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The Knicks missed their first chance to clinch a postseason berth, falling to the Los Angeles Clippers 126-113 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
New York started well, but Los Angeles – the NBA's second-best defensive team in the league – tightened the screws holding the home team to 18 of 40 (45 percent) from the floor in the second half. On the other end, the Knicks’ poor three-point defense got torched, coceeding 11 threes on 18 attempts (61 percent) in the second half.
Los Angeles grabbed control of the game with a monster third quarter – outscoring New York 40-29 in the period with eight made threes – led by James Harden, who scored 16 of his 29 points. Kawhi Leonard (6-for-9 in the second half) added 27 points on the night.
"They got going, and it was a problem," head coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game.
Karl-Anthony Towns was the lone Knick with any firepower on the night. He finished with 34 points on 11-for-20 shooting (4-for-7 from three) with 13 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and was a plus-2 in 39 minutes.
The Knicks (45-27), playing the second night of a back-to-back against a rested opponent, dropped another game to a team with a winning record and are now 11-18 on the year against such foes. The Clippers improved to 41-31.
Here are some takeaways…
– The Knicks opened up the first quarter playing unselfish basketball, tallying 12 assists on 14 made baskets in the quarter. Josh Hart dished out four assists and Mikal Bridges – adding this to his game in Jalen Brunson’s absence – had five.
New York opened up a 33-20 lead while knocking down 56 percent in the opening period with Cam Payne – in the starting lineup with Miles McBride still sidelined due to a groin injury – connecting on 4 of 6 shots and two from downtown for 10 points. Towns added 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting with six rebounds.
And that was the extent of the good news. Hart led the Knicks with a plus-7 in 34 minutes but had just seven points, six assists, and six rebounds on the night.
Bridges made just one bucket after the half to finish with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting with nine assists and four…
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Publish date : 2025-03-27 02:05:00
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