In his second game in the summer league, Knicks second-round pick Tyler Nickel impressed, but New York fell to the Spurs, 70-49.
The loss drops the Knicks to 0-2 in the young summer league season, but there were some positives to glean from the game.
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The aforementioned Nickel scored a team-high 16 points on 6 of 14 shooting and 4-for-11 from three. While he wasn’t as accurate from the field as he was in the Knicks’ summer league opener, the Vanderbilt product earned the start. He also added two rebounds, one assist, and two blocks in his 30 minutes on the floor.
Alongside Nickel in the starting lineup was Pacome Dadiet, who led the Knicks with 20 points in Friday’s loss. However, he wasn’t as effective, scoring 13 on 4 of 12 shooting — just 1-for-6 from three — along with three rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block in his 23 minutes on the floor.
Mohamed Diawara‘s early struggles in the summer league continued. After scoring just seven points in 23 minutes on Friday, the second-year Knick was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting, including 0-for-3 from downtown. He did give five rebounds, an assist and a block in 26 minutes.
Center Liam Robbins was also held scoreless in his 13 minutes while Dillon Jones started as the Knicks’ point guard. Jones scored six points on 2 of 5 shooting while dishing three assists, coming down with a rebound, a block and two steals in his 20 minutes on the floor.
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Another notable performance from the Knicks was rookie Jack Kayil’s debut. The second-round pick played 21 minutes and posted 12 points — on 5 of 14 shooting — five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
On the defensive end, the Knicks had a hard time stopping third-year forward Carter Bryant, who scored a game-high 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting. UConn product Tarris Reed Jr. scored five points in his 23 minutes while Ja’Kobi Gillespie contributed 14 points as the team’s starting point guard.
The Knicks will look to get into the win column when they take on the Detroit Pistons on Monday.
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