Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
The stage was set at Madison Square for a marquee matchup between the New York Knicks and the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. But the Knicks jumped on Denver so fast that it allowed many of the Garden crowd to call it a early night. The Knicks led by 16 in the first quarter and had a 62-41 lead at halftime. It only got worse for Denver in the second half as the Knicks ran them off the floor and won by the final score of 122-84. Six Knicks scored in double figures including a game high 26 points for OG Anunoby who also had a whooping six steals. Anunoby had a team high plus/minus of 38 and the Knicks have now won 11 of 13 games since acquiring him which is the best mark in the NBA over that time.
Shortly before the game Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson learned he would not be an All-Star starter for the Eastern Conference which many felt he deserved. Brunson responded to the snub by making 7 of 10 shots in 26 minutes of action. Forward Julius Randle brought the power per usual and had 17 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds for the Knicks and only missed a triple double because he sat the entire fourth quarter. The best triple double guy in the NBA, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, the league’s best player, finished the night with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists. He did however turn the ball over seven times, many of which were due to the defensive prowess of Anunoby who turned him over several times amongst his six steals.
The impressive part about the Knicks effort was how they did it without either their starting or backup center which looked like a glaring problem before the game as they matched up against Jokic. Mitchell Robinson has been out since early December and his backup Isiah Hartstein has missed the past few games with an Achilles issue. Jericho Sims got the start at center and grabbed eight rebounds and Precious Achiuwa backed him up and came away with 10 rebounds. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau came to the post game podium with a smile on his face. “You can’t say enough about what OG brings,” coach Thibodeau said after the game. “You know Jalen and Julius to me are two All-Stars. They’re both terrific, they’re unselfish and then we got really good center play out of Jericho and Precious.”
The NBA will announce the seven Eastern Conference All-Star reserves next Thursday and Randle and Brunson may find themselves on the list. “It’s a goal of mine but the most important think is how we handle business,” Brunson said after the game. “Play night in and night out, obviously that’s an individual goal but I wouldn’t be in that position or have that opportunity if it wasn’t for my teammates and my coaches.” The Knicks record of 28-17 is good enough for fourth place in the East and they currently stand two games behind Philadelphia for the #3 spot. The Knicks next matchup is Saturday afternoon at the Garden where they have a meeting with the Miami Heat who knocked them out of last season’s playoffs.
