Knicks (48*-28) came into this evening having lost two straight on the road. They hold the tiebreaker with Cleveland, but another loss would put the Cavs within a half-game of third place in the East. Tonight’s opponent, the Rockets (46-29), had split the last ten games on their schedule, but they’re a tall, lanky team that rates in the top ten for both offense and defense. A difficult match-up was in store for New York, for sure. Getting outshot 42% to 29% from deep, they lost this one nearly wire-to-wire
to the clearly hungrier Houston, 111-94.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka started Tari Eason (17 PTS, 8 RBS, 2 STL), making Amen Thompson (17 PTS, 8 AST, 2 BLK) their smallest starter at 6’7”. Seemed effective. The Knicks missed their first five shots, Kevin Durant (27 PTS, 8 AST, 10-18 FG) scored 10 off the bat, and the home team went up 14-1 with almost four minutes gone. Soon after, Eason dunked the third Knicks turnover for a 22-5 advantage. Houston feasted from all over, missing only two of their first 14 shots, including five three-pointers. That’ll ding your defensive rating. New York hurled bricks from the perimeter, but managed a few mid-range buckets. Still, coach Mike Brown needed another timeout with under five minutes remaining and his team trailing by 17.
Out of the break, Miles McBride (3 PTS, 1-9 FG), Jordan Clarkson (10 PTS), and Mitchell Robinson replaced Mikal Bridges (7 PTS, 3-4 FG, 34 MIN), OG Anunoby (8 PTS, 3-9 FG, 38 MIN), and Karl-Anthony Towns (22 PTS, 8 RBS). The reserves played better than the starters, at least. Mitch (5 PTS, 5 RBS, -14, 16 MIN) had a couple of moments, but H-Town was dishing and swishing, logging an assist on 12 of their 15 makes. By the break, they were ahead 37-21. New York had won the boards by +3, but had shot 1-of-7 from deep (compared to Houston’s 6-9).
Jose Alvarado (12 PTS, 12 MIN, 5-6 FG) assumed playmaker duties in the second quarter and drilled his first shot from deep. That ignited a 7-0 run in under two minutes that included buckets from Clarkson and Anunoby and forced Udoka to call for time. Still rolling, Alvarado’s second triple, two free throws from Towns, and a Clarkson layup cut the deficit to four. This sure seemed like Jose’s best performance since his explosion in Philadelphia, which feels like months ago.
The momentum? Short-lived. In a blink, buckets by Jabari Smith, Jr. (15 PTS) and Eason pushed the differential to 10. Then, after a timeout, Reed Sheppard (20 PTS, 4-7 3PT, 2 STL) stepped out of the pages of Highlights for Children to register a three, a 16-footer, and a pick-six. A Durant dunk put the Rockets up by 16. Jalen Brunson (12 PTS, 5-14 FG, -26) tried hard to score among the trees, to mixed results (he had a -19 plus-minus at intermission), but his compatriots offered little assistance. OG missed his first five attempts from beyond the arc, but mercifully laced a timely buzzer-beater from the corner for a 63-50 halftime score.
The hosts had simply shot and distributed the ball better. Through the half, they had outshot the Knicks from the field (59%-45%) and downtown (45%-32%). Houston had 19 assists on 24 makes, won the paint by four, and had the edge in transition (13–7 fast break points). For our heroes, the starters combined for 28 points, and Alvarado led the stats with eight points. That marked the second time this season that the Knicks didn’t have a double-digit scorer in the first half. For the villains, Durant already had 18.
To start the second half, New York chipped their deficit to eight, but it seemed like one step forward, two steps back all night. Every positive stretch ended with a self-inflicted obstacle (turnovers, one-and-dones), followed by multiple buckets surrendered. By the middle of the quarter, 16 points separated the competitors again. At least McBride blocked Durant—‘twas that was a fun moment in a game that sorely lacked them.
At the three-minute mark, Brunson made his first trey of the tilt, reducing the hole to 12. Yet again, Durant hit a floater, Sheppard picked Deuce’s pocket and made a three-pointer, and McBride committed an offensive foul. The tides receded and the Rockets had dropped seven unanswered points. When Smith knocked down a 24-footer at the buzzer, the Knicks were behind 92-72. Biggest deficit of the night.
When these two met in February, New York limited Houston to 15 fourth-quarter points and stole the win. Could they repeat that feat under the stars of Texas? Alvarado briefly had such a notion, drawing an offensive foul on Alperen Şengün (13 PTS, 10 AST) that banged up his hip and then running through the pain for a reverse layup. Unfortunately, stops continued to elude the visitors. Sheppard scored, Thompson scored. Eason picked KAT’s pocket and then scored his 17th point of the night.
Desperate for offense, Brown subbed Brunson in at the eight-minute mark. Since Alvarado was the only Knick with the touch tonight, the coach let the two small guards run together. Jose rewarded him by drawing another offensive foul, giving us a momentary glimmer of hope. From there, the two teams mostly traded buckets and misses. With about two minutes left and down by 19, the coaches subbed in all their reserves and a white flag was waving high above the visitors’ bench. Tyler Kolek immediately brought energy and excellent passing, tossing up a perfect alley-oop for Jeremy Sochan. Makes one wonder if he might have provided a necessary spark earlier in the contest.
Up Next
Six games left. I believe that Master Miranda is on deck with a recap. As for the Knicks, they play tomorrow night in Memphis. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
* Should be one more, but the NBA Cup win was accidentally thrown out by the cleaning lady. Also, I miss this guy.
