The Thunder showed why they are one of the top contenders for an NBA championship. The Knicks showed why they will be a very tough out and a pain in the neck to play against.
The Knicks were outscored 37-19 in the fourth quarter as the Thunder pulled out an exciting 117-107 win at Paycom Center last night. The Thunder extended their winning streak to 14 in a row while the Knicks had their nine game winning streak snapped.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 33 points but it was Aaron Wiggins who came off the bench to burn the Knicks as he scored 15 of his 19 points, including four from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter. Old friend Isaiah Hartenstein had 4 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists and made some clutch plays down the stretch.
“Wiggins came in and he hurt us with some threes, we have to have more awareness to be there,” said Coach Tom Thibodeau.
Miles McBride missed his second straight game with a hamstring issue which didn’t help, but the Knicks bench has been a problem all season long. The Knicks got five points from their reserves, while the Thunder’s bench, led by Wiggins, scored 44 points.
Mikal Bridges led the Knicks with 24 points. Jalen Brunson scored 22 points but had a rough shooting night. Brunson returned after missing one game with a calf strain and he’s not one to make excuses but he shot 9 of 23 from the floor, 0 for 5 from three and 4 of 6 from the free throw line.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 17 points and grabbed 22 rebounds with four assists and three steals but he did not touch the ball enough down the stretch (2 shots in the fourth quarter, 13 for the game), despite being guarded by 6’5” Jalen Williams. Hartenstein, a seven footer, defended 6’4″ Josh Hart, who had 19 points and seven rebounds, while Oklahoma City went with the smaller man on the seven foot Towns.
The Knicks led 88-80 entering the fourth quarter, but the Thunder picked up their defensive intensity and shot the lights out (14/20 70%, 6 of 8 from three) in the final 12 minutes. The Knicks were 9 for 22 (41%) and 1 for 9 (11%) from three in the fourth quarter.
“We had an eight point lead, you know the intensity in the fourth quarter is different, you know we got to be ready for that,” Thibodeau said. “We fell short tonight, our bench is capable, more than capable and our starters are more than capable so we win together, we lose together.”
The lead swelled to 91-84 after Hart hit a three but Wiggins hit his first three of the quarter after Hartenstein saved the ball from going out of bounds to cut the deficit to two. Isaiah Joe’s three pointer capped off a 12-3 run that put OKC on top, 92-91.
“We just didn’t execute down the stretch of that fourth,” Hart said. “They had some big plays that didn’t go our way, Isaiah Joe [it was Wiggins] hit a big three on Isaiah’s [Hartenstein] offensive rebound when his foot was out of bounds in front of the ref. A couple of big plays like that just didn’t go our way.”
With a little over six minutes left, Brunson hit a pull up jumper to give the Knicks a 97-92 lead but a bucket from Gilgeous-Alexander and Wiggins three tied the game at 97.
Brunson hit another lay up to put the Knicks up by two but the lead then changed hands three times before OKC took the lead for good, 102-101 on Wiggins lay up with three and a half minutes left. Wiggins fourth three pointer of the quarter capped off an 8-0 run that gave the Thunder a 108-101 lead with just under two and half minutes remaining.
The Knicks trailed 110-105 with under a minute left when Hartenstein leveled the dagger with a short jump shot that put the game out of reach.
“We just didn’t execute. We didn’t execute how we should’ve. When they started blitzing we had to get out in space and space the court and start play and picking them apart that way,” said Hart.
From the start, it was apparent that this regular season game was going to be played with physicality and playoff intensity.
The Thunder led 33-30 after one but the Knicks’ second quarter was one of their best of the season. The Knicks outscored the Thunder, 36-21 to grab a 66-54 lead at halftime.
After trailing 44-43, Bridges hit a three to cap off a 12-5 run to put the Knicks up 55-48 with a little under three and a half minutes left in the second quarter.
The Thunder opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run to cut the Knicks lead to 66-62 but Towns scored five consecutive points to make it 71-64.
With under four minutes left in the third, Anunoby took a beautiful feed from Brunson for a dunk and was fouled, but he landed hard on his elbow. Anunoby was okay and stayed in the game to complete a three point play as the Knicks led 80-68.
The ball movement dried up in the fourth and Brunson, despite his injury, tried to do too much but he wasn’t his usual clutch self.
Towns is a tough match up for the Thunder so not getting him enough touches in the fourth quarter proved to be a mistake. The Knicks failed to take advantage of what was clearly a mismatch with the smaller Williams guarding the bigger Towns.
“I mean it’s a really good team,” Bridges said. “We just fought hard and they just had an extra push at the end and that’s what really happened. We was there and then [they] kind of made that run in the fourth.”
Despite the loss, the Knicks have to feel good about the way they competed against, arguably, one of the top three teams in the NBA. They’ll get their chance at some payback next Friday when the teams meet again at the Garden.