The Washington Wizards (16-55) are in a neck-and-neck race with the Indiana Pacers for last place in the conference. They had lost 15 games in a row before tonight’s tilt at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks (47*-25). The Wizards showed some signs of life in the first half, and a brief heartbeat after intermission, but their 16th loss was never really in doubt. New York took the W, 145-113, beating the Wiz for the 12th straight time.
New York started on the right foot, with Mikal Bridges (14 PTS, 6 AST) and Karl-Anthony Towns (26 PTS, 16 RBS, 9-13 FG) helping to build a small cushion. Washington kept up with them, though, with five points by Tristan Vukcevic (13 PTS) and Bub Carrington (14 PTS, 8 ASTS) getting to the line. Once again, New York allowed their opponents to shoot freely from the perimeter. Luckily for them, Washington’s not a strong three-point shooting team, making 4-of-10 from deep over the first 12 minutes. With the visitors coughing up the rock seven times, the Knicks built a head of steam and went up by double-digits late in the quarter.
The Knicks’ best stretch came midway through the quarter, with Towns flexing his muscles on the glass, Jalen Brunson (23 PTS, 4 AST) drawing contact, and Josh Hart (16 PTS, 6 RBS, 4 AST) logging rebounds, steals, and an alley-oop to Mitchell Robinson (10 PTS, 10 RBS, 2 BLK). Then the pendulum swung the other way. Jaden Hardy (25 PTS, 7-13 3PT) sparked a run with three triples in a short span—two assisted by Sharife Cooper (11 PTS)—narrowing the Knicks’ lead to 32-27 by the buzzer.
The quarter opened with Washington briefly finding a rhythm—Cooper hit an early jumper, and Anthony Gill (18 PTS, 3 STL, 8-10 FG) followed a steal with a dunk. A few minutes in, a Cooper triple tied the score at 38 before New York got serious. After that, Towns cleaned up inside with putbacks and rebounds, while Bridges and OG Anunoby (9 PTS, 4 TO) chipped in buckets. Jose Alvarado (8 PTS, 8 AST) played but was a mixed bag. Hart helped to push the pace, and Robinson made his presence felt as the good guys regained a double-digit lead. Down the stretch, New York turned stops into buckets, pushed the margin to 15, and went into halftime ahead 68-52.
The Knicks shot 57% from the field and 50% from yard, which beat Washington’s 43% and 29%. KAT gave NY a big advantage in the paint, which they won 34–20, and where they outrebounded the Zards, 22–16. Towns led all scorers with 15 points. For the visitors, Gill scored 11 to lead a bench that contributed 30 points.
Hart and Bridges hit a pair of triples to start the second half, then Vukcevic scored eight straight points to chase New York into a timeout. Following that, Hart and Bridges knocked down threes, and Brunson hit some middies. The key, though, was Towns, who scored with hook shots, drives, free throws, and a three-pointer. Washington’s sorry frontcourt had no antidote for the big fella. With the Knicks starting to get in sync, a 13-5 run pushed their lead to 20 by the midway point.
Washington made a push when Hardy drilled a trey and a pull-up jumper, and Gill converted from long range. All that effort was little more than a death rattle, though. New York took a 105-81 score into the fourth.
The Knicks kept the party going in the fourth, pushing their lead to 27. Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson (8 PTS) provided steady hands, and Mouhamed Diawara (12 PTS, 3-4 3PT) hit back-to-back threes. Jeremy Sochan (8 PTS, 6 RBS, 8 MIN) subbed in and benefited from a gorgeous Clarkson lob. But the most interesting storyline of the final frame: Tyler Kolek scored 42 points for the Westchester Knicks this morning, and added 11 points (on 4-of-4 shooting) tonight to finish the day with 53! Quoth Jslashnoel: “Tyler going nuclear is a nice victory cigar.”
Notes
-
With tonight’s totals, KAT has 50 double-doubles for the season to lead the league.
-
March 22, 2013: Ray Williams passed away at the age of 58. That night, Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points and Kenyon Martin added 19 points and 11 rebounds in a 99-94 win at Toronto, securing New York’s third straight trip to the postseason.
-
Hart is pumping! Josh has made 12 of his last 17 three-point attempts.
-
Their 16th consecutive loss ties Washington’s franchise record. The Knicks have won six straight three times this season.
-
New York scored 93 points against the Nets on Friday. They topped that with four minutes left in the third quarter tonight.
-
Washington head coach Brian Keefe was an assistant coach for the Knicks during the 2015-16 season.
Up Next
New York visits the Big Easy on Tuesday to pluck the Pelicans. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
Box Score
* Should be one more, but NBA Cup wins crumble when handled.
Read the full article here
