Knicks fall 89-86 to Nuggets in Summer League finale after second-half comeback falls short
The Knicks fought back from a big deficit in the second half, but fell to the Denver Nuggets, 89-86, to wrap up their Summer League season on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Here are some takeaways…
- Denver got out to a 15-0 lead in the first quarter, as New York started the game 0-for-11 from the field (0-for-5 from three). QJ Peterson got the Knicks on the board with a free throw, and then followed that up with pull-up jumper to make it an 18-3 game.
The Knicks trailed 21-9 after the first, as they shot just 18.2 percent (4-for-22) and went 0-for-7 from deep. Julian Strawther led the Nuggets with eight points, while Justyn Hamilton scored four points off the bench for NY.
- New York began to turn things around in the second, as Trevor Keels scored and then found Michael Foster Jr. for a layup to cut the lead to 27-18 with about seven minutes left in the quarter. The Nuggets then went on a quick 7-0 run to push the lead back to double-digits.
Denver outscored New York 26-23 in the second, and led 47-32 at halftime.
- Keels got out to a strong start in the third by scoring seven straight, but the Knicks still trailed 54-41. Strawther would hit a three for the Nuggets, and then Andrew Funk got going with two three-pointers to push the Denver lead to 68-47.
The Knicks finished the third strong, as Keels scored inside, Dmytro Skapintsev nailed a three and scored on a layup with three seconds left. David Shriver stole a bad pass from Strawther and hit a deep three at the buzzer, as the Knicks trailed 70-57 heading into the fourth.
- New York opened the fourth on an 11-0 run, as Peterson scored seven straight, and then both Marcus Garrett and Hamilton scored to make it a 70-68 game. Strawther and Hamilton traded three-pointers, and after baskets for both teams, Peterson gave the Knicks a 76-75 lead with just under five minutes left in the game.
Peterson nailed another three to put the Knicks up one and then made two free throws to give the team a 83-81 lead. Hunter Tyson put Denver back up with a three, but Khalid Moore scored to give the Knicks a 85-84 lead with 45 second remaining. Tyson was fouled on a three-pointer and would make all three to give Denver an 87-86 lead with 21 seconds left. Peterson missed the go-ahead layup and the Knicks were forced to foul.
- New York outscored Denver 29-19 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. Peterson finished with a team-high 25 points, Foster added in 17 points and Keels had 15 points. Hamilton scored 11 off the bench in 25 minutes. Strawther led the Nuggets with 25 points.
