The Knicks played the Los Angeles Clippers last night, beating one of the biggest forces in the league currently by a score of 106-100. To beat a forty-five win team in a shortened season, it is quite the statistic when talking about the Knicks, who hold on to their fourth seed spot in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks taking out a top-five team in the entire league is a big deal, and I feel like this says a lot to defeat one of the league’s most efficient shooting teams, with ten players shooting over forty percent from three. If the Knicks can continue getting wins against great teams, the sky is the absolute limit for the Knickerbockers.
Last night the Knicks had some of their usual stars give shaky performances, but played amazing as a unit. In thirty-eight minutes Julius Randle had a below average game scoring fourteen points, dishing out five assists, and grabbing fourteen rebounds, scoring another double-double this season, adding to the long list. Frank Ntilikina actually played, which surprised me, playing six minutes and scoring three points. Obi Toppin played ten minutes, more than usual, and scored an efficient seven points. Taj Gibson also had a decent performance, scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds. Elfrid Payton and Nerlens Noel didn’t play very well, combining for seven total points. RJ Barrett played forty-five minutes in the game, scoring eighteen points, passing out four assists, and grabbing seven rebounds, a better than recent performance for the ‘Maple Mamba’. Reggie Bullock exploded out of seemingly nowhere, scoring twenty-four points in forty-six minutes of play, being there when we needed him most. MVP of the night goes to Derrick Rose, tying his season high with twenty-five points, eight assists, and six rebounds all in thirty-two minutes, again playing his role to perfection. The Knicks shot over forty-percent from three and one-hundred percent from the free throw line, something I’m quite proud of as a Knicks fan.
For the Clippers it was all over the place. Paul George put up eighteen points in forty-one minutes of play, nothing out of the ordinary for PG13. Reggie Jackson and Nicolas Batum combined for twenty-five points, helping with the scoring for the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high twenty-nine points in thirty-six minutes, impressive but not enough to get it done. The Clippers didn’t shoot nearly as well as usual, being one of the highest percentage shooting teams across the board. The Knicks snuck out with a win but it was no accident, the Knicks are a force in basketball now, and this proves it more than ever. The Knicks take on the Clippers neighbor in the Lakers tomorrow night at 10 PM EST in Los Angeles. As always hope you enjoyed reading, go Knicks, Shaney out.
TheDyspatch 