New York battled it out in Orlando on Wednesday with a chance to return to .500 as it extended its winning streak to four, but by the end of the third quarter, the Knicks’ magic ran out, and in the final period the Magic chased away with the victory.
The match had all the benefits of a disappointment from the start. The Knicks rode high after Julius Randle exploded on Monday for 44 points against the Atlanta Hawks, elevating New York to a third straight victory and confirming his place as an All-Star candidate. But they also played their fourth game in six days. It still started to feel like the Knicks, in a kind of official capacity, were no longer a laughing stock. People tried to board the wagon. Bloggers have begged retailers to sell Immanuel Quickley merchandise to them.
Heck, Woj even deleted his motionless tweet from after David Fizdale was fired last year.
Unfortunately, despite a hot start, it will eventually be a disappointment. RJ Barrett, who has been inconsistent since the beginning of February, started working straight and quickly cut the first bucket of the match. Evan Fournier immediately followed with a try, Randle tipped over by lowering a 15-foot bench, and we were off to the race.
The Knicks were initially on track and hit seven of eight to start the evening, but the Magic kept up. The teams swapped frontrunners and Walt Clyde Frazier happily wordplayed how Orlando forward Dwayne Bacon “cooks” and “sis.”
As the quarter progressed, the Knicks began to increase their lead, thanks to Randle, who actually boiled and hissed; he has 13 points on 5-6 from the field and 3-3 from deep in the first.
Immanuel Quickley entered the match with a few minutes to go in for the first time and immediately made a foul after dropping the pump and starting slyly. He becomes the king of deceivers to defile him. Quickley hit all four of his free throws for the first time, and when the buzzer sounded on the period, the Knicks were 32-23 ahead.
Without Randle on the floor, the Knicks splashed to start second. Quickley hit a few more free throws, but otherwise the second unit looks a bit sloppy. Before long, Orlando cut an 11-point lead to two. Then they won.
Under 39-38, Tom Thibodeau called the timeout and placed his starters again, which could have solidified the Knicks’ obstacle. Elfrid Payton penetrated the road for a few buckets and the teams exchanged rings. The Knicks led 56-53 at halftime.
In the first half, the Knicks shot 21-40 (52.5%) from the field and were 3-8 (37.5%) from deep, scoring a total of 56 points. Then the wheels fell off the car; in the third, the Knicks shot 6-20 (30%) and 1-9 from three (11.1%). It did not start off so badly, with Payton continuing its operations earlier.
But the Knicks could not pull away, and apparently every shot started to fall short. Although they kept it close for much of the period, the momentum clearly changed. In the end, Randle, Barrett and Payton were the only Knicks to score in the third scoring, and by the second half of the quarter, Orlando was up by two figures. Six Magic came on the board during the period, five of which scored at least five points. The Magic also hit 5 of 11 tries in third place and led 83-70 in the final quarter.
The Knicks were lifeless in the fourth. Their legs were jelly, and their shots were shorter than Muggsy Bogues. Between the late third and first few minutes of the fourth, the Knicks missed 15 straight shots. Alec Burks delivered a slightly false false hope late in the night with two straight tries to reduce their lead from 17 points to 11, but the Magic calmed down again and managed to keep the Knicks up for the rest of the night. to keep arm’s length.
Eventually, the Knicks went out with a moan and outscored 21 in the second half. The loss drops them to 14-16. At the time of writing, the Knicks would be the sixth seed in the East if the season ended today, so look at the bright side and whatnot.
Notes:
> Randle was super, but not superhuman. He finished with 25 points (11-19 shooting), 7 rebounds and 3 assists, plus 5 turnovers. Too much turnover.
> Quickley struggled and shot 1-12. His only field goal was a garbage time dump. Still, the IQ hit each of its seven free throws to 9 points. He also has 2 plates, 1 aid, 1 steal, 1 block and no turnover. He will not shoot 1-12 very often, people.
> Noel continues a rock-solid job for Mitchell Robinson. He had 6 points and 9 rebounds on Wednesday. There is definitely a decline, but Taj Gibson needs to play important backup minutes as opposed to a third big man.
> Everyone’s favorite backs, IQ and Derrick Rose, jointly shot 2-22 off the field. This is 9%.
Look, this one was bad. It was bad because at first it felt like the Knicks would win, but then they gradually started playing like shit and suddenly it was clear they had no chance. Real Clydes Wear Plaid put it perfectly: “Well, that was awful.”
But do not be discouraged. The Knicks have time to rest as they only play Minnesota Timberwolves again on Sunday. They must then be so fresh.