The Knicks won their sixth consecutive game on Friday night in Orlando, beating the Magic 108-85 thanks to some stout defense.
Here are the takeaways…
-New York had to deal with Jalen Suggs at the start of this one as the shooting guard came out hot and scored Orlando’s first 11 points. Goga Bitadze got in on the fun as well and before you knew it the Knicks were down 16-8. Slowly but surely, New York’s offense found its rhythm and kept it close for the duration of the quarter, tying the game on multiple occasions but never taking the lead, and went into the second quarter down 29-26.
Only three Magic players got on the board in the first quarter: Suggs (11), Bitadze (11) and Jonathan Isaac (7), whereas all five starters for the Knicks plus Precious Achiuwa found the basket.
-In the second quarter, New York’s bench — not normally counted on to score — helped out offensively with Miles McBride and Landry Shamet scoring eight of the Knicks’ first 11 points of the frame and taking a one-point lead in the process. Shamet logged 10 minutes and scored seven points as he works his way into the rotation.
Suggs continued his impressive offensive performance, but New York had an answer at every turn as the game’s score stayed razor-thin.
–Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Suggs both received technical fouls with 3:54 left in the half and from there the game got a little chippy with 15 combined free throws being taken before the end of the quarter. After all was said and done, the game was tied at 54 at halftime.
-Out of the locker room in the third quarter, the Knicks’ defense really picked it up and limited the Magic to just 14 points. New York finished with 10 steals and outrebounded Orlando, 44-32. The best example of that was Josh Hart who was all over the court and finished with a double-double (23 points, 13 rebounds) while adding two steals and two blocks.
-It was more of the same in the fourth quarter as the Knicks completely shut down the Magic’s offense, holding them to 17 points for a total of 31 points in the second half. Overall, Orlando shot 37 percent from the field and 30 percent from deep.
-Offensively, the Knicks didn’t attempt many threes on the night and went 4-for-15 from downtown, but they didn’t need it. Jalen Brunson finished with 26 points and nine assists, Mikal Bridges had 17 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 16 points. The one area that needed to be better was free throw shooting where New York went 24-of-34.
Game MVP: Josh Hart
The savvy veteran did it all in this one and had a season-high 23 points.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks have a quick turnaround as they face the Washington Wizards tomorrow night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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