Knicks takeaways from Friday's 120-99 win over Wizards, including New York's first In-Season Tournament victory
In their second In-Season Tournament game, the Knicks led wire-to-wire in a rout of the Wizards, 120-99.
Here are the key takeaways...
Jalen Brunson led the way with 32 points, seven boards and seven assists on 6-of-10 shooting from three, while Randle put up 22-7-8. New York was without RJ Barrett and Quentin Grimes on the evening, but found contributions from Immanuel Quickley with 27 points on 18 shots and Donte DiVincenzo with 14 in the start.
It was offensive rebounds that made the biggest difference with the Knicks collecting 14 on the night. Kyle Kuzma led the way with 19 and Deni Avdija contributed 18 for Washington.
The Knicks raced out to a 16-4 start, with their first bucket coming off an offensive rebound and-one slam from Mitch Robinson, setting the pace on the glass. Randle got off to a quick start with five early points and a dime, while Brunson splashed two threes.
Washington finally got going, getting some quick offense off the bench and some impressive defense from rookie Bilal Coulibaly. But Brunson kept aggressively looking to score, totaling 11 in the quarter, while Randle finished with nine and four assists as the Knicks led 35-25 after one.
Miles McBride and Evan Fournier got some burn off the bench in the absence of the two Knick wings. The former came away with an early second quarter steal leading to a Josh Hart finish that kept the lead in the double-digits.
New York built a lead as high as 15 behind solid bench play led by Quickley, then extended it to 20 points once the starters returned. After getting whatever they wanted against the Washington defense, the Knicks got sloppy closing the half, allowing a 15-5 run and turning it over three times in the last three minutes, They led 65-54 at the break.
The Wiz didn’t let up, cutting the Knicks' lead to five early in the third quarter, before back-to-back threes from Hart and Brunson gave their team the momentum back. Brunson hit another bomb to put the Knicks back up 14 around the midway mark of the quarter.
Still, Washington battled, cutting the New York lead to five behind Kuzma’s hot hand and Jordan Poole looking to facilitate after a quiet first half. The Knicks led 89-84 going into the final frame.
The fourth remained a close affair, but the Knicks kept killing the Wizards on the offensive glass, stunting their attempted comebacks every time. Quickley continued creating via paint attacks, while Brunson picked up where he left off.
New York was able to build back a double-digit lead, then Brunson buried another tough three to put his squad up 13 with under five minutes to go. If that wasn’t enough of a dagger, Quickley followed it up with a deep elbow three to push the lead to 18, sealing the game.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks take on the Hornets in Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 18. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
