Knicks Win 8th in Row! 7 Reasons Why NY 137 Atlanta 127 in OT

April 22, 2021 LouV 2020-21 0

Systematic. Once again the Knicks finished Strong — amped up the Defense in the 4th quarter — had the win at hand except for the shooting of Bogdan Bogdanovic which brought Atlanta back — before NY took command in a dominant Overtime period, just like they did Sunday against New Orleans. Eight in a row, leap-frogging Atlanta for 4th place in the East. NY is now 33-27 with 12 games to go.

Reasons:

1. Quickley Shooting STAR

The Knicks were down 7 entering the 4th quarter — Atlanta powered by the 3rd quarter shooting of Bogdonavic, Trae Young, and Lou Williams. Trae Young sprained his ankle with 1:13 left in the 3rd and was gone from the game — a break for the Knicks but it didn’t seem it when a minute later Lou Williams popped another jumper.

The Knicks knocked on the door at the start of the 4th quarter — pulling to within 3 before Lou Williams, Clint Capela and Atlanta brought their lead back to 8. It was still not looking good for the Knicks until Immanuel Quickley hit back-to-back 3’s with just over 7 minutes to pull the Knicks to within 2. The Knick Defense clamped down and Derrick Rose and Julius Randle then carried the Knicks to a 116-109 lead with 4:46 left.

Atlanta came back on Bogdonavic shooting — including a 3 to tie the game with 6.9 seconds left after Julius Randle had just made a clutch drive to put the Knicks up — it looked like for good — with 8 seconds left.

Overtime

Then in Overtime it was

  • Quickley again starting off the scoring with a jumper,
  • Randle hit a 3,
  • Reggie Bullock hit a 3, and
  • Randle fed Nerlens Noel beautifully underneath for a slam to give NY the first 10 points of Overtime and a 132-122 lead with 2:37 left.

Solomon Hill hit a drive and Bogdonavic another 3 to bring Atlanta with 5, but RJ Barrett hit a floater and Quickley struck again with a Huge 3 with 44 seconds left to ice it.

Ballgame.

Quickley skipped off the court in jubilation as Atlanta called time out.

2. Randle Hits Big Shots; Ho-Hum 40-Point Game

Randle hit clutch shots all night, including that apparent game-winning drive with 8 seconds left in regulation. He was efficient on his jumper: 40 pts on 11-21 shooting (6-8 from 3, 12-13 in free throws), 11 rebounds, 6 assists.

He is lethal in so many ways — especially making a move late, drawing the foul, and being deadeye at the free throw line.

3. Rose Spectacular

Elfrid Payton played well early but Derrick Rose took over this game in the 4th quarter and overtime. He attacked attacked attacked — played “North to South” as Walt Frazier puts it. His floater — which Rick Pitino says is 1-2 with Kevin Durant for best in the NBA — was deadly.

Rose had 20 points on 8-12 shooting (1-1 from 3), 3 assists, and a +14 in 30 minutes.

Payton had 6 points in 17 minutes and made some terrific plays in the 3rd, including a sequence where he grabbed a rebound, took it length of court for a drive, and then stole the ball and fed Bullock for a 3.

4. Bullock

Reggie Bullock was solidly terrific all night as usual. An assassin from 3 — he was 6-11 (all from 3) for 18 points, and of course his terrific man-to-man D and head’s up play. There isn’t anything in the world better as a Knick fan these days to see Randle drawing Defense and spinning it out to Reggie Bullock open at the 3. Or the Reggie pullup 3 from straight away — that line drive nothing-but-net bucket.

5. Barrett Great 2nd Half

RJ Barrett for the second night in a row had a horrible first half — 1-9 shooting (he was 1-8 in the previous game in the first half). But for the second night in a row, put that in the past and had a terrific second half — this time going to the basket for scores immediately in the 3rd, and by the 4th had his 3 working. He finished with 16 points on 6-18 shooting (5 for 9 in the second half).

6. Physical Game

It was a physical game between two physical teams — Atlanta coached by Nate McMillan these days, plays a tough defense.

Taj Gibson was hit in the eye with an inadvertent hand and had to leave the game early in the 3rd; he only played 9 minutes. Nerlens Noel got inadvertently punched on the chin and also had to leave the game late in the 3rd leaving Norvel Pelle as the only Knick big. Noel came back into the game in the 4th.

On Atlanta’s side, Clint Capela stepped on Derrick Rose’s foot on a drive in the 4th and landed on his back — he was down for a while before getting up and missing 2 key free throws (they called a foul on Rose’s foot). And as mentioned at the top, Trae Young sprained his ankle and was gone from the game at the end of the 3rd.

7. Knicks 3-pt Shooting

The Knicks shot 19-35 from 3 in this game. Thibodeau said after the game they are always working on their shooting, and you are now seeing it.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401307683

 

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