The Knicks’ three-game winning streak came to an end on Monday in a 117-100 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves thanks to an off shooting night.
Here are the key takeaways…
– Fresh off of his Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor, Jalen Brunson started off the game hot, continuing his great play as of late. The point guard affected the opening minutes in a variety of ways. He scored 11 points in 11 minutes with a combination of his mid-range and three-point shot working as well as driving to the basket and making his foul shots. He also dished out three assists with two of them leading to made threes that kept New York in the game.
– As a team, the Knicks shot 10-for-25 (4-for-11 from three) in the first quarter compared to Minnesota’s 12-for-20 (3-for-9 from deep) which allowed the Timberwolves to take a 31-28 lead into the second quarter.
– New York went cold from beyond the arc to start the second quarter, missing three consecutive long-range shots. Minnesota took advantage and began the quarter on a 7-1 run to widen its lead to 38-29.
– But the Knicks did well to close the gap, even with Brunson cooling off. Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett knocked down some shots and free throws before Julius Randle completely took over down the stretch of the half.
In the final 6:30 before halftime, Randle scored nine of his 12 first-half points and even scored nine of the Knicks’ final 12 points of the half to cut the T-Wolves lead to two points at the break. Randle, along with Mitchell Robinson, also wreaked havoc on the boards, hauling in 14 rebounds between the two of them in the game’s first 24 minutes.
– In fact, the Knicks outrebounded Minnesota 27-21, including 8-1 on the offensive glass, and won the turnover battle 8-3 but shot 37.7 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three which is why they found themselves down just two (58-56) with two quarters to go.
– Things got out of hand fast in the third quarter, though, as the Timberwolves opened things up with an 11-0 run in just over two minutes. The run extended to 18-5 before Brunson buried a three to stop the bleeding. Minnesota would keep on coming, draining multiple three-pointers that put them ahead by as much as 22 points and ultimately winning the quarter 35-19 to go into the fourth quarter up 93-75.
– The Knicks had their chances to get back in the game due to imposing their will on the offensive glass, but they just couldn’t knock down their shots. New York finished the quarter by going 6-for-15 from the field with not a single player hitting more than one shot.
– By the fourth quarter, the damage had already been done. Brunson and Randle did what they could, getting to the line quite a bit and knocking down free throws, but in the end the Timberwolves, led by Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns who combined for 43 points, were too much which prompted the Knicks to empty their bench for the final three minutes.
– New York finished the night shooting 34.8 percent from the field and 23.7 percent from three. Aside from Brunson and Barrett who went 6-for-10 from deep, the Knicks shot a paltry 3-for-28 from deep. Quentin Grimes shot 0-for-6 himself (all from three) and finished with zero points.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks return to action for the In-Season Tournament on Friday, Nov. 24 when they host the Miami Heat at MSG for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.