The New York Knicks finished their five-gave road trip with a devastating loss to the Nuggets and dropped to 2-3 on the West Coast swing.
- Denver Nuggets 127 (11-16)
- New York Knicks 114 (14-13)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
The New York Knicks embarrassed themselves in the finale of their five-game Western Conference road trip against the Denver Nuggets.
Things were looking up when the team announced shortly before the game that Carmelo Anthony would play. Despite the absence of Derrick Rose, there was reason to believe that this game was winnable.
https://youtu.be/NsEARGIaz6k
After all the Nuggets came into Saturday’s game just 10-16 with a record of 4-7 at home.
Well, Melo played well. Unfortunately, hardly anyone else did.
Kristaps Porzingis (7-19, 1-6 3P, 16 PTS) had another poor shooting performance and Brandon Jennings struggled to defend his younger and stronger counterpart Emmanuel Mudiay.
Mudiay went off for 22 points on 10-15 shooting.
Nikola Jokic tossin' dimes like he's standing next to a wishing well #MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/rcrlG4Ezti
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) December 18, 2016
As a team, Denver shot 55.6 percent for the game due to their dominance in the paint. They outscored the Knicks in the painted area 68-32. That’s just terrible preparation.
Denver is fifth in the league in points in the paint and the Knicks are 27th in opponents points in the paint. They should’ve seen that attack coming. Part of the blame for those 68 points is on defensive guru Kurt Rambis. He didn’t have his team prepared.
Although Willy Hernangomez and his brother never actually shared the court at the same time, Willy put on a show for his family back home in Madrid.
The Knicks will try to get back in the win column when they return home to host the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Nuggets 127 #Knicks 114 F@carmeloanthony: 29p@kporzee: 22p#NYKvsDEN pic.twitter.com/s12vuaDsDN
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 18, 2016
Seriously, The Manimal has dominated ALL night.#Nuggets pic.twitter.com/SzBXEYM1aO
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 18, 2016
Faried has 19 points and Mudiay has 18 as we're cruisin' into the fourth quarter!
Knicks 80 – #Nuggets 96.
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 18, 2016
That triple-digit score: ?#Nuggets pic.twitter.com/v8OFig5hEl
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 18, 2016
The #Knicks open on a 7-4 run to start the 3Q & only trail by 5! #NYKvsDEN pic.twitter.com/aFFYsXahv3
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 18, 2016
Behind @carmeloanthony’s 18 first half points, the #Knicks trim Denver’s lead to 62-54 at the half. #NYKvsDEN pic.twitter.com/cGKPCyPWDo
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 18, 2016
REPLAY: @kporzee soars for the slam! #NYKvsDEN pic.twitter.com/Q5poNaM14q
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 18, 2016
End of 1Q here in Denver. Nuggets lead 33-22.@carmeloanthony: 7p (3-5 FG)#NYKvsDEN pic.twitter.com/qP5whz5gLG
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 18, 2016
#Knicks starters:@brandonjennings
@CourtneyLee2211 @carmeloanthony @kporzee @JoakimNoah #NYKvsDEN pic.twitter.com/rbgsQw8j8U— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 18, 2016
Moments before tipoff, here’s 5 Things to Know for tonight’s tilt in Denver! #NYKvsDEN #Knicks
[? https://t.co/iXJF5hs2Ww] pic.twitter.com/3jpxUwc1qm— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 18, 2016