The Knicks (3-3) lost to the Houston Rockets (4-3) on Monday night, 109-97, to snap their two-game winning streak and fall back to .500 on the season.
Here are the takeaways…
-New York had an off shooting night from the start and finished the game 34-for-88 (38.6 percent) from the floor. Jalen Brunson struggled the most, despite a game-high 29 points, finishing 9-for-24 (7-for-20 on two-pointers). Ironically, the Knicks’ three-point shooting (39.3 percent) was decent, although they only attempted 28 threes.
–OG Anunoby made almost half of New York’s 11 triples in the game, going 5-for-6 from deep. He finished with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Karl-Anthony Towns (17), Mikal Bridges (15) and Josh Hart (12) also had double-digit points with Towns grabbing an impressive 19 rebounds (nine offensive rebounds). Still, Houston outrebounded the Knicks, 50-39.
–Alperen Sengun (25-14-5) led the Rockets in every category and was one block away from a 5×5 game. He was also an incredibly efficient 11-for-15 from the floor.
-New York got little to no help from its bench as Tyler Kolek was the only one to make a basket (1-for-1 from three) in six minutes of action. Meanwhile, Miles McBride went 0-for-9 (0-for-5 from deep), but still managed to have a net rating of +10. Jericho Sims was also scoreless (he didn’t attempt a shot), but he added four rebounds and an assist and was +14 in 16 minutes.
-Houston was able to pull out the win despite a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the Knicks who entered the final frame down by six points. They got the deficit to within one point a few times, but the Rockets ended the game on a 16-5 run.
-Houston also won despite going just 8-for-33 (24.2 percent) on three-pointers.
Game MVP: Alperen Sengun
Everything went Sengun’s way on Monday night as the 6-foot-11 center matched his season-high with 25 points.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks close out their four-game road trip on Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
