On a night when the Knicks played well enough to get leads, but not well enough to completely bury the Nuggets, Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby took advantage of every open look and made just enough effort plays to outlast Denver for a 122-112 win Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
Brunson finished the night with 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting with 15 assists, four rebounds, two steals and was a plus-16 in 36 minutes. Anunoby added 23 on 9-for-15 shooting (5-for-7 from three) with four rebounds and was a plus-15 in 39 minutes.
The Nuggets opened up the third on a 20-6 run to erase a six-point Knicks lead. But New York had answered with a 27-12 spurt over the quarter’s final seven minutes to enter the fourth up by seven with Brunson going for 18 in the quarter (6-for-8 from the floor, 2-for-3 from three).
In the fourth, the Knicks matched their biggest lead of the game at 12, but again the visitors hung around to cut the lead to four with 4:30 to play.
When they needed another bit of effort, they got it as Brunson found Josh Hart for a layup, a Karl-Anthony Towns block led to Brunson finding Mikal Bridges for an alley-oop layup, before Brunson corraled a rebound and found Hart again to put the Knicks up 10, ending the Nuggets’ last charge.
New York improved to 32-16 with a fifth straight win. Denver dropped its third straight game to fall to 28-19 on the year.
Here are the takeaways…
– Seventy-nine seconds into the game – on the Knicks’ second offensive possession – Nikola Jokic fouled Towns driving to the basket. It was the three-time NBA MVP’s second foul of the game and saw him land on the bench 2:12 into the first quarter with just two points to his name.
With the Serbian on the bench, the Knicks turned three straight missed Nuggets jumpers into easy buckets, the final two coming as Anunoby leaked out and was found for uncontested dunks. Brunson got into the act capping a 15-0 Knicks run with six straight points.
New York started hot in the quarter (8-for-9 from the floor) and led by as many as a dozen, but came back down to earth (going 4-for-13 down the stretch) missing several at the cup, to hold just a four-point edge after 12 minutes. And for Denver, with Jokic playing his fewest minutes in the first quarter all season, that is a big win.
– The Knicks opened the second 2-for-6 from the floor, out of rhythm, and after Towns picked up two quick fouls he headed to the bench with three personals and the score tied just 3:19 into the quarter. Towns struggled on the night, it appears that thumb injury could cause some nights like Wednesday, finished with 14 points (6-for-12 shooting and 0-for-4 from three), 10 rebounds, five assists and was a minus-1 in 30 minutes.
Jokic re-entered the game at the 7:19 mark of the quarter. And that’s when New York began to start attacking the rim with more success as Jokic looked to avoid a third personal. The second had a few moments of back-and-forth offense, but was marked by periods of sloppy play and the Knicks benefited from a few of them scrapped together a six-point edge despite shooting better from the floor (52 percent, 24-for-46) than the free throw line (50 percent, 6-for-12).
Anunoby led the way with 14 first-half points (6-for-7 shooting) and was a plus-12. Brunson added six assists and 12 points (4-for-7) and was a plus-12 at the half.
Jokic had four points (2-for-3) with two rebounds, two assists and a steal in just nine first-half minutes. In his absence, Denver outrebounded New York by nine and went 14 of 16 from the line to stay in the game.
– The third quarter saw the Nuggets convert on three straight and the Knicks missed three straight to tie the game before Brunson poured in a three. But the theme of the first half continued as New York was shut out on the offensive glass with just two in the game to that point.
A Jamal Murray three (amid a 9-0 run) helped Denver build an eight-point lead as they got just about everything they wanted at the cup and opened the quarter on a 20-6 spurt as New York’s shooting was ice cold.
But foul trouble struck as Murray, who had 224 pints (9-for-16) with five rebounds and three assists, picked up his fourth foul six minutes into the half. An 8-0 run by the Knicks leveled the score.
Murray led the game with 33 points (13-for-25_ but was a minus-4 in 37 minutes. Jokic finished with 17 points (6-for-15 shooting), six rebounds, six assists and two steals in just 33 minutes and was a minus-3.
– The Knicks bench, much maligned at times during the year, had big contributions with Miles McBride dropping in 12 points (5-for-9) in 22 minutes, Precious Achiuwa tallied eight points in 26 minutes and Cam Payne added seven in 12 minutes.
– Bridges struggled to find his strike converting on 5 of 16 attempts for 13 points, but still impacted the game as a plus-7 in 37 minutes. Hart had another Hart-like night as he was everywhere they wanted him to be with 15 points (7-for-12 shooting), five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a plus-11 in 34 minutes.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks are back in action on Saturday night as they host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for an 8:30 p.m. tip.
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