In the United States, today marks “Martin Luther King Day” – and in the NBA, as is the best tradition, some games are scheduled for earlier than usual hours. In the first of which came to an end, the New York Knicks recorded a second straight win, 84:91 over Orlando, which in turn suffered a sixth straight loss.
New York (8: 7) – Orlando (8: 6) 84:91
The team from the Big Apple stopped a five-game losing streak with a win over Boston last night – and now it also has a winning streak. Above all, it seems that Tom Thibodeau’s team is starting to connect in the defensive part, when they stopped the Celtics on only 75 points and this time too they kept the opponent on a very bad shooting percentage and a low number of points.
On the offensive side, the Knicks faked themselves – they scored just 5 threes out of 27 attempts and finished with 70 percent from the penalty line (24 of 34). Those who surpassed the mediocre were RJ Barrett, who led the scenes with 22 points and input 10 rebounds, and Julius Randall, who provided a great double-double of 21 points and 17 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic’s 24 points and 14 rebounds were not enough for the Magic.
With the win the Knicks climbed to sixth place in the East and they can continue to dream, at least at this point of the season, of their first playoff appearance since 2013.
Back-to-back games. Back-to-back Ws 💪 pic.twitter.com/FcIHYCb6HI
NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 18, 2021