Knicks Lose in Dramatic Fashion to the Timberwolves at The Garden
Coming off an embarrassing loss to the Lamelo Ball less Charlotte Hornets, the Knicks had some motivation to show their more than loyal home crowd what they were all about. The Timberwolves, however, were not going to let that happen early. The whole team was buzzing early, especially Karl-Anthony Towns who had 11 points in the first quarter alone. Anthony Edwards posed to be a threat driving to the paint while his outlet, D’Angelo Russel, lurked from beyond the three point line. The bright spot for the Knicks in the first of four was the ability to draw fouls.
The second quarter was the beginning of a sloppy couple for New York. In the first 5 minutes of the second, the Knicks piled their 7th and 8th turnovers of the game, and the Wolves were only building on that intense defense led by guard Pat Beverley. RJ Barrett, who was ice cold to begin the night, was snatched out of the game by coach Thibideaux after his 3rd turnover, trying to force a pass into the corner for Evan Fournier. The dominant display of defense continued throughout the 2nd quarter, but seemingly dissapeared at the half.
The Knicks came out scorching hot to begin the second half. Fueled by a strong effort from a Julius Randle put back layup, the Knicks found themselves in a 78–75 game midway through the 3rd. Then, Evan Fournier took over this game. He makes a three pointer to tie the game up on the very next possession. He manages to sprint back on defense, force D’Angelo Russell throw an illadvised pass right to the hands of Quentin Grimes and the former Houston Cougar took the ball down the floor, converted on a contact filled layup and drew the foul. He hit the free throw as well.
For Minnesota, Jaylen Nowell started to get going just at the right time. When the fourth quarter started he had two points, by the end of the game he had 14. As much as the Knicks tried to stop this potent, action-packed Timberwolves offense, there was no answer. Julius Randle came up with his own solution though. He went on a 8–4 run by himself and gave the Knicks a 98–93 lead with 8 minutes left in the game. The Knicks continued to pour it on with another three point ball from Evan Fournier. The effort came to a standstill when center Mitchell Robinson fouled out. The game was 104–102 with 3 minutes left, the Knicks leading. Kemba Walker sprinted down the court, stopped on a dime, then proceeded to make an absolutely ridiculous 31 foot three pointer to bring the entire stadium on its feet. With 24 seconds left, the game was knotted at 110–109. A foul awarded to Jarred Vanderbilt put Julius Randle at the free throw line. Randle, who has faced immense criticism over the last few weeks for his inconsistent play, had a golden opportunity to get back on the New York fans nice list. With all that said, Randle missed the first free throw. As he lined up to shoot the second, “OBI! OBI! OBI!” chants came down from the nosebleeds, people pleading for the young forward to check into the game for Randle. Julius hushed the crowd after making the second free throw, with the Knicks only down one. Patrick Beverley went 1–2 on his free throws as well, which made the game 112–110. The Knicks called a time out to discuss what play they would run to set up the game sealing — or tying — basket. The ball went straight to the Frenchman, Evan Fournier. He drove for the layup and missed. An extremely long rebound popped out to Alec Burks, who had zero points on the night and was cold all week long. Burks set his feet, squared his shoulders to the basket, and let the trey ball fly. With the MSG crowd dead silent, the ball clanked off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
The Knicks fell to 22–23 on the season, with their next chance to get back at .500 Thursday vs the Pelicans.
