The Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the New York Knicks 126-101 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. The Knicks were down by as many as 30 points at one stage and Walt Frazier, who was calling the game, slammed the players on the broadcast.
“What you’re seeing from the Knicks now folks: No teamwork. Just bouncing the ball,” Frazier said. “(Karl-Anthony) Towns bouncing. (Jalen) Brunson bouncing. People standing around. This is not how they’ve been successful. They usually average 28 assists…13 assists right now. So the ball is not moving.”
The Knicks ended up recording 18 assists on the night, well below their season average of 27.2. As Frazier pointed out, the players were holding on to the ball a bit too much at times and it contributed to the team having one of its worst games of the season.
The Knicks went 37-96 (38.5%) from the field against the Thunder but if you think that’s bad, there’s worse to come. They went a horrific 4-31 (12.9%) from beyond the arc and you’re not going to be competitive in too many games when you shoot that poorly.
Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby had their worst games of the season against the Thunder. Bridges had zero points (0-9 FG), one rebound, and two assists on the night while Anunoby had four points (2-8 FG), three rebounds, and two assists.
As for the stars, Jalen Brunson had 27 points (7-15 FG), one rebound, and five assists. Brunson didn’t play well, though, and did most of his damage at the line (12-12 FT). Karl-Anthony Towns, meanwhile, had 23 points (9-16 FG), 10 rebounds, one assist, and one steal. They took just four threes between them and needed to shoot more.
While the Knicks have deservedly gotten hammered for their play, the Thunder do deserve a lot of credit for shutting them down. You can check out a play from the game below which sums up how just how well the visitors were defending.
— Strickland Vids (@StricklandVids) January 11, 2025
That’s great team defense. The Thunder’s 103.3 defensive rating is the best in the NBA and that number certainly doesn’t lie. They are an excellent defensive unit and the Knicks had no answers for them on the night.
Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander strengthened his MVP case against the Knicks with a terrific showing on both ends of the court. Gilgeous-Alexander had 39 points (15-21 FG), three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in the contest and was by far the best player on the court.
This was an incredible response from the Thunder after seeing their 15-game win streak be snapped by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. They have now improved to 31-6 on the season and will take on the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena next on Sunday at 6 PM ET.
As for the Knicks, this loss raises further questions about their credentials. They dropped to 0-5 on the season against teams that entered Friday’s games with a better record than them. It’s too early to write them off as serious title contenders but they do need to start playing better against the best of the best in the NBA.
After this loss, which dropped them to 25-14 on the season, Brunson stated the team didn’t play Knicks basketball on the night. It will be interesting to see how they respond when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday at 3 PM ET.
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