Bridges & Knicks CRUSH Pelicans. NY 118 New Orleans 85

December 2, 2024 LouV 2024-25 0

The Knicks absolutely CRUSHED the Pelicans from start to finish, jumping out to a 25-4 lead and romping by 30 to 40 points throughout the evening, winning 118-85 on a Sunday evening at Madison Square Garden.

Mikal Bridges had an evening — his best performance as a Knick: sharpshooting 3’s from the corner and scoring on drives for 31 points on 12-19 shooting (7-12 from 3), while playing excellent defense and finishing with a +40.

The Knick defense was suffocating. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 rebounds and barely played in the 4th quarter. OG Anunoby was a defensive demon — blocking 4 shots. Miles McBride, Jericho Sims, and Cameron Payne were excellent off the bench.

“I thought overall the hustle was great,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards “OG’s defense; Mikal — that set the tone for us. KAT’s rebounding was phenomenal. From there it was all around strong on both sides of the ball.  Share the ball. Then Mikal got going offensively as well. A lot of good movement, and sharing the ball was huge for us. I thought Jericho and Cam and Deuce were terrific off the bench for us as well.”

NY improves to 12-8; the Pelicans fall to 4-17.

1. KNICKS OFF TO RACES

Mikal Bridges kicked the game off with a jumper but the Pelicans actually took the lead, 3-2, off a Trey Murphy III 3. And then the Knicks clamped down the D and hit the 3 and outscored New Orleans 23-1.

Mikal Bridges led the charge — hitting 3’s from the corner and deuces on drives or pullups.

Karl-Anthony Towns was ripping down every rebound. OG Anunoby’s shot wasn’t falling (2-10, 0-3 from 3 for 7 pts), but he was playing tenacious defense, blocking shots inside. He finished with a +32.

Jalen Brunson  was knocking down 3’s, Josh Hart was knocking down open shots, and Karl-Anthony Towns was rolling to the hoop for buckets.

Towns finished with 14 pts on 4-12 shooting (1-5 from 3), Brunson finished with 16 points on 4-11 shooting (3-7 from 3), and Hart had 12 on 5-9 shooting (2-3 from 3).

2. Knicks Lead by 29 at Half

And then the bench came in and did not let up. Miles McBride was playing in-your-face defense and scoring at will — 13 pts on 5-9 shooting (3-4 from 3), Cameron Payne was doing the same (8 pts on 3-7 shooting, 2-4 from 3 in only 16 minutes, and Jericho Sims was a beast defensively. Sims played 23 minutes, hauled down 12 rebounds, was 2-2 inside for 4 pts, and had a +16.

Everybody ate.

3. Knicks Lead by 37 After 3

The Knicks continued to romp and increase the lead in the 3rd quarter. There was no letup. The Knick defense caused turnovers, bad shots, and then the blocks by OG.

More telling than the Knick offensive numbers were the Pelicans offensive numbers for their starters:

  • Trey Murphy III had 11 pts on 3-14 shooting and a -34,
  • CJ McCollum had 13 pts on 6-16 shooting, 0-3 from 3 and a -22,
  • Dejonte Murray had 10 pts on 5-17 shooting, 0-6 from 3 for a -32,
  • Javonte Green had 5 pts but was 1-5 from the free throw line and had a -14, and
  • Yves Missi had 11 pts on 5-7 shooting and a -8.

A highlight for New Orleans was Elfrid Payton, who came off the bench to play 17 minutes and was 3-6 from the floor for 6 pts and had 7 assists.

4. Thibs Pulls Starters with 9 Minutes Left

The Knicks were up by 40 early in the 4th. Thibs pulled the starters with 9 minutes left — and Matt Ryan, Jacob Toppin, Ariel Hukporti, and Tyler Kolek all got extended minutes.

Ryan finally showed his 3-pt prowess with NY, going 2-5 from 3 for 8 pts.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401704874

 

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