After three losses in four days in their Madison Square Garden – Charlotte, 87-97, Minnesota, 110-112, and New Orleans, 91-102 – the Knicks needed to find the way to success to stay in the qualifying zone. for the play-in (places 7 to 10) in the East. That’s what Tom Thibodeau’s men managed to do on Sunday night by beating (110-102) the diminished LA Clippers – still without Kawhi Leonard, Paul George … – by racing in the lead from start to finish. thanks to a euphoric first quarter in attack (39-31).
Faced with visibly inside Angelenos during this early afternoon game, and lacking in obvious aggressiveness in the fight -52 to 40 on the rebound for the Knicks, only 6 offensive catches for the Clippers-, the New -Yorkers could have taken shelter earlier. But a certain nonchalance at the end of the game and a few errors allowed the visitors to pick up.
28 points for RJ Barrett
Led by Reggie Jackson (26 points, 10/18) and Ivica Zubac (17 points, 14 rebounds), Tyronn Lue’s men had several opportunities to come back to within four points of their host. But their overall clumsiness (43% collective success, 2/16 shooting for the duo of the five majors Nicolas Batum-Marcus Morris Sr) got the better of their comeback attempts, while they will still chain five matches to the outside.
On the Knicks side, RJ Barrett delivered his best offensive performance of the season (28 points at 9/24, 14 rebounds, 6 assists), while Julius Randle continued to polarize the rest of the game (24 points at 8/15, 9 rebounds , 5 assists but 7 stray balls). In the Franco-French duel of the day, Evan Fournier (14 points at 5/12, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) for New York scored several important shots, and dominated Nicolas Batum from a distance. The captain of the Blues, recently author of a 32-point game for the Clippers in a victory against Indiana, was content with 6 points at 2/7, only triggering 3 points, and adding 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 interceptions in 25 minutes.
New York is tied for 10th with Boston (23-24). But the Celtics could remain alone in this place provided they win in Washington.
