About a week ago, the New York Knicks were within striking distance of moving into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, putting them in prime position for the NBA postseason. Alas, a three-game losing streak threw a wrench in those plans, as New York’s outlook was bleak.
Not only were they on a losing streak, but it was announced before their game against the Sacramento Kings that Julius Randle would be undergoing surgery and miss the remainder of the 2023-24 NBA season. That news, coupled with the heavy workload the healthy players have been handling, looking to be taking its toll against the Kings.
New York went down by as many as 21 points in the first half as nothing was going their way. They looked out of sync offensively and their defense could not consistently get stops as De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell and Keon Ellis were torching them from the perimeter.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, New York Knicks Updates
The Knicks looked to be in real danger of falling even further in the standings, going behind the Orlando Magic and being only two games ahead of the seventh-place Miami Heat. However, the Nova Knicks weren’t about to let that happen as they put the team on their back and carried them to the finish line.
Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart put together outstanding performances to will New York to a 120-109 victory. That trio combined for 87 points while shooting 61.5 percent from the field. More than just their scoring, they also chipped in across the board as shared by Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
Brunson picked apart a Kings defense that was routinely blitzing him as he approached halfcourt. That led to him racking up 11 assists as Hart and Isaiah Hartenstein were not shy about attacking the rim and putting the ball in the cup.
Despite that, Brunson scored a game-high 35 points as Sacramento had no real answer for him. Hart was a major beneficiary, scoring a season-high 31 points while adding nine rebounds and eight assists. It was a gutsy performance by Hart, who is playing through a sprained wrist and gave up on shooting the ball, just attacking the rim aggressively.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, New York Knicks Updates
He left the long-range shooting to DiVincenzo, who continues putting distance between himself and Evan Fournier, who had the Knicks single-season 3-point record before DiVincenzo broke it this season. He added five for 3-pointers to his ledger on Thursday night, scoring 21 total points with five rebounds.
Those three deserve a lot of credit for helping keep the Knicks afloat during the 2023-24 NBA season that could have easily been derailed by the injuries they are dealing with. With the win, New York remains tied with the Magic for fourth place in the East, a half-game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for third and two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for second.
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