Karl-Anthony Towns scored 31 points and corralled 21 rebounds and Josh Hart recorded a triple-double as the Knicks grabbed a ninth-straight win, topping the visiting Utah Jazz 119-103 on Wednesday night.
Jalen Brunson missed the game due to a tight right calf injury, the first time he’s been absent this season. But after a tight start to the first quarter, his teammates found their fitting without him erasing a 10-point deficit for a convincing win.
“They all stepped up… KAT just a monster game,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “A good hard-fought win, just find a way to win. And that’s what the season is, next guy get in there and get the job done.”
New York improved to 24-10 on the season and 11-4 at Madison Square Garden. Utah fell to 7-25.
Here are the takeaways…
– Hart, the player who is anywhere and everywhere all at once for the Knicks, cashed in with eight rebounds and five assists in the first half. A triple-double seemed unlikely as he had just three points, but he took care of that with three in the third and nine in the fourth. He had 14 rebounds and 12 assists but was dinged for six turnovers. He finished as a plus-15 in 45 minutes.
Hart became the first Knick since Michael Ray Richardson in 1981 to record triple-doubles in back-to-back games and the fifth in franchise history.
– Without Brunson, the Knicks offense started slow – 4-for-12 from the floor – and found themselves down 18-10 at the mid-way point of the first quarter. But the defense, which has been maligned in recent weeks, tightened the screws getting three turnovers on three straight possessions. That was all part of a 16-7 run by the Knicks to close the quarter and cut it to a one-point deficit after 12 minutes.
Mikal Bridges picked up the slack early on the offensive end scoring 16 in the first half on 7-for-10 shooting. Bridges ended the night with 27 points (12-for-17) with a rebound and block and was a plus-13 in 44 minutes.
– The Knicks were living around the basket in the second period, converting 8 of their first 12 attempts to grab an eight-point lead on, naturally, a Cam Payne transition three forcing a timeout with 5:31 to play in the half.
Towns knocked down back-to-back threes before adding two more at the free-throw line to push New York’s lead to 13, the largest of the half. Two-thirds of the Knicks’ points in the first half came in the paint (38 of 56) with another 21 coming via the fastbreak. Towns had 14 on 5-for-10 with five rebounds in the first half.
– OG Anunoby came alive on the offensive end in the third period scoring 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting. The rest of the Knicks shot 6-for-15 in the quarter and the Jazz managed to narrow the deficit to eight after Hart fouled Jordan Clarkson on a three-point attempt with 1.4 seconds left in the quarter.
Anunoby finished with 22 points on 10-for-16 shooting with three rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks in 41 minutes.
– The Knicks shot 55.3 percent from the floor in the game and finished with 70 points in the paint and 34 fastbreak points. The game got as tight as a four-point margin late in the third quarter, but New York kept Utah at arm’s length holding the visitors to 40.6 percent overall and 30.2 percent from three.
– In a late change it was Payne that started in place of Brunson after it was announced that Miles McBride would get the nod. McBride, who was not seen on the bench through the first quarter, was ruled out with a hamstring injury midway through the second quarter.
Tyler Kolek, who had 36 points and 11 assists in the Westchester Knicks’ overtime win earlier on Wednesday, was the first point guard off the bench at the start of the second quarter.
After playing 40 minutes in the G League earlier in the day, had two points and four assists in 12 minutes off the bench and was a plus-11.
“Credit to him for being ready,” Thibodeau said after the game.
– Precious Achiuwa added a very solid 13 minutes off the bench, scoring 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting with three rebounds and was a plus-15. Landry Shamet added a basket and was a plus-10 in 11 minutes for the eight-man Knicks.
“I thought our bench gave us really good minutes,” Thibs added. “I thought Tyler played well, I thought Landry played well.”
Who was the MVP? KAT
Towns, 10-for-20 from the floor, was most impressive on the glass dispatching Utah’s big men Walker Kessler and Lauri Markkanen on his way to his 21-rebound night. He added four assists, a steal and a block for a plus-11 in 37 minutes. He put the exclamation point on the game in the fourth driving right past Kesler and throwing down an emphatic slam over the seven-footer.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks hit the road for two games in Oklahoma City and Chicago. They are back in action Friday night with an 8 p.m. tip against the Thunder.
