KAT & Knicks CRUSH Randle & Wolves. NY 133 Minny 107

December 20, 2024 LouV 2024-25 0

Julius Randle came out ON FIRE in clearly a revenge game for him, even though beforehand he said it was “just another game,” but OG Anunoby soon shut him down and Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks owned the evening — CRUSHING the Timberwolves in Minnesota on a Thursday night, 133-107.

KAT put on an incredible team-oriented performance, scoring 32 points on just 10-12 shooting (5-5 from 3), with 20 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and a +32. Mikal Bridges was SLICK — sticking 3’s from the corner, or breaking into the lane for drives, scoring 29 points on 12-18 shooting and playing terrific Defense on Anthony Edwards. Jalen Brunson distributed (7 assists) and Miles McBride and Cameron Payne came off the bench to ignite the Knicks in the 2nd quarter, when they took over the game.

NY trailed 29-22 early but then went on a 20-2 run and routed the Wolves 82-44 to take a 36-point lead near the end of the 3rd quarter.

“We didn’t start the game great but I liked the shots we were creating offensively,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “Once we got our defense going, that propelled us into that run. The start of the 3rd was really good as well. The rebounding which was a big concern going into the game — we did a good job with that.”

“Karl — what can you say; just a monster game, as well as Mikal,” continued Thibs. “OG again — his defense is special. We got good play from Jalen — he didn’t fight the game; he read the game really well and he created a lot of advantages. We had 39 assists; a lot of it was dribble penetration and then making the right read. Guys worked together; Deuce gave us good minutes; Jericho really good minutes and Cam as well.”

NY improves to 17-10; Minnesota drops to 14-12.

1. Randle Comes Out Charging

Julius Randle came out charging — clearly looking to take it to the Knicks. He drove the lane and hit consecutive pullups to give Minny a 4-0 lead, then followed with 3 consecutive 3’s midway through the 1st quarter to make it 21-16, Wolves.

Precious Achiuwa started at power forward as Josh Hart missed the game due to family circumstances. Achiuwa was guarding Randle’s drives but Randle was able to get off the 3’s.

2. OG Shuts Down Randle

NY switched Jericho Sims onto Randle, and then at the end of the 1st quarter, OG Anunoby — who had been guarding Anthony Edwards to start the game — was switched to Randle and things changed. Anunoby did a better job guarding Randle’s 3, and the Knicks looked to strip the ball from Randle on his loose post-up dribble.

Jalen Brunson knocked the ball away from Randle at the end of the quarter — it was picked up by Anunoby for a full-court drive and NY was within 33-32.

3. McBride & Payne Ignite NY; Towns Takes Over

Miles McBride came in late in the 1st quarter and immediately hit a 3, and then Cameron Payne came in for Brunson to start the 2nd and NY really started to cook.  Bridges sliced through for a drive-and-1, Payne hit a 3, and NY was off to the races on a 20-2 run.

The Knick defense clamped down, and Karl-Anthony Towns started hitting 3’s and drives inside — scoring at will or distributing — letting the game come to him. His old teammate and 4-time, including defending Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert was no match for him.

“I just let the game come to me,” said KAT afterwards. “I know everyone in the 1st quarter was pressing for me to shoot the ball, and I was just seeing the way their defense was playing — I just didn’t want my emotions to overcome the game; I wanted to play for the win. I wasn’t playing for myself I was playing for the win.”

“First quarter — just getting my teammates going; moving the ball; putting a flow in the offense,” continued KAT. “I knew in the 2nd and 3rd I would find myself getting it going; my teammates put me in position to succeed; coaching staff did — shout out to them; it was because of them we were able to get this win.”

4. Bridges SLICK

If Towns wasn’t scoring, Bridges was — hitting 3’s or slicing to the basket. McBride was hitting from everywhere too — he finished with 16 points on 6-13 shooting (4-9 from 3) and a +23 in 29 minutes. By halftime NY was up 73-51.

5. Knicks Increase Rout in 3rd

The Knicks did not let up in the 3rd — they came out of the gate with more Defense and were scoring at will. Mikal Bridges answered an Anthony Edwards 3 with a deuce, Anunoby forced a Randle miss on a drive, and Precious Achiuwa dunked down the other end.

Towns and Bridges and Anunoby and Precious and Brunson were relentless and within minutes NY was up 99-66.

Donte DiVincenzo came in but looked like a lost soul — the whole character of his game — relentless defense and scoring from all over — seems misplaced so far in Minnesota. DiVincenzo finally hit some 3’s in the 4th quarter to help bring Minnesota back within 20-something points.

6. Garbage Time in 4th

The 4th quarter was mostly garbage time — Josh Minott and Luka Garza came off the Minny bench to score against Knick reserves, as did Divo. Matt Ryan scored a bunch of buckets for NY. Cameron Payne kept taking 3’s and missing them — allowing Minny to pull within 18 with just over a minute left — before finally hitting one to give NY a 22-pt lead with 1:08 left.

Etcetera

After the game it was reported that Randle left the court without saying anything to his former teammates. Jalen Brunson was seen asking “He left?”

KAT — who was given a pre-game video tribute by Minnesota — stayed on the court to give greetings to his former teammates and do post-game interviews.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401704933

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