Thanks to the strong play of Courtney Lee, the New York Knicks got back to .500 with a win over the Memphis Grizzlies at Madison Square Garden.
- New York Knicks 99 (12-12)
- Memphis Grizzlies 88 (8-16)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
The New York Knicks avoided losing their third-straight game on Wednesday night thanks to Courtney Lee.
The team found themselves down by as much as 12 points in the first half but rallied late in the second quarter.
Lee, who was moved to the two in place of the injured Tim Hardaway Jr., scored 12 points in the second quarter, including a huge three-pointer to tie the game at 47 before the half.
C Lee beats the ⏰ with the ? pic.twitter.com/3z9xMqRZs4
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 7, 2017
He continued his hot play into the second half, finishing the game with 24 points.
New York took control of the game early in the third quarter, outscoring the Grizzlies 27-18 over that stretch.
Memphis cut the Knicks 17-point second-half-lead to six late in the fourth quarter but New York put an end to their late run with timely buckets from Lee and Kristaps Porzingis.
Porzingis showed some rust in his first in-game action since Nov. 29.
After hitting his first shot of the game, Porzingis finished the game 8-for-19 with 18 points and five rebounds in 34 minutes.
Michael Beasley, coming off the bench for the first time in two games, also had a strong game. He scored 14 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes in the game.
Jarrett Jack also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists, as well as six rebounds.
The Knicks failed to contain Chandler Parsons early on. The former Rocket scored 10 points off of four-for-five shooting in the first quarter. However, he was held to only three points the rest of the way through.
The Grizzlies came into the game losing 11 of their previous 12 games, however, won against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.
Memphis was without All-Star Mike Conley, who has not played with the team since Nov. 13 in Milwaukee due to injury.
The Knicks will look to continue their winning ways against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. Chicago has dropped their last 10 games and will be playing the Knicks during the second game of their back-to-back.
Welcome back, ? pic.twitter.com/yWIOnsxJwa
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 7, 2017
4️⃣-pt play ? pic.twitter.com/kzNiyRumXm
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 7, 2017
Spin cycle ? pic.twitter.com/MAOzVR8GK9
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 7, 2017
Steal + Slam pic.twitter.com/WS9C0KK4p6
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 7, 2017
14-2 run by the home squad.
Watch on https://t.co/kwkwhs6lzy pic.twitter.com/7rwy2eUUvw
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 7, 2017
