The Knicks lost 115-92 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night as a result of more injuries, including the addition of Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein to the injured list. This left NY without five starters, and they lacked the strength to overcome New Orleans in the last game of a back-to-back.
The Knicks battled valiantly; although it was tied at the half, New Orleans had a 10-point advantage in the third quarter and easily won.
Josh Hart largely restrained Zion Williamson, and Jericho Sims guarded Brandon Ingram quite well, but Trey Murphy III, Hubert Jones, and the New Orleans bench players Matt Ryan and Jeremaih Robinson-Earl—who went a combined 13-19 from three points—were the players that killed the Knicks.
The annihilated Knicks suffered their fifth defeat in six games. Along with Julius Randle (dislocated shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow surgery), Mitchell Robinson (broken ankle), and Brunson (sprained neck), Hartenstein was also out.
When asked how the Knicks lost, coach Tom Thibodeau responded, “The start of the third.” “We continued to fight. had a chance in the fourth but was unsuccessful. Everyone offered their all. We were aware that we would need to make volume 3 in order to have a shot.
“We missed a couple of wide-open shots at the beginning of the third, which caused us to not make the necessary transition,” Thibs continued.
New York drops from 35 to 24. Los Angeles gets better to 35–24.
1. The Knicks played hard; the halftime score was close.
The starting lineup for the Knicks included Miles McBride at the point, Josh Hart at small forward protecting Zion, Donte DiVincenzo at shooting guard, and Jericho Sims at center and power forward.
Through the first half, NY played with intensity and fairness against New Orleans.
Josh Hart was applying pressure defensively to stop Zion Williamson from getting going. Hart, on the other hand, was hitting jumpers from the midrange and the three. Hart put pressure on the D all night long by driving hard to the rim.
Even though Hart had a fantastic game, his box score of -22 indicates that he only scored 15 points on 6-15 shooting, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. This goes to show that plus/minus can be meaningless on some nights.
After the back problems, Zion is acting more like Larry “Grand Ma Ma” Johnson. Strong, fluid, and deft; not as much above-the-rim action as before, but effective nonetheless. In 29 minutes, he finished with 21 points on 7–15 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks; however, during the block, he struck Hart in the face, resulting in a bloodied nose, although there was no foul called.
As part of the Knicks’ game strategy, Donte DiVincenzo also played at a fast pace while playing fierce defense. He would steal balls from ballhandlers with his quick hands, and he would then continuously shoot threes on offense. DiVincenzo scored 23 points with 8-21 (7-18 from 3) and 2 steals.
Bogan Bogdanovic, who finished with 20 points on 6-14 shooting (4-10 from three), contributed to the offense but also contributed to New Orleans’ success by frequently turning the ball over and having a subpar defense.
As he guarded Brandon Ingram, patrolled the interior, and assisted with Zion, Jericho Sims played terrific defense.
