlies on the glass and staying persistent at the free-throw line (shot 27-of-32 from the foul line), managing to beat a team in the hunt for the Western Conference's top spot — even after Memphis blocked a season-high 19 shots on Sunday night, becoming the first NBA team to beat another racking up as many blocks in a game.

This win had to be sweet for David Fizdale.