NEW YORK: Julius Randle of New York scored seven of his 21 points in the final 93 seconds Monday (Jan. 18) and the Knicks held off Orlando 91-84 to open the NBA holiday slate.
Randle fired just 5-of-19 from the floor but added 17 rebounds while RJ Barrett had 22 points and 10 rebounds when the Knicks, who tore Boston on Sunday, won on consecutive days for the first time in the 41 attempts over three years.
“Back-to-back is always hard for us,” Randle said. “We were in charge of the whole game, they played well. They ran. They stayed together.
“I couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean but we got it done. It’s a huge win for us.”
Later games on the U.S. holidays honor the civil rights image of Martin Luther King Jr. including Browlyn’s Milwaukee, pitting the Bucks’ most valuable NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo against veterans MVPs James Harden and Kevin Durant, and Golden State at Los Angeles Lakers governing champion.
“The NBA will always have twin games throughout the schedule that you want to be a part of and this is definitely one of them,” Randle said. “So it was great to win a home on this day and honor his legacy.”
In a sloppy contest at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks led 19-13 after the first quarter, pushing the margin as high as 14 points early in the fourth quarter, just the edge squander as the Magic made a late cost just for their suffering a sixth straight loss.
Orlando made 12 3-pointers, the second half of them in the fourth quarter and the most number came when Terrence Ross sank in a 3-point crisis with 1:41 left as the clock was drawing to a close. led 81-80 Magic, their first since then mid-opening quarter.
But the Knicks closed with an 11-3 run for the win, Randle conceding five free throws in the decisive field.
“Down the stretch I’ll always have the confidence to do plays,” Randle said. “And that’s what I tried to do.”
New York (7-8) dropped just 31-of-87 shots (35.6 percent) off the floor while the Magic (6-8) made just 29-of-86 (33.7 percent).
Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 24 points and 14 rebounds while Ross put 19 off the bench and Aaron Gordon had 18 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists.
HAWKS WEAR KING JERSEYS
In the hometown of King, the Atlanta Hawks donned special black jerseys with the first MLK letters on the front in a 108-97 win over a Minnesota visit.
The Hawks, who had lost six of their previous seven games, improved to 6-7 despite 24 turns while the Timberwolves fell to 3-9 with the ninth loss in 10 games.
Atlanta’s John Collins is up against Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels in the Hawks ’108-97 NBA victory over the Timberwolves. (Photo: AFP / Kevin C Cox)
D’Andre Russell scored 25 points to lead the Hawks while Clint Capela added 23 points and 15 rebounds and Trae Young added 20 points and 13 assists for Atlanta.
De’Andre Hunter scored a goal with a high of 31 points for the T-Wolves.
San Antonio moved to Portland’s 125-104 victory behind 22 points from LaMarcus Aldridge, 20 points and 11 assists from DeMar DeRozan and 21 points each off the bench for Patty Mills and Rudy Gay.
Portland ‘s Damian Lillard won at 35 points.