A small but noisy group of Knicks fans arrived in the garden armed with boos and ridiculous chants to guide Kristaps Porzingis, but what they wanted more than anything on Friday night was a victory over their former All-Star and his team. current.
Even with Porzingis, mostly smelly on a rocky night, the Knicks followed Wednesday’s crushing loss to Minnesota, gaining a double-digit advantage for the second game in a row, in a 99-86 loss to the Mavericks.
“The reaction was what I expected, of course,” said Porzingis, who scored Dallas’ victory with a late base shot. “I am a tough team and they played a very good defense on me and on us in general. Overall, a tough game, a tough game and it’s good to win against a tough team like the Knicks. ”
Porzingis heard cooked boos and “KP sucks” chants throughout the game. The 7-foot-3 striker finished with 14 points on a 6-for-17 shoot from the floor.
Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, the Knicks’ top two scorers, also endured rough offensive play, combining for just 22 points in 8-for-31 shooting, while the Knicks lost for the third game in a row. and fell back below .500 to 24-25.
Alec Burks won 20 points on the team for the Knicks, who shot just 36 percent from the field, including a 1 to 10 presentation by Derrick Rose.
Barrett and Rose had been in contention for the ankle injury game after Randle missed last Saturday’s game with a thigh contusion.
“I think we play together correctly early and then, as the game goes on, the shots don’t fall or whatever, and maybe we’re just trying to do a little too much,” Randle said. “We just have to trust ourselves. Is difficult. It’s a tough balance for all of us, but we’ll find out. “
Luka Doncic had a maximum of 26 points, and another former Knick, Tim Hardaway Jr., added 14 for the Mavericks (26-21). They were coached by assistant Jamahl Mosley after head coach Rick Carlisle revealed he tested positive for COVID-19 before the game.
Randle was signed with part of the ceiling space that Knicks released through the transaction of the blockbuster Porzingis, Hardaway and others to the Mavericks in February 2019, while Porzingis is still recovering from the ACL operation. The Knicks also control Dallas’ first-round picks in the 2021 and 2023 drafts, and this year will be the 21st general selection to enter Friday’s action.
Fans maintained the derision directed by KP during the first quarter and missed eight of the first nine shots on the field in the first half, including six straight from 3 points.
In the second quarter, Burks pulled out two 3s and Obi Toppin provided a nine-point spark from the bench – including a one-handed shot during an offensive recovery – while the Knicks extended their lead to 44-. 31 with 7:02 left before the break.
But coach Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks, went almost six minutes without scoring and Dallas took a 49-46 lead at the break with 3 points in the final minute of the Hardaway and Doncic half to end an 18-2 round.
Porzingis finally connected beyond the arc for a 55-54 lead at Dallas, and his jumper pull-up a few minutes later extended the cushion to six on the way to a 72-69 Knicks hole that went into last period.
The Knicks then missed 11 of the first 12 shots in the fourth quarter, before consecutive triples by Jalen Brunson and Doncic helped Dallas grow by 15 with just three minutes left.
“We need to make sure we get quality photos,” Thibodeau said. “It was a difficult game to fight until then. … We need to make sure we do everything collectively. That has been the strength of the club all year and I think we will get back to that. ”