Throughout the season, the production that the Knicks get from their bench has come under question, but the reserves made a big contribution in a 119-103 win over the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden last night.
The Knicks were shorthanded as Jalen Brunson missed the game with a calf strain and then Deuce McBride, who was scheduled to start, tweaked his hamstring in warm ups. Both are day to day, according to Coach Tom Thibodeau.
Cam Payne got the last minute call to start and had nine assists. “Credit to him [Payne] for being ready,” Thibodeau said. “I thought our bench gave us really good minutes. Tyler [Kolek] played well, I thought Landry [Shamet] played well and the starters, I thought, they were terrific. They all stepped up.”
Tyler Kolek served as the back up point guard and the Knicks (24-10) rode a tenacious defensive effort to their 9th straight win, and 19 of their last 23.
The Knicks, who had 10 steals and six blocks, dominated the paint with 70-50 edge and they played up tempo to the tune of 34 fast break points as they kept the Jazz off balance.
The starters did their part, of course. Karl-Anthony Towns had another strong game with 31 points and 21 rebounds. Mikal Bridges scored 27 points and Josh Hart recorded his second consecutive triple-double with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Hart became the first Knick since Micheal Ray Richardson in 1981 to have back to back triple-doubles.
The Knicks shot 55% for the game but got off to their usual slow start as they were 1 for 9 from three, but after hitting 8 of their next 14 from three point range, they finished 9 for 23 (39%).
“A good hard fought win, just find a way to win. That’s what the season is, next guy get in there and get the job done,” Thibodeau said.
OG Anunoby, who added 22 points, keyed the defensive effort. In the previous game, Utah’s Lauri Markkanen scored 34 points on 11 of 15 including 5 of 8 from three as the Jazz beat the Knicks, 121-106. This time, with Anunoby defending him all game long, Markkanen was held to 16 points on 6 of 22 and 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.
“OG just was all over the place, disruptive,” Thibodeau said. “I thought our ball pressure was good and then the defensive activity got us into the open floor, got us some easy baskets and that’s key for us.”
The veteran Payne knows that playing defense is essential to winning in the NBA. “I’m definitely on the defense wins games, defense wins championships kind of guy. I feel like we did that tonight, that’s what we had to do,” he said.
Kolek played 12 minutes and ran the team well as he contributed four assists. The rookie point guard did all this after logging 40 minutes earlier in the day in an overtime win for the Knicks G-League team in Westchester, something that impressed Thibodeau.
“He’s [Kolek] a gym rat so get in there, make plays, gave us a good lift. He’s young, he’s getting better and better, says a lot about him,” said Thibodeau.
“It’s more mental than anything,” the rookie guard said. “Obviously two guys go out with injury, I gotta step in and be ready to go, no matter the circumstances.”
Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson led Utah with 25 points apiece. Clarkson scored his points in 32 minutes off the bench but the Knicks scored 22 points off of 16 Jazz turnovers.
Utah led 25-24 after one but a 32-21 second quarter gave the Knicks a 56-46 lead at halftime.
Previous Achiuwa scored six of his 12 points in the second quarter, including an alley oop dunk that gave the Knicks a 36-31 lead with just under eight minutes left.
Towns scored eight consecutive points to give the Knicks a 51-38 lead with less than three minutes left. Hart convered a three point play with four seconds left to put the Knicks up by ten at halftime.
The Knicks were outscored, 33-31 in the third quarter but still lead 87-79 after three.
An 8-0 run to open the fourth quarter gave the Knicks a 95-79 lead and the Jazz would never get closer than 11 points for the rest of the game.
The Knicks took care of business over a stretch of games against teams under .500 that leaves them a half game behind Boston for first in the Atlantic Division.
The going gets tougher beginning Friday night in Oklahoma City against ol’ friend Isaiah Hartenstein and the Western Conference leading Thunder. The good news is that the Knicks will play 13 of their next 18 at home capped off by their second game of the season against the Celtics on February 8th.