The cool kids stayed up late to watch the Knicks (9-5) play in Dallas tonight. Through the first half, we had mixed feelings about sacrificing the sleep. Our heroes did manage to take a two-point lead into halftime, even though they shot atrociously from deep for the second straight game. If the Mavericks (4-12), playing without Cooper Flagg, offered anything better than the league’s worst offense, New York would have been in real trouble. Both teams scored 35 in the third, and although the Knicks missed
almost all their free throws, they couldn’t give the game away. Final score of their first road win: Knicks 113, Mavs 111.
Overall, the Knicks shot 19-of-35 (54%) from the free-throw line and 12-of-42 (29%) from three-point range. And still they won, thanks to 16 offensive rebounds.
Once again, Landry Shamet came up huge for the Knicks late. He drilled two huge three pointers in the final two minutes, and his clean defense on Brandon Williams’ layup with .7 seconds left resulted in an offensive foul that undid the game tying basket. He finished with nine points tonight, but six of them were huge.
Jalen Brunson played despite spraining his ankle a week ago. He wasn’t missing a game against his former team and tallied 28 points and five assists in 35 minutes. Karl-Anthony Towns (18-14) and Josh Hart (16-10) contributed double-doubles, and Mikal Bridges bailed out the team with great defense for most of the night (16 points, six assists, three steals, and two blocks).
For the Mavs, D’Angelo Russell and Naji Marshall scored 23 apiece.
First Half
The Knicks played without OG Anunoby, while the Mavs were missing a number of players, including Anthony Davis and their prestigious rookie, Cooper Flagg—ironic, given that this was Flagg’s poster night at American Airlines Center.
The first quarter was a mixed bag. Neither squad shot well to start, but Dallas took an early lead, scoring eight fast-break points and capitalizing on Knicks turnovers. The visitors responded with seven straight, capped by a Guerschon Yabusele long-ball, to level the scoreboard.
Remember when Naji Marshall lit up the Knicks for a career-high 38 points back in March? He scored 11 first-quarter points to help preserve the home team’s advantage.
Against the Heat on Monday, New York connected on just 25% from yard. Tonight, their woes continued, making 3-of-11 three-point attempts in the first frame. Dallas, meanwhile, converted 50% of their 14, which helped them exit the quarter with a one-point lead.
The second quarter wasn’t much better. New York continued their trend of self-injury by whiffing from the arc, the free throw line, and various spots between. Fortunately for them, the ragtag Mavs field the league’s worst-rated offense and it doesn’t take much competence to get ahead of that turtle. Dropping eight straight, New York took a 52-50 lead into intermission.
Through 24 minutes, New York shot 40% from the field and won the glass by three. Although they made only 3-of-21 from deep, New York snatched 10 offensive rebounds and forced 10 turnovers, which saved their bacon. The spicy perimeter shooting that defined Dallas’ first quarter cooled in the second, when they made 2-of-9. For the Mavs, that damned Marshall had scored 19 points already. For the Knicks, Brunson and Bridges had combined for 26 points. Hurry up with this second half, I’m yawning.
Second Half
The third quarter brought more back-and-forth scoring. Both teams gave mixed-effort on defense. The Knicks had some noteworthy efforts (Brunson, Bridges, Hart, and McBride all blocked shots), but they also surrendered too many second-chance opportunities, allowing multiple offensive rebounds to Lively and Gafford. Worse, Russell, that perennial pest, kept puncturing the defense with middies and floaters.
Just as Brunson, Towns, and Hart began to gel, DLo and Thompson gave it back to them. There were 15 lead changes in the game by the end of the quarter, a stalemate that saw both teams score 35. As far as highlights go, Deuce McBride connected from deep twice in the final minute or so. And Josh Hart did Josh Hart things:
With an 87-85 lead heading into the final frame, the Knicks continued to tread water. Neither team played well enough to distance itself. Christie and D’Angelo Russell buried threes to nudge the Mavs in front as Dallas capitalized on more New York miscues (bad passes, more missed threes, more fouls).
Down by two with two minutes left, the Knicks teetered on the verge of losing another close road game. They needed a clutch play from someone—and rather than Brunson, here comes Shamet with a corner three.
Russell made one of two freebies on the other end to tie it up, but back came Shamet—again! Hart got stuffed by Gafford on a layup, but grabbed his own rebound and swung it out to Landry for a 26-footer.
Following that, Jason Kidd called for time and drew up a play for Thompson, who airballed a pass to Mitchell Robinson. The basketball gods wanted New York to win after all!
With 22 seconds remaining, Shamet had the chance to ice the game at the free throw line. He missed both. The ball found its way to Brandon Williams, who clanged the rim on long brick. Another gift from the basketball gods! Robinson was promptly fouled—and missed both freebies, too. New York made 18 of their 33 free throw attempts tonight, and those last four blanks nearly sank them.
On Mitch’s miss, Hart fouled P.J. Washington, who converted on both of his free throws. Out of a timeout, down by one, Hart couldn’t inbound the ball and called for another timeout. Championship basketball, this did not look like. When the play finally resumed, Brunson got the ball and was fouled with 3.8 on the clock. He, too, missed a free throw. They practice them, right? He made the second.
Williams got the ball and tore-ass up the floor, racing step-for-step with Landry Shamet. Williams made the layup with .7 seconds on the clock and a foul was whistled—but it was on Williams, for wrapping an arm around Landry, which erased the game-tying shot. A fitting, bizarre ending to a confounding win.
Up Next
The road trip continues on Saturday in Orlando. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
