The Knicks went ‘Black Friday’ shopping in Charlotte and came away with a win.
Completing a five-game road trip that featured big-time highs and disappointing lows, the New York Knicks were able to draw on their experience and veteran leadership and come from behind to barely defeat the undermanned Charlotte Hornets, 99-98, on Friday afternoon.
The Knicks were ice cold to start the matinee, scoring just 15 points in the opening quarter for the second consecutive game, as they were down by eight points, 23-15 after 12 minutes. Poor shooting, 6-for-16 from the field; 2-for-7 from beyond the arc, and careless turnovers were the main culprits for the Knicks who appeared to be out of sync for most of the afternoon. The heartbeat of their team, Jalen Brunson, put up more than half of New York’s first-quarter points with eight.
The Knicks’ deficit reached a game-high 10 points at the beginning of the second quarter, but the offense was able to come alive from there as New York started to knock down some shots, scoring 31 points to make it a three-point game at the half, 49-46. It was a team effort to start the second half. Brunson scored six points on two made threes late in the frame, Karl-Anthony Towns had seven, Miles McBride added five off the bench and Josh Hart and OG Anunoby each had four apiece.
Even with not having their best shooting day, 44.4 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from the perimeter, the Knicks did just enough to get by on offense in the second half. In a nip-and-tuck third quarter, that resembled 90s style basketball, New York kept it close, tying and even taking a few short-lived leads towards the end.
Contained and kept under lock and key for the lions share of the game, Mikal Bridges scored six of his eight points in the third and his three-pointer with 4:16 left in the quarter knotted the game at 58. Brunson did more than just score, he was a facilitator with four sweet dimes, two rebounds and a block. His assist on Hart’s triple late in the frame would have vaulted the Knicks into the lead going into winning time, however, KJ Simpson buried a deep three with 6.1 seconds left to give the Hornets a 72-71 lead going into the fourth.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe contest remained close for much of the quarter until the Knicks began to pull away ever so slightly, leading by as many as six points. Charlotte ended the game on a 10-5 run, including a Josh Green three-pointer as time expired, to make things interesting, but Brunson was able to step to the foul line and knock down enough free throws late to secure the victory.
Brunson finished with a game-high 31 points while Towns had a double-double with 19 points, and 12 rebounds, and Hart, who is the ‘Energizer Bunny’, also contributed a double-double, with 13 points and 12 boards.
Brandon Miller had a team-high 20 points and Josh Green added 15 for the Hornets, who played without three starters, including the red-hot LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Mark Williams, as well as key reserves Nick Richards, Tre Mann and Grant Williams.
Ball, who came in averaging a ridiculous 40.3 points per game over his previous four outings, sat out with left calf soreness. First-year coach Charles Lee said Ball felt some discomfort toward the end of Wednesday night’s 98-94 loss to the Miami Heat. He offered no updates on when Ball may return to the lineup.
New York, who entered the game with the third-best turnover rate (12.3 percent) in the league, won despite losing the turnover battle, 19-13. You know that Tom Thibodeau will not be happy about that.
The Knicks return home to Madison Squar Garden to kick off a four-game homestand starting on Sunday, December 1 against Brandon Ingram and the New Orleans Pelicans at 6 p.m.
The Hornets host Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on the second night of a back-to-back for both teams on Saturday night.
