BY: RYAN KULLAK
The New York Knicks had an impressive showing against both the Celtics and Magic in their back-to-back games this past week.
The Knicks came into the game on Sunday vs. the Celtics on a five-game losing streak and were in a major rut on offense. The Knicks had a strong start to the game and leaned on their team defense to protect their large lead all night and defeat the Celtics by a score of 105-75. The Knicks stellar defense held the Celtics to only 29.8 percent shooting from the field and 15.2 percent from deep. Julius Randle finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists on efficient shooting.
RJ Barrett ended the game with 19 points and 11 rebounds while
also shooting efficiently from the field. Barrett and Randle, who are both top-three in the league in minutes played per game, were both able to sit most of the second half and get some much-needed rest. The only other notable performances from this game came from both rookie first-round draft picks this past year, Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin.
In 21 minutes off the bench, Quickley was able to dish and swish his way to 17 points and 8 assists. Toppin, who has been slowly working his way back from an ankle injury, played easily the best game of his short
career so far. Toppin Finished the game with 12 points and five rebounds and was also able to knock down a couple of three-pointers on the night.
The Knicks had won in very impressive fashion against the Celtics, but needed to comeback the very next day and play the Magic. Both the Knicks and the Magic struggled out the gate in this game. Neither team could
score with any consistency in the first quarter and the game just appeared to be very sloppy. Both teams finished the game shooting under 40% from the field and the Knicks struggled mightily from downtown only shooting 18.5 percent. However this type of game played into the hands of the
Knicks who see themselves as a scrappy and gritty team under Coach Tom Thibodeau.
The Knicks found themselves entering the fourth quarter up by 12 points and seemed to be leading the whole game. However, the Knicks began to choke harder than the 2016 Warriors and found themselves down by one point following a Terrence Ross Hail Mary three-pointer that went in at the
end of the shot clock.
The Knicks were able to pull out in the end and win the game 91-84. The team was able to get more defensive stops down the stretch and knock down their free throws to end the game.
Nikola Vucevic was the only impressive player for the Magic. Every other player struggled to score in the game or to do so efficiently from the field. That also held true for Julius Randle who struggled to score in the first half. Randle finished the game with 21 points and 17 rebounds but also shot a terrible 5-19 from the field. Randle was able to make some major
defensive plays at the end of the game however to help assure the Knicks got the win. RJ Barrett was another major contributor for the Knicks and scored 22 points while securing 10 rebounds.
Barrett was another guy making defensive plays at the end of the game.
The Knicks will be on the road in their next game against the Golden State Warriors on January 21st.
The game is part of TNT’s basketball coverage for the night and it will surely be fun to see how the national media talks about this young Knicks team. This game will also be the first half of a back-to-back as the Knicks will play in Sacramento against the Kings on the 22nd.
Hopefully, the Knicks can win one of the back to back games amidst this hard four-game western road trip the team finds themselves on.
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