There are still plenty of nights when you watch Donovan Mitchell on League Pass, plenty of mornings when you study the Cavaliers’ box scores, and it’s impossible not to wonder what might have been. 

Mitchell is that good. He has been that good this year — 29.2 points on average, a 50.2 shooting percentage, 43 percent from 3-point range — for the 18-11 Cavs, pushing them to the ceiling of the second cut of teams in the East, behind Boston and Milwaukee, crowded with the Sixers and the Nets. He could have been a Knick. Wanted to be a Knick. 

Isn’t a Knick. And sometimes, that still stings. 

But a funny thing has happened to the Knicks the past few weeks, specifically during this five-game winning streak that has, for the moment, rejiggered and reformatted a lot of the narratives surrounding the team. They are playing so much harder than they were a month ago. They are an entirely different team on defense. 

And most pleasing — and surprising? 

It looks like they may have the makings of a backcourt that can not only generate buzz and excitement the way terrific backcourts can, but can also allow the Knicks to rethink where they truly belong in the Eastern Conference order of merit. 

Jalen Brunson was always going to help in that regard, and from Day 1 he has been everything the Knicks hoped he would be when they signed him to a four-year, $104 million deal in the summer. But the emergence of Quentin Grimes as a legitimate running mate to Brunson over the past few weeks has allowed the Knicks to look, and feel, far more complete than they have in years. 

They aren’t Clyde and Pearl. They aren’t what Brunson/Mitchell — or Brunson/Dejounte Murray, for that matter — would have been, at least not right now. 

But if you’re looking for a place to fertilize a serious NBA team in 2022, the backcourt is a hell of a place to plant those seeds. 

Says Brunson of Grimes: “He’s really special. He feels great, looks great, and he’s been really producing for us.” 

Says Grimes of Brunson: “When he kicks the ball to me I have to be ready to hit open shots.” 

Wednesday’s 128-120 overtime win against the Bulls at Chicago’s United Center was a quintessential example of the duo’s dynamic leap the past couple of weeks. Grimes hit a few shots early, deferred for almost two full quarters, then hit three monster 3s down the stretch of the fourth quarter and in OT — all the while accepting a grueling night on the other end bouncing back and forth between guarding Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. 

Brunson? All he did was drop 30 points and hand out seven assists in 39 minutes and 24 seconds, every one of them played on a barking foot. In a time in the NBA when guys with less game than Brunson routinely take “maintenance days,” Brunson talks — and acts — as if the very notion of not playing if you can get out of bed is insulting. He’d sooner drag a Temple or Saint Joseph’s sweatshirt over his Villanova T-shirt. 

“I don’t want to give anyone the notion that ‘I’m healthy but I want to take today off,’ ” he said Wednesday after putting the Bulls away in front of his old teammates at Stevenson High, 33 miles north of Chicago. “If I’m able to walk I’m able to play and I have to bring it.” 

It’s that kind of attitude that makes Brunson a bargain at $104 million, and infuses everyone else on the floor with similar grit — none moreso than his newest sidekick. Grimes and Brunson have been the starters for 12 games and the Knicks are 7-5 in those games but are trending north, and quickly. At 15-13 the Knicks are sixth in the East but only one game in the loss column behind No. 4 Brooklyn. 

They are playing with as much confidence as they have all year, Grimes most of all. 

“I feel like making shots is just part of what I do,” he said, “but my confidence never wavers. Even if I’m going 0-for-30 I’m still taking the next 10 shots no matter what.” 

The Knicks have survived their first crisis point of the season and are playing their best ball heading into Friday’s United Center rematch with the Bulls. A shortened rotation has yielded bolder results. And a young, exciting backcourt has helped charge the team’s batteries. It’s been good to see. Better, it’s fun to watch.