Despite being at full strength once again, the Knicks lost to the Dallas Mavericks from start to finish on Monday night by a score of 114-97.
Here are the takeaways…
— Things started off innocently enough as the Mavericks took an early 8-2 lead thanks to some deep shots falling early on. That lead grew to 16-4 as Max Christie continued to knock down threes with New York unable to stop anybody on defense. Rather than trying to slow the game down while in an early hole, the Knicks tried matching Dallas’ pace but kept coming up empty following quick possessions. The most glaring issue was New York’s three-point shooting, going 0-for-9 from deep in the first quarter.
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— Jalen Brunson was the only starter who was able to get going offensively in the opening quarter, putting up nine points with little help anywhere else. With hardly anybody else contributing on offense, Mitchell Robinson added eight points off the bench and was a force on the glass, grabbing seven rebounds (four offensive) in just six minutes off the bench.
— Meanwhile, the Mavs had no problem getting to their spots and hitting shots. They shot 6-for-10 from three-point range in the first quarter, with Christie and Klay Thompson combining to go 5-for-5 from behind the arc. After one, Dallas led 31-22.
— The second quarter was even worse for the Knicks. After missing their first 10 three-point attempts to start the game, Mikal Bridges finally saw one go through the net early in the second, but that was quickly negated after Cooper Flagg drilled one from deep on the next possession.
— After a quiet first quarter, Karl-Anthony Towns countered with a vicious dunk that got the MSG crowd on their feet before Robinson slammed home an alley-oop that cut New York’s deficit to seven points. That was the closest the Knicks would get for the rest of the game, though, as the Mavericks went on a 13-0 run that ballooned their lead to 20.
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— Towns ended the scoring drought with a three-pointer and followed it up with another dunk, but soon after, he was called for a flagrant 1 foul that sucked all of the remaining energy out of MSG. From there, Dallas got whatever they wanted on offense and put up 44 points in the quarter to go into halftime with a 75-47 lead.
— New York held the Mavs to 39 points in the second half, but the damage had already been done. Overall, it was a night to forget for the Knicks, who shot 40 percent (38-for-95) from the field and 29 percent (9-for-31) from three.
— Brunson and Towns each had 22 points while Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart (in his return to the starting lineup from an ankle injury that he admitted before the game was not 100 percent healthy) combined for 24 points. Towns added a game-high 18 rebounds, but also had a game-high five turnovers.
— Robinson also had a double-double, ending with 12 points and 15 rebounds. He was the only other Knick to score in double-digits.
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— For Dallas, it was just the opposite as the team shot 48 percent from the field and 47 percent from three. Christie led the charge with a game-high 26 points on an incredible 9-for-13 shooting performance (8-for-10 from downtown).
Game MVP: Max Christie
Christie had the green light all game and lit it up by knocking down eight of his 10 three-point attempts.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks close out their three-game homestand with a meeting against the crosstown rival Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night in a battle of the boroughs. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.
