Towns & Defense in 4th Make the Difference. NY 114 Brooklyn 104

November 18, 2024 LouV 2024-25 0

The Knicks played the Nets for the 2nd time at MSG in 3 days but this time had Karl-Anthony Towns playing, and he and better Knick 4th-quarter defense made all the difference, as NY beat Brooklyn decidedly this time — vs the nail-biter win on Friday — 114-104 on a Sunday night at the Garden.

Towns dominated the interior all night on offense and defense — scoring 26 points on 10-16 shooting (1-3 from 3, 5-5 in free throws), with 15 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal, and a block for a +15. It was Towns’ birthday — he turned 29.

The Knicks took control from the start but the Nets hung in the game by hitting 3’s in the 1st half. NY extended a 3-pt halftime lead to a 14-pt lead entering the 4th quarter, and this time — unlike Friday night — kept their defensive intensity up and did not allow Brooklyn, nor the NBA refs, to get on a roll.

NY also kept Cam Thomas at bay in this game — he only had 14 points on 6-14 shooting vs the 46 pts on 16-22 shooting of Friday night. Brooklyn did the same to Jalen Brunson, who was limited to 12 pts after the 37-pt effort Friday night. But Brunson dished out 10 assists which helped lead to big games by OG Anunoby (24 pts), Mikal Bridges (21 pts), and Josh Hart (20 pts).

“Playing the same team twice; not easy to do,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “We came out, played hard on both sides of the ball; thought our rebounding was good; defense good. Just keep building; keep getting better.”

“They did a lot of switching so we did a lot of cutting,” added Thibs. “Guys were unselfish; high assists. Good things come from that. Every time you help somebody else you end up helping yourself. The harder you cut, the better it is; they know if they’re open KAT’s going to hit them. But he’s not the only one we have a lot of guys making plays for each other, and that’s what makes the offense go.”

NY improves to 7-6. Brooklyn falls to 5-9.

1. Knicks with Towns Take Control Early

Karl-Anthony Towns only made one inside bucket early in the game, to give NY a 7-4 lead, and then an inside score at the end of the 1st quarter, but his interior presence was felt from the start — with defense and rebounding inside, and his passing game. NY had sorely missed him in the prior game on Friday night vs Brooklyn.

Towns actually had to leave the game with just over 5 minutes left in the 1st because he picked up his 2nd foul. He was subbed by Jericho Sims for several minutes.

Before the game a lot of Knick fans were demanding on Twitter that Thibs play Ariel Hukporti more over Sims, but when asked by a reporter if he would — Thibs replied that Sims would still be the primary backup center because Thibs liked the defense Sims has been playing.

And Sims played great defense in this game in the 18 minutes he got.

Brooklyn played a chippy game early, and turned around a 10-4 Knick advantage into a 15-13 Nets lead on the scoring of Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Thomas.

2. OG Was Everywhere

But OG Anunoby stepped up for NY — with his offense and his defense leading to more offense. He hit a drive-and-1 off a Towns pass midway through the 1st quarter, hit a 3 with 4:21 left to give NY back a lead at 18-17, and made two dunks late in the quarter — one an alley oop off a Cameron Payne pass, and the other off a Towns pass. In between ripping down rebounds and defending. OG was everywhere.

“OG Anunoby not only plays with a purpose but plays winning basketball,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “He defends hard the entire possession, takes pride in getting stops, rebounds, relentless and on the other end — he was aggressive yet lets the game come to him while always playing for the name in the front.”

3. Nets Hounded Brunson; Knicks Subdued Thomas

The Nets hounded Jalen Brunson from the start — again sticking taller, defensive-minded guards on him; the 6’11 Ben Simmons and the 6’8 Jalen Wilson. Brunson didn’t hit a field goal until late in the 2nd quarter — but he was distributing, and other Knicks like OG, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart, were feasting.

NY meanwhile, subdued Cam Thomas — not allowing him to get into any rhythm from 3. A combination of Josh Hart and Cameron Payne defended him.

4. Brooklyn Stays In It with 3’s

NY started to take control in the 2nd quarter, outplaying Brooklyn, and took a 10-pt lead with 9 minutes left in the half, but the Nets kept staying in it with 3’s.

Jalen Wilson (5-7 shooting, 3-5 from 3 for 15 pts), Noah Clowney (5-7 shooting, 2-4 from 3 for 13 pts), Dorian Finney-Smith (6-11 shooting, 4-7 from 3 for 16 pts), and Cameron Johnson (7-12 shooting, 4-7 from 3 for 22 pts) just kept hitting 3’s despite pretty good Knick defense.

Finney-Smith hit a 3 with 44 seconds left in the half to make it a 4-pt game, Mikal Bridges answered with a deuce, but pain-in-the-ass Jalen Wilson hit a 3 with 20 seconds left and Brooklyn was within 3 at the half.

5. NY Extends Lead in 3rd

Jalen Brunson started to score at the start of the 3rd, and then Karl-Anthony Towns took over, with score after score inside. Josh Hart was pumping in open 3’s, and Mikal Bridges was another snipper on the perimeter and all places on the floor.

NY pulled out to a 95-81 lead by end of the quarter.

Near the end of the quarter, Towns took a bad fall on a drive, when he got tangled with Noah Clowney, who fell underneath him. Towns fell on the small of his back, his left side absorbing the blow. But after a timeout Towns was back up, made free throws, and stayed in the game.

6. Knicks’ Defense Doesn’t Let Up in 4th

And this time the Knicks did not let up at all in the 4th — as they had Friday night.

Towns, sore back and all, continued to make his presence known — grabbing rebounds and blocking a shot.

Jericho Sims came in for Towns with 7:20 left in the game and played tremendous defense, blocking shots and controlling the interior. Sims stayed in the game until the end — as Towns was rested due to his sore back.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks limited Dennis Schroder to 2-11 shooting for 8 pts. At one point in the 2nd half Schroder shook loose for a nice drive to the basket, but missed the layup. “Nice shaking but no baking for Schroder” said Walt Frazier on the broadcast.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401704806

 

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