Capping off a five-game road trip that featured wild highs and disappointing lows, the Knicks came from behind to narrowly defeat the Charlotte Hornets 99-98 on Friday afternoon.
Here are the takeaways…
-New York scored just 15 points in the first quarter for the second straight game, while trailing by eight points after twelve minutes. Poor shooting (6-for-16 from the field; 2-for-7 from three) and turnovers were the culprit for the Knicks, who looked sloppy for most of the afternoon. Jalen Brunson scored more than half of New York’s first quarter points with eight.
-The Knicks’ deficit reached a game-high 10 points early in the second quarter, but the offense was able to rebound from there as New York scored 31 points, creating a three-point game at halftime. Jalen Brunson scored six points on two made threes late in the quarter, Karl-Anthony Cities had seven, Miles McBride added five from the bench and Jos Hart And OG Anunoby each had four each.
Despite not shooting the ball particularly well all afternoon (44.4 percent from the field; 37.5 percent from deep), the Knicks did just enough offensively in the second half. In a tight third quarter, New York kept it close, tying the score near the end and even taking a few brief leads.
-Kept quiet for most 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 tied the game at 58. Brunson had six points of his own to go along with four assists, two rebounds and a block. His assist on Hart’s triple late in the frame would have given New York the lead heading into the fourth quarter, but KJ Simpson hit a deep three with 6.1 seconds left to give the Hornets a 72-71 lead at the entering the fourth quarter.
-The game remained close for much of the final quarter, until the Knicks started to pull themselves apart a bit, leading by as much as six points. Charlotte finished the game on a 10-5 run, including one Jos Green three-pointer as time expired – to make things interesting, but Brunson knocked down enough free throws late to secure the victory.
-Brunson finished with a game-high 31 points, while Towns (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Hart (13 points, 12 rebounds) each had a double-double.
-New York, which entered the game with the third-best turnover rate (12.3 percent) in the league, won 19-13 despite losing the turnover battle.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks return home to begin a four-game homestand against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, December 1 at 6 p.m.
