The Knicks went toe-to-toe with the feisty San Antonio Spurs and ultimately came away with the win, 117-114, in a highy entertaining matchup on Christmas Day.
Here are the takeaways…
-Going with its usual starting lineup of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns which has seen the most minutes together on the floor than any other starting five in the league this season, New York got off to a hot start and made its first four shots of the day.
-Making his Christmas Day debut, Victor Wembanyama came out firing early but couldn’t find his stroke from beyond the arc, missing his first four three-pointers. The 7-foot-3 phenom impacted in other ways, though, grabbing four rebounds in the first quarter to go along with two assists and two blocks, finishing with 10 points after hitting back-to-back threes before the quarter expired.
-The three-ball wasn’t falling for both teams, especially the Knicks, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying as the pace was full throttle from the jump. Bridges was the biggest contributor offensively, scoring nine points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field (1-for-1 from deep).
-Meanwhile, fresh off of his great game against the Toronto Raptors, Anunoby struggled to get going and finished the opening quarter 1-for-6 from the floor. He did, however, help out on the glass with five rebounds (three offensive), tied with Hart for most rebounds on the team as Towns, going against Wembanyama, was mostly held in check in the first quarter (eight points, two rebounds).
-Down 28-27 entering the second quarter, San Antonio began to catch fire and outscored New York 12-4, including an 8-0 run, to take a 39-32 lead that caused head coach Tom Thibodeau to call a timeout. After being down by as many as nine points, the Knicks went on a 17-6 run that saw them take a two-point lead at 49-47 with 3:22 remaining in the half. The offense stalled from there, though, and the Spurs ended the half on an 11-2 run to go into the locker room up 58-51.
-Despite his slow start, Wembanyama finished the half with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds, causing absolute fits for the Knicks. As for Wemby’s teammates, no other player went into halftime with double-digit points.
-In the third quarter, New York screamed out to an 8-1 run that turned into a 15-6 run that turned into a 23-13 run which gave the Knicks a three-point lead. During that extended run, Towns carried his team and really came alive. From there, it was the duo of Brunson and Bridges, former teammates at Villanova, who exploded offensively and scored 12 of New York’s final 14 points of the quarter.
-The Knicks ended the quarter on a 10-0 run to go from down five to up five and outscored San Antonio 37-25 in the frame. They did it all, too, with just three three-pointers made, doing the bulk of their damage inside the paint.
-However, the Spurs, who entered the game as heavy underdogs, showed their fortitude and punched right back with an extended 19-9 run to start the fourth quarter. Wembanyama once again was at the forefront of the scoring barrage and matched the record for most three-pointers made at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day with six. He finished with 42 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks as the one-man show did it all.
-Not to be outdone, Bridges finished with a season-high 41 points on an impressive 17-for-25 from the field (6-for-9 from deep) and came up clutch in the final minutes of the game when his team needed him the most to preserve the win.
-Not known as the best offensive rebounding team this season with the loss of Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson on the shelf, New York had 17 offensive boards to San Antonio’s eight, including one on the final shot of the game which didn’t allow the Spurs to get off a potential game-tying shot.
-Towns’ streak of 18 consecutive double-doubles came to an end in this one as the center was one rebound short of a double-double. He finished with 21 points and nine boards. The slack was picked up elsewhere, though, with players like Hart (12), Precious Achiuwa (10) and even Brunson (seven) all contributing on the glass.
Game MVP: Mikal Bridges
Four points shy of matching his career-high in points, Bridges deserves the honor for carrying the Knicks on his back when they needed him the most.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks go back on the road for a Friday night matchup against the Orlando Magic starting at 7 p.m.
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