The New York Knicks (23*-9) refuse to quit. On Saturday, they had to work hard in the fourth quarter to withstand a strong push from the Hawks. Tonight, facing the New Orleans Pelicans (8-25) at the Smoothie King Arena, the Knicks were the team mounting the second half rally. And once again, they came away victorious.
The Pels set the tone early with Saddiq Bey exploding for 23 points and front court dominance. Despite Mohamed Diawara’s surprising shooting, New York lost the first quarter 41-37 (the
most they’ve surrendered this season). The visitors went toe-to-toe with Zion Williamson in Q2 and trailed 75-72 at the break. After halftime, the Birds kept control by repeatedly getting downhill through Williamson, but the Knicks fought back to finally take a lead midway through the fourth. Down the stretch, Captain Clutch and OG Anunoby put the hammer down, Deuce McBride hit a clutch bucket and free throws, Jordan Poole did his usual dumb things, and New York won, 130-125.
The Knicks prevailed with by making shots, swinging the rock, and minimizing their mistakes. They hit 46-of-95 (48%) overall, bombed away from deep (20-of-44, 45%), and were nearly perfect at the line (18-of-19). They limited their turnovers (eight) while piling up 35 assists.
Jalen Brunson led the scoring with 28 points on 10-of-23 and 5-of-10 from deep, plus a 10:1 assist to turnover ratios. OG Anunoby had 23 points and 11 rebounds, hit his six freebies, and posted a team-best +16, despite shooting 1-of-8 from deep.
Rookie Mohamed Diawara started again and had a first-half heater. He finished with a career-high 18 points in 18 minutes on 7-of-9 and a perfect 4-of-4 from three. Karl-Anthony Towns was the third Knick to log a double-double (12 points, 12 boards, four assists, two blocks, no TOs), while Mikal Bridges played more facilitator and defender than scorer (six points on five shots, 10 assists, plus two steals).
New York got 43 bench points, led by Miles McBride’s 14 and solid two-way minutes from Jordan Clarkson (nine points, +9) and Tyler Kolek (seven points, five assists, +4). In total, Brown played 12 guys and all of them, save Hukporti, scored. It was a smorgasbord of Knickerbockers!
For the losers, Bey used up all his juice in the first half, finishing the game with 26 points on 9-of-21 shooting. Poole added 26 points (7-of-14, 4-of-10), and Zion led the way with 32, making all those points within a few feet of the rim or at the free throw line (10-of-12).
First Half
Some weird Louisiana voodoo was afoot at the start of this one. Rookie Mohamed Diawara scored the first two buckets of the game for the Knicks, then added a steal that he couldn’t quite get into the cup on the breakaway. The 20-year-old Frenchman’s game could fry an egg, with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and two steals in his first nine minutes of play. His impact was felt on both ends of the court.
Jalen Brunson missed five of his first seven shots, and OG Anunoby whiffed on all four of his. Voodoo, I tell ya. Guerschon Yabusele and Ariel Hukporti subbed in for Towns and Anunoby at the 5:20 mark. The Yabu ride continues, with little peaks and disappointing dips. He made a pair of triples (great) and turned the ball over twice (bad).
After falling behind by five, the Pels went on a 13-4 run to regain the lead. They controlled the glass, outscored New York in the paint, and shot 6-of-10 from deep.
Without fail, somebody on the other team cranks it to eleven for a Knicks game. Tonight, Saddiq Bey stepped into that spotlight. The small forward, now playing for his third ballclub, averages 15 points per game. This evening in NOLA, he menaced the Knicks with multiple three-pointers, scoring 23 on 8-of-11 shooting in the first period.
By the buzzer, Diawara was the top Knicks’ scorer and the Pels were ahead 41-37. That’s the most first-quarter points surrendered by New York this season. Some witch was cutting heads off chickens in the Pelicans’ locker room, ah gah-run-tee.
In Q2, Mike Brown was fed up with more of the same ho-hum defensive effort and called an early timeout. The bench players didn’t fare much better than the starters. Miles McBride returned after missing eight games with an ankle sprain and scored a quiet two points. The star of Saturday’s game in Atlanta, Kevin McCullar, Jr., contributed zeroes across the board in his four minutes. Tyler Kolek, who had rocketed out of the Cup tournament to be called the second-coming, did little in Atlanta and less in his seven second-quarter minutes.
This was nice play by Kolek, though:
During one stretch, Coach Brown had Deuce, Kolek, McCullar, Yabu, and Diawara on the floor. Wisely, the subbed in Brunson and Bridges soon after. For the other team, Zion Williamson returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench through the last seven contests. His first-quarter play was inconsequential, but he hammered the paint in the second.
After a back-and-forth stretch of runs from both sides, the Knicks closed the quarter with aplomb. Anunoby, who logged a goose egg in the first period, roared to life in the second. He recorded six points in the final minute to trim what had been a nine-point deficit to three.
The Knicks entered intermission trailing 75-72. They matched New Orleans in shooting (51% to 50%) and held an edge from downtown (48% on 10-of-21 vs. 42%), but the birds owned the interior. Thanks to the efforts of Williamson, Queen, and Murphy (which sounds like an outtake from Blood on the Tracks), the Big Easies had out-rebounded our heroes 26–18, and outscored them 32–20 in the lane.
Diawara (having made all of his four longballs) and Anunoby scored 16 apiece to lead the Knicks. For the Pelicans, Bey had 26 after a much more pedestrian second quarter, and Williamson had bullied his way to 18 points. We assume Mitchell Robinson was watching the game at home with his family. New York could have used him tonight.
Second Half
In Q3, the Pelicans kept their edge by repeatedly getting downhill, scoring through Zion at the rim, and cashing in on threes from Trey Murphy III. New York stayed competitive with ball movement (Brunson set the table for Bridges, Towns, Anunoby, and McCullar), and a timely Brunson three helped the hole from getting deeper than 10, but defensive breakdowns and transition lapses kept diffusing any attempts to catch fire.
That pest Jordan Poole had scored 10 points in the first half off the bench; post-intermission, he added seven in the third period. On the Knicks’ side, Mike Brown continued to experiment. Trey Jemison III stopped in for a few minutes, scoring two points and grabbing an offensive board, and Yabusele hit another triple to bring his total to nine.
Defensively, the Pelicans made big plays at the rim, including blocks from Williamson and Kevon Looney. Some of us watching at home began to doubt that the orange and blue crew would come back. Late in the quarter, Brunson and Bridges combined for a brief scoring burst and a couple of steals to stay within striking distance, but New Orleans closed the period up 103–96.
The crowd grew more vociferous in the fourth, with fans for both teams trying to outcheer each other. Wherever the Knicks go, there be fans.
Momentum swung between the teams, and by the eight-minute mark, Deuce McBride tied the game at 106, and then Towns gave New York the lead with a triple. The lead went back and forth. Brunson hit a triple to tie the game again at 3:36, and Murphy plowed the lane (again) to reclaim the lead.
Nice stuff from Kolek here:
Down the stretch, Brown kept Yabusele in late, but ultimately rolled with Brunson, McBride, Bridges, Anunoby, and Towns. McBride hit a big corner three, and Zion climbed Towns to score at the other rim. Tired of Williamson’s antics, Anunoby drove through traffic to rattle the rack with a monster jam. After that, that fool Poole bricked on a 31-foot shot—is there a lower IQ in the NBA?—after which McBride corralled a Brunson miss, kicked it back, and Cap connected on a floater. 124-121, 1:06 left.
Zion’s layup with 35 seconds left cut the differential to one again. With ice water in his arteries, McBride made two free throws. New Orleans got the ball and Poole—I feel for you, Pelican fans—tried to foul-bait from beyond the arc instead of putting up a good shot. He failed to get a call, bounced the ball off the top of the backboard, and New York regained possession. Ballgame.
Up Next
The Knicks celebrate New Year’s Eve in San Antonio for a replay of the NBA Cup Finals. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
* Should be one more, but the Cup final doesn’t count.
