The New York Knicks just picked up a massive 122-112 win over the Denver Nuggets. Playing at home, the Knicks put on a show for Madison Square Garden. It was a major statement from the Knicks, who are now third in the Eastern Conference with a 32-16 record and could be set to surpass their conference rivals Boston Celtics before the weekend is over.
Jalen Brunson put on a show in the Garden, with 30 points (10-16 FG), four rebounds, 15 assists, two steals, and one block. Karl-Anthony Towns had a double-double of his own, putting up 14 points (6-12 FG), 10 rebounds, five assists, and one block. OG Anunoby had a stellar game with 23 points (9-15 FG), four rebounds, and one assist.
As for the Nuggets, they were led by Jamal Murray, who scored a game-high 33 points (13-25 FG), five rebounds, six assists, one steal, and one block. Nikola Jokic had a quiet night, scoring just 17 points (6-15 FG), six rebounds, six assists, two steals, and one block. Aaron Gordon had a decent outing as well, with 15 points (6-7 FG), six rebounds, and one assist.
The Nuggets looked out of sorts tonight, with the Knicks doing a fantastic job on both ends of the court to ensure victory for their team. Tom Thibodeau often gets criticized for making his key players stay on the court for big minutes, but when they perform like they did tonight, it’s hard to argue against his choice to do so.
With that in mind, here are three reasons why the Knicks bested the Nuggets:
Knicks Contain Nikola Jokic
The New York Knicks kept Nikola Jokic very quiet tonight, allowing him to score just 17 points, and forcing him to shoot some tough shots. Jokic ended the night with just 40% of his field goals converted, of which three were three-pointers. This was a rare quiet game not just on the scoring front, but in all aspects, as the reigning MVP only had six rebounds and six assists.
Jokic had been in stellar form coming into tonight’s game. For the season, he has averaged 29.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. So for the Knicks to contain him far below his average tonight on all five major statistical categories is a heck of an achievement.
The Joker has been uncharacteristically vocal about his form, even saying that he is playing the best basketball of his career during this latest stretch. The Knicks did a fantastic job and made sure he couldn’t say that about his performance tonight. Neutralizing a threat like Jokic is never easy, so all credit must go to their defenders.
Knicks Starters All Score Double Digits
The New York Knicks starters combined to score 95 of the team’s 122 points. This is a solid contribution from their entire starting lineup. We mentioned Jalen Brunson putting up 30, Anunoby dropping 23, and Towns putting up 14 points. Josh Hart was no slouch tonight either, with 15 points (7-12 FG), while Mikal Bridges delivered a steady 13 points (5-16 FG).
The Knicks have one of the most offensively potent starting lineups in the entire league. And on a night like this, when most, if not all of their starting lineup is clicking right out the gate, it is almost impossible to stop them. The Nuggets definitely put up a valiant fight, but they were not able to get the job done.
Once again, the big concern from tonight will be how many minutes the starters played. Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges all played 36+ minutes during the game. In fact, the starter with the lowest amount of minutes played on the night was Karl-Anthony Towns, who played 30 minutes. At some point, Thibs is going to have to let some of the rotation players carry the load.
Knicks Shoot Nuggets Off The Court
The New York Knicks had an elite shooting night, converting 51.6% of their shots from the field, and 41.2% of their shots from beyond the arc. Shooting nights like these are a coach’s dream, and tonight, Thibodeau’s dreams came true. This incredible shooting form helped the Knicks keep the Nuggets at bay and never let them get any kind of foothold in the game.
The Knicks are one of the best shooting teams in the NBA, ranking third in the league for field goal percentage with 49.4%. They also rank fifth in the NBA for three-point percentage with 37.8%. Ironically enough, the Denver Nuggets actually led them in both categories this season, but their performance tonight did not reflect that. The Nuggets didn’t shoot the ball poorly, but they weren’t as good as the Knicks.
The Knicks will be hoping to sustain this shooting form well into the season. Mikal Bridges was one of the players who struggled to shoot the ball well at the start of the season but has come into his own now, albeit with some degree of inconsistency. If they can carry forward this form, the Knicks will be just as generous as fans expected them to be when they assembled this roster.
But now that the game is over, the Knicks will not have a lot of time to celebrate, as they have to face the tough challenge of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers just lost Anthony Davis for at least a week, but the Knicks cannot afford to get complacent and take them lightly. It will be a blockbuster Saturday night game at Madison Square Garden at 8:30 PM EST.
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