Immanuel Quickley put on a 3-pt shooting show late in the 4th quarter to lead the Knicks to a 106-100 win at Madison Square Garden on a Tuesday night. NY had a 25-point lead in the 1st half that LA gradually eroded to tie the game late in the 3rd — but Quickley’s aggressiveness and 3’s, and the energy play of Obi Toppin vaulted NY in the 4th quarter.
LeBron James was out with a one-game suspension for elbowing Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart the game earlier. For NY, Mitchell Robinson, Taj Gibson, and Derrick Rose were all out.
1. ENERGY of Quickley and Toppin Carries Knicks
With NY up only 1 point, 85-84 with 10 minutes left in the game, Quickley hit a last-second 3 from the corner off a broken play and that got him rolling.
Q U I C K L 3️⃣ Y pic.twitter.com/nyZiJo2Eo5
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 24, 2021
With Julius Randle out of the game with 5 fouls, Quickley played an aggressive point — distributing to Obi Toppin for a jumper with 8:30 left to give NY a 92-87 lead.
Quickley then hit another 3 to give NY a 95-87 lead.
Alec Burks then made one of his “poor-man’s Kobe Bryant” plays in the 4th to give NY a 99 – 90 lead.
ALEC BURKS. ARE YOU SERIOUS?? pic.twitter.com/kRCYsKhVF7
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 24, 2021
Quickley’s 3 with 5:41 left gave NY a 102-93 lead.
COLD. BLOODED. pic.twitter.com/YmUzQ8AJaN
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 24, 2021
Quickley hit ANOTHER 3 with 5:00 left to give NY a 105-93 lead and the old ballgame, behind a ROCKING Madison Square Garden crowd.
Y’all… Quick did it again. pic.twitter.com/eNoGwWVIkI
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 24, 2021
After that NY milked the clock on every possession and it amounted to free throws in the final minute, which NY made enough of to ice the win.
Amidst the Quickley 3’s, Toppin was all over the place on D and offense as usual — the two of them giving the Knicks more energy than the Lakers.
Quickley finished with 14 points on 4-9 shooting in 22 minutes; Obi had 12 pts on 6-11 shooting in 22 minutes for a +15.
The sky is blue, water is wet, Obi is catching lobs. pic.twitter.com/rzDWFZhRK8
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 24, 2021
2. Melo’s Poor Shooting Helped
The Knicks played tough D in the 4th, and time after time it seemed that the Lakers swung the ball to Carmelo Anthony for a 3 — and a missed shot. That really helped the Knicks 4th-quarter surge.
Melo is having a Terrific year as 6th man for the Lakers but in this game shot 3-14 (2-8 from 3) for 12 pts and a -9. Many Laker fans on twitter blamed Laker shooting guard Talen Horton-Tucker more for the loss — he shot 0-8 (0-2 from 3) for 0 points in 29 minutes and a -18.
3. Knicks’ Starters, Including Fournier, Started On Fire
The Knicks started off the game on fire. Tremendous chemistry amongst the starters. Crisp passing and hitting open shots. Evan Fournier starred — his best game in a long time; he finished with 26 pts on 8-14 shooting (6-9 from 3).
Count the passes 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/l6qJex3HLc
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 24, 2021
Randle had 20 pts, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal.
RJ Barrett started out on fire — and finished 4-8 (3-5 from 3) for 12 pts and 7 rebounds in 27 minutes. Barrett did not play until the final seconds of the 4th quarter — brought in as a player who could play D and make free throws as the Lakers were intentionally fouling. Coach Tom Thibodeau went with the hot hand in the 4th — Quickley and Burks.
Alec Burks had 12 points on 4-10 shooting in 26 minutes off the bench.
4. AD & Westbrook Were Tough
The Lakers were able to come back in this game because of great games by Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.
Westbrook had a field day scoring on Kemba Walker. With Derrick Rose out, Westbrook got on a roll — driving to the bucket and then started hitting 3’s. Westbrook had 31 pts on 10-18 shooting (3-6 from 3).
Anthony Davis was the biggest man on the court; NY’s Mitchell Robinson and Taj Gibson were out. Davis gave the Knicks trouble inside but hurt LA by not hitting his free throws. Davis was 7-17 frm the floor but 5-11 in free throws for 20 pts.
5. Lakers Have Weak Bench
With LeBron out, DeAndre Jordan stepped into a starter’s role and played well. But during the game it was startling how weak the Laker bench is. With Melo having a poor game — the rest of the Laker bench was the aging Dwight Howard (10 minutes, 0 points), Wayne Ellington (4 pts), and Malik Monk (5-14, 1-7 from 3 for 12 pts in 29 minutes). That’s it.
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401360088
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