Hellofa Nice Win. NY 99 Charlotte 98

November 30, 2024 LouV 2024-25 0

A Karl-Anthony Towns steal that led to a Miles McBride slam highlighted a final Knick run, and Jalen Brunson was the closer in the final minutes as the Knicks did just enough to beat the Hornets in Charlotte, 99-98, on a day-after-Thanksgiving Friday afternoon.

With NY up 4 and seconds left, Josh Green threw up a 3 from the corner that toilet-bowl-rimmed-in but took so long that time ran out so Charlotte didn’t have any further chance to desperation foul.

Charlotte had the early lead in the game, led at the half, led after 3 quarters, and led by 4 with 6 minutes left until Karl-Anthony Towns (19 pts, 12 rebounds, 5 assists) hit a 3 that started a 9-pt Knick run. Brunson hit shot after shot, and free throws, down the stretch to secure the win. He finished with 31 pts on 9-18 shooting (4-6 from 3) with 6 assists.

Charlotte played a switching defense all evening, and NY had an unusually high 19 turnovers, compared to 13 for the Hornets. But the Knicks did the job on the boards, outrebounding Charlotte 44-39. Josh Hart had a double-double with 13 pts and 12 rebounds.

“In the Dallas game we scored 76 points and shot 66 percent,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “The numbers tell you how good the offense is. Points per possession we’re #1 in the league. Whatever rating you believe in, I’ve seen every rating; some have us 2nd some have us 1st. That tells you how good it is. Right now I know fatigue is a factor because we turned the ball over a lot today. The important thing was finding a way to win. We went to the offensive boards; probably the difference in the game; we had 19 points (off offensive rebounds); they had 18 — we won by 1.”

NY improves to 11-8; Charlotte falls to 6-13.

1. Knicks Get Off to Another Sluggish Start

Whether it was because it was the final game of a 5-game roadtrip, or it was because it was the day after Thanksgiving, the Knicks got off to another sluggish start, as they had the prior game (a loss in Dallas) and 2 games before that in Utah.

Charlotte was without Lamelo Ball, but came out with aggression and put the Knicks on their heels. The Hornets still have #2 star Brandon Miller, the 6’6 forward averaging 19.9 ppg, who was a top rookie last year after being the #2 pick in the 2023 draft behind Victor Wembanyama.

Charlotte also has Josh Green, a 6’6 guard who was the #18 pick in the 2020 draft, and he hurt the Knicks throughout the evening for 15 points. Charlotte was undersized against NY with 6’8 Tidjane Salaun at center and 6’9 Moussa Diabate at power forward.

Despite that, Karl-Anthony Towns kept missing his shot in the first half — from outside and the inside — and OG Anunoby was off again too.

For the 2nd game in a row, the Knicks only scored 15 points in the 1st quarter, and trailed 23-15.

2. Green Buzzer Antics Put Hornets Up at Half

When Seth Curry hit a jumper early in the 2nd quarter, Charlotte had a 10-pt lead, at 25-15.

But soon the Knicks started to assert themselves, led by Cameron Payne and Miles McBride, the defensive energy of Josh Hart and OG Anunoby, and inside buckets by Karl-Anthony Towns. A McBride 3 with 6:45 left in the quarter tied the game at 32.

But Charlotte charged right back: consecutive 3’s by Josh Green and Brandon Miller, then a drive by Miller, put Charlotte up NY by 9 again, at 45-36.

NY fired right back: a tip shot inside by KAT, a drive by Josh Hart, and back-to-back 3’s by Brunson gave NY 10 straight points and a 46-45 lead.

NY was about to go into the half with that lead, when Josh Green hit a 9-foot jumper with 1 second left, then stole a bad inbounds pass by Mikal Bridges and banked in a 10-footer at the buzzer for a 3-pt Charlotte lead, 49-48.

3. Teams Exchange Lead Back-and-Forth in the 3rd

The 3rd was more of the same — the teams going back and forth, exchanging a small lead — staying within 4 points of each other.

A Josh Hart 3 put NY up by 71-69 with 30 seconds left in the quarter, but a KJ Simpson 3 gave Charlotte a 72-71 lead entering the 4th.

4. NY Retakes Lead & Closes it Out in Final 6 Minutes

And it was more of the same at the start of the 4th quarter — Charlotte being pesky and staying in the lead. Cody Martin hit a 3, KJ Simpson hit a pullup, and Nick Smith Jr hit a drive and a 3 and Charlotte led 82-76 with 9 minutes left.

Finally, the Knicks got serious: Josh Hart with a drive, Cameron Payne with a big 3 to pull NY within 82-81, KAT with a 3 that answered a Brandon Miller 3, and a Brunson pullup gave NY an 86-85 lead with 4:32 left.

That’s when Karl-Anthony Towns stripped the ball inside from Vasilije Micic and Miles McBride ripped away the loose ball then went full court for a dunk and an 88-85 NY lead.

From there on the Knicks handed the keys to Jalen Brunson, and he finished — he hit a drive and then answered a Josh Green 3 with a floater to give NY a 92-88 lead.

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Josh Hart hit a drive off a KAT assist to put NY up 6 with 2:17 left, and after that, Charlotte was forced to foul Brunson down the stretch. Brunson hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final 2 minutes.

With NY up 4 and 6 seconds left Tidjane Salaun missed a 3, Charlotte got the offensive rebound, fed Josh Green who hit a 3 — but the ball did a toilet-bowl-roll for 2.5 seconds before going in, as the clock ran out.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401703409

 

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