Towns' tenacity and Hart's heroics lift shorthanded Knicks to a 16-point win
Jalen Brunson missed his first game of the year with a calf strain. Miles McBride tweaked a hamstring in pregame warmups. And the Knicks didn’t miss a beat. Karl-Anthony Towns put up a 30-20 and Josh Hart added his second straight triple-double, leading the Knicks to a 119-103 win over the Jazz Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. It’s the ninth-straight win for the Knicks and upped their season record to 24-10.
The Knicks fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter but rallied back with defense and pushing the pace offensively. By the end of the quarter, the deficit was down to one.
And the momentum carried over to the second quarter, as the Knicks outscored the Jazz by 11 to take a 56-46 lead into the half. New York did it by attacking the rim, holding a 38-22 edge in the paint in the first 24 minutes, despite Utah playing two 7-footers.
The Jazz handed the Knicks a 15-point loss in November, with Lauri Markkanen dropping 34 points in that game. OG Anunoby was determined that wasn’t going to happen again. He was all over Markkanen, forcing the 7-footer into a 6-22 night, with just 1-10 from behind the arc.
And while playing great defensively, Anunoby put in 22 points.
It was the third-straight game where Towns put up at least 30 points. He hit 50% of his 20 shots and half of his six 3-point shots. On top of that, he was 8-9 from the line, which adds up to 31 points. And he stood up to the twin towers of Utah, grabbing 21 rebounds.
The Jazz out-rebounded the Knicks by five in the first quarter. After that, the Knicks hit the boards and ended up with a 47-45 rebounding edge.
Hart put up a lot of rebounds and assists early and later in the game he added the points. After just three points in the first half, Hart finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. With Brunson out, Hart played a lot of point guard in this game and was his usual aggressive self.
There were a lot of outstanding individual efforts in this game but one player that was especially impressive was Tyler Kolek. He played this afternoon in the G-League, notching 36 points in 40 minutes in Westchester.
Yet with Brunson sidelined, he was activated for the game. And with McBride out, he was forced into action. He logged 12 minutes and dished out 4 assists, posting a +11 in the process.
One of the criticisms of the Knicks in this great stretch is that the schedule hasn’t been very tough. That changes on Friday, when they travel to Oklahoma City to take on the 27-5 Thunder.