The New York Knicks struggled to get anything going Tuesday night and couldn’t overcome the balanced San Antonio Spurs.
- New York Knicks 91 (18-19)
- San Antonio Spurs 100 (26-12)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard led the way for San Antonio while Kristaps Porzingis was held in check. The Spurs are simply a better team than the Knicks. This isn’t breaking news. This was evident in Thursday night’s game where the Spurs handled the Knicks in San Antonio. It’s important to keep things in perspective and try not to focus too much on a single loss, but this team looks like they may be slipping out of playoff contention fast.
The Spurs’ stars showed up. Aldridge had a game-high 29 points and Leonard chipped in with 25 points and eight rebounds.
Porzingis, meanwhile, wasn’t himself, finishing with just 13 points on 5-for-19 shooting. Michael Beasley led the way for the Knicks tonight with 18 points and nine rebounds.
It feels like we are beating a dead horse at this point, but the Knicks desperately need Tim Hardaway Jr. to return. The Knicks offense looks really bogged down at times, and they need someone who can stretch the defense. The Knicks were 7-for-22 from three-point range. Courtney Lee has been able to pick up the scoring load to an extent, but games like tonight show why he can’t be relied upon as that secondary scorer to KP.
This was a sloppy game all around. The Knicks offense was anemic at times, and their defense was non-existent for a majority of this game. They escaped the first half without giving up too many points, but that had more to do with the Spurs missing a lot of open looks on defensive breakdowns.
The Knicks defense in the second half consisted of mainly hacking ballhandlers. The Spurs were in the bonus with more than eight minutes to go in the third quarter. This was evident in the free throw shooting numbers. The Spurs were 26-for-32 from the free throw line. Conversely, the Knicks were 11-for-15
The Knicks travel to Washington to play the Wizards tomorrow night and it’s no secret that they have had their immense struggles on the road this season. They play their next three games on the road and will need to put forth a much better effort than they displayed tonight.
Ball movement ? pic.twitter.com/5gSjteD2Q4
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 3, 2018
Wait for it… pic.twitter.com/HivYsadtkl
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 3, 2018
LT ?
We lead 43-35 in Q2. Watch on https://t.co/kwkwhs6lzy pic.twitter.com/ugqEUy6cTM
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 3, 2018
