The Knicks understood the assignment in regards to the In-Season Tournament and took it to the Charlotte Hornets, 115-91, at MSG on Tuesday night.
Here are the takeaways….
-With the usual five starters, the Knicks built a sizeable lead thanks to Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. Both had more points than the entire Hornets team combined and it was by the thee-pointer. The Knicks started 4-6 from long range to build a 21-9 lead with five minutes to go.
The Knicks finished the first quarter up 29-16 on the strength of the three. New York went 6-for-13 from downtown and 8-for-19 overall (42 percent). Randle led the Knicks with 11 points while Barrett finished the opening frame with seven points.
The Knicks finished 15-for-38 from three.
-The Knicks entered Tuesday’s game with a plus-18 point differential. If they wanted to ensure a spot in the Knockout Round, they needed to win by a big number and it looked like the team knew it, especially in the beginning, going out to a 29-16 lead after the first. However, the Knicks turned the ball over eight times in the first half and allowed the Hornets to cut the lead to 10 points with two minutes to go in the second. Charlotte held off the Knicks and were down 53-44 at the half.
The third quarter was not as kind to the Knicks. They started 1-of-10 from the field and allowed the Hornets to cut the lead to just one halfway through the quarter. Poor defense on a Hornets team without LaMelo Ball — who missed the game with a sprained ankle — had Charlotte getting open threes and second-chance points. But the Knicks would find their flow on offense and ended the third to go back up by 14 points.
That flow carried over into the fourth quarter as the Knicks opened up a 20-point lead and never looked back. They won 115-91 to increase their point differential to plus-42.
–Josh Hart made headlines when he said he didn’t feel included in the team’s offense. Coach Tom Thibodeau threw some cold water on his forward’s comments, and challenged Hart to not hesitate on taking open shots.
Hart answered the challenge by scoring a season-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting including 2-of-3 from three. He also added six rebounds and two assists with one steal.
–Miles Bridges, the Hornets forward, was consistently booed by the MSG crowd whenever he got the ball, and booed louder when he made a shot. Bridges was suspended by the NBA for 30 games in April 2023 after pleading no contest to an alleged domestic violence incident in June 2022. Bridges missed the entire 2022-23 season and served just 10 games of his suspension after the NBA deemed the lost season as 20 games.
Tuesday was Bridges’ sixth game back scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
-After nine straight games of scoring 20-plus points, Jalen Brunson dropped just 10 points. Thankfully for the Knicks, the rest of the team picked him up. Barrett finished with 16 points while Randle had a game-high 25. Immanuel Quickley scored 14 points off the bench alongside Hart’s 17.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks stay home as they host the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, Nov. 30. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.