[ad_1]
The Knicks face one of the toughest schedules in the NBA for the remainder of the season, which has only increased the importance of Saturday’s visit to Oklahoma City to help maintain their positioning in playoffs.
Tom Thibodeau’s side rebounded from a resounding loss Thursday in Milwaukee with a redemptive 119-97 victory over the under-equipped Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena for their 20th win of the season (20-19). Their winning tally is one less victory than they recorded all of last season, when they finished 21-45 under first David Fizdale and then Mike Miller, now an assistant coach of the Thunder.
RJ Barrett scored a career-high 32 points on 12 of 21 shots for the Knicks, whose next two games are against the Eastern Conference top two: the Nets on Monday and the 76ers the following night.
With point guards Elfrid Payton (hamstrings) and Derrick Rose (health and safety protocols) both eliminated, Frank Ntilikina got his second start of the season, but he only played seven minutes (with zero point) after committing two early faults.
Immanuel Quickley played despite being questionable for the game with groin pain. The rookie goalie finished with 21 points in a career-high 33 minutes.
All-star forward Julius Randle endured his worst game of the season scoring just seven points in Thursday’s loss to the Bucks, but he signed his second triple-double of the season on Saturday with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 12 best career assists. The last Knicks player to have multiple triple doubles in one season was Mark Jackson in 1988-89.
Al Horford scored 16 to lead the Thunder (16-22), which missed top scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (quadruple contusion) and veteran guard George Hill (thumb), among others.
The Knicks were coming off a tough outing Thursday night upon their return from the All-Star break, scoring their most points of the season (134) and suffering from their biggest defeat margin (33) against the Bucks. But Thibodeau’s team had shown resilience after such poor outings in the first half of the season.
“This is what you have to do. The games keep coming, and you have to analyze why you won or why you lost, and make your corrections and prepare for the next game, ”Thibodeau said ahead of Saturday’s game. “Every game counts the same, so that’s the important thing to understand.
“We can’t look back, we can’t look forward. We must be locked into this team. … You have to be ready to play and that’s a big part of it. Having a good routine established, where you build the right habits and how you prepare for each game, is an important part of winning. “
Randle only needed 3:12 of the first quarter to tie his game point total against the Bucks, but the Thunder shot 70.6 percent off the floor in the session for a 31-22 lead.
Ntilikina sat down with two faults just five minutes into the game, but Quickley knocked down three of his first four shots for six points in the quarter.
The rookie added two top 3s in the second quarter to double that total, Alec Burks contributed nine (of his 15 total points) in the half and Randle increased his tally to 14 as the Knicks erased an 11 deficit. points for a 56 -54 advantage at intermission.
Thibodeau stuck with Quickley over Ntilikina to open the second half, and the Knicks’ defense boosted a 16-8 run to open the third quarter to extend their cushion to 10 before carrying an 88- lead. 78 in the fourth.
[ad_2]
Source link