Thunder 103, Knicks 100: Almostttt!

The New York Knicks (40*-23) hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder (44-19) at Madison Square Garden tonight in a tight, uneven game played with tired legs. Both teams were on the second night of back-to-backs, and the fatigue showed at the end of this workout. The Thunder controlled the first half behind Chet Holmgren’s hot shooting, but the Knicks surged back after halftime with help from their bench and Karl-Anthony Towns’ work on the glass. The game swung repeatedly in the final quarter, and although New York had chances late, their last two looks failed to fall and the Okies escaped with the narrow win, 103-100.

From the jump, both teams applied defensive heat and produced a combined 11 turnovers in the first quarter. The Thunder distributed the ball well and created clean looks for themselves. Holmgren (28 PTS, 8 RBS, 6-11 3PT) was one beneficiary, scoring 14 points in the first frame, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26 PTS, 8 RBS) scored nine points before sitting with two fouls. Both players converted from all areas of the court.

New York’s starters started slowly, missing pull-ups, drives, and threes. Midway through the frame, they watched their guests rip off 12 unanswered points (featuring more Holmgren) and push their lead to 10. Gradually, New York came back, thanks to some bench help. Ariel Hukporti blocked Holmgren to force a shot-clock violation, Landry Shamet (14 PTS, 5-9 3PT) added two buckets, and Rookie Mohamed Diawara (9 PTS) drilled threes on the run and from the corner (he’s 16-of-20 from that spot this season per the broadcast) before stripping Jared McCain. 3 & Diawara, anyone?

With momentum, Jalen Brunson (16 PTS, 15 AST) finally got a bucket, and OG Anunoby (16 PTS, 3 STL, 2 BLK) added another three at the buzzer to cut the score to 25-23.

Diawara kicked off the second quarter with his third triple to seize a lead, but the Tornados quickly reclaimed control. Holmgren tipped in a put-back and then stretched the floor with spicy perimeter shooting. Alex Caruso and Jaylin Williams added threes during a Thunder run that nudged the lead to 33–28.

Towns played a great game on both ends. He kept the Knicks within reach with interior scoring—a tip-in and a driving layup—but the Okies found more open looks, and Lu Dort (16 PTS) added a pair of threes midway through the quarter, pushing the margin to eight.

SGA continued to avoid foul trouble thanks to a favorable whistle. His counterpart Brunson continued to drag, shooting 1-of-8 through the half. What J.B. and Josh Hart (10 PTS, 12 RBS) failed to do scoring-wise, they made up for with dimes and rebounds, respectively.

Towns and Mikal Bridges (15 PTS) trimmed the deficit briefly, but team blunders held them back. On multiple fast breaks, New York blew contested layups and lost the rebound. Meanwhile, Holmgren kept hitting those damn threes—including a deep pull-up in the final seconds. When Hart made a running jumper at the buzzer, that bucket finished off the Knicks’ lowest scoring first-half of the season. Thunder took a 50-40 score into the locker room. (Their lowest first-half total of the season is 46.)

Through the half, Oklahoma City outshot the Knicks from the field (46% to 36%) and deep (43% to 25%). Holmgren led all scorers with 22 points after hitting a career-high six three-pointers. KAT and Diawara had nine apiece.

Out of intermission, Oklahoma City pushed their lead to 15, fueled by Gilgeous-Alexander’s transition dunk and Dort’s outside shooting. From there, New York slowly chipped away behind Towns’ excellent rebounding and paint work, while Brunson steered the offense, securing another double-digit assist performance.

In the first few minutes of the third quarter, Josh Hart—who was afflicted by back spasms at the start of the season—retreated to the locker room, massaging his lower back. Hart returned to the sideline with a wrap around his midsection. A little later, Brunson walked gingerly back to the locker room, only to return later in the period.

Once again, the bench came to the rescue, with fearless play from Jose Alvarado and Shamet on a scoring tear. The latter posted 11 points in the quarter, and his defense was solid, too. With three minutes left in the quarter, Landry drew a foul on Williams—just after Brunson swished two three-pointers to knot the score at 72. Through the final minute, Anunoby had two steals (converting one into a pick-six); Jeremy Sochan came on to neutralize Shai and did, forcing a jump ball (which he won); and Bridges added a three-pointer with two seconds left. After New York doubled their halftime total, they took an 80-77 score into the final frame.

To start the fourth quarter, coach Mike Brown went with his starters. The unusual move worked, briefly, as the Knicks jumped out to a short-lived four-point lead. Hart was clearly hindered by the back; however, unable to jump for loose balls. By the middle fo the frame, the visitors had come back to take a five-point lead. Rather than letting go of the rope, the Knicks steadied themselves through KAT’s rebounding and Brunson’s playmaking. The play got sloppy, misses piling up on both ends, and OKC coach Mark Daigneault won two challenges to erase Knicks’ points.

With three minutes left and the Knicks trailing by six, Towns collected his sixth foul and sent SGA to the line. The Thunder’s Cason Wallace stole the ball from Brunson on their next possession (Wallace’s fourth theft tonight), and the air came out of the building.

Remember those two banged-up Knicks from earlier? Teetering on the edge of collapse, the Roommates teamed up to mount a valiant comeback. Hart—who must have been in agony—hit two free throws to cut the differential to four with 1:30 left. SGA answered a triple. Hart scored at the rim on another Brunson assist. At the other end, Brunson drew his third charge of the night, causing Dort to foul out. Five-point game. 51 seconds left.

On the next possession, Brunson juked SGA and hit a spinning jumper from the elbow. 103-100. 41 seconds. At the other end, Holmgren missed a seven-footer, which Hart rebounded. 16 seconds to go. Out of a timeout, Cap missed from the corner, and Anunoby missed as the clock expired. Ball game.

Quoth Jslashnoel, “Almostttt!”

Up Next

The Knicks travel to Denver to face the Nugs. Safe travels, fellas.

Box Score

* Should be one more, but NBA Cups are for trophy cases, not record books.