Kat and Knicks Playing for the Cup

Photo: Special to the NY Beacon

By Andrew Rosario

Another Triple Double For Hart

Photo: Specia to the NY Beacon

The New York Knicks are on a roll. When they hosted the Orlando Magic (15-7) Wednesday night they came into the game having won 6 of their last 8 games. After the Knicks easily handled Orlando 121-106, they upped their record to 13-8 (7-2) at home winning 7 of their last 9 games.

It looked like it would be a dog fight for New York as Orlando came out on fire hitting their first 3-point attempts taking an early lead 9-2 lead. The Knicks would close the gap to 9-6 after two Jalen Brunson free throws. The Magic extended their lead to 14-6 when New York decided to start playing defense. The Knicks closed out the Magic on a 30-13 run to finish the quarter 36-27. They never looked back.

4 of the Knicks 5 starters scored in double figures in the second half with Myles (Deuce) Mc Bride adding 10 points off the bench as he connected on 3 of 4, 3-pointers from downtown. The result was a 20-point (71-51) halftime lead. The onslaught continued in the third quarter as Orlando allowed 35 more points with New York taking a 106-75 lead going into the final quarter the fourth quarter was merely a formality and garbage time with the Magic winning their only quarter of the night 31-15 in the 121-106 loss. ln the end, Karl Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 23 points, Brunson finished with 21and Mc Bride 18 as he drained 5 of 7, 3-pointers. Not lost was Josh Hart adding another triple-double with 13 rebounds.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau was thrilled at how the team shared the ball. “l love how unselfish we were,” he began. “l thought we made great reads. When we got kin to the paint, just making the extra pass, creating the right space and then cutting which got us going downhill.”

The win catapulted the Knicks into the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup tournament Wednesday, December 11^th when they host the Atlanta Hawks. Before that, New York will host the Hornets Thursday night, Detroit Saturday night before going on the road to face the Raptors Monday night.

It may only be a mid-season tournament but it is something the team has its eyes on. Said Towns, “NBA Cup bringing out the best of all of us.”