Knicks Move Forth to 4th, Crush Magic in Brunson's Return
If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try ... and try ... again.
Partly energized by the return of Jalen Brunson from an opening-minute injury sustained on Sunday, the New York Knicks finally got the best of the Orlando Magic on Friday night, ending the longest active winning streak in the NBA with a 98-74 victory.
Brunson handled offense after missing Tuesday's loss against Atlanta with a team-best 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting while the defense put forth one of its finest efforts in recent metropolitan memory: the 74 points the Magic scored were the fewest any team in the NBA has scored this season and the first time the Knicks held a team under 75 since April 2012.
Precious Achuiwa was the defensive headliner, accompanying 15 points with 14 rebounds and five blocks, the latter-most stat standing as a new career-high. The Knicks allowed no more than 20 points in any of the final three periods, notably holding the Magic to only 3-of-15 from three-point range in the second half, a stark contrast to New York hitting all but one of its first nine with an extra point on the line.
With the win, New York (37-26) avoided its first four-game sweep at the hands of Orlando in over two decades. The Knicks also moved back into fourth place on the Eastern Conference leaderboard, swiping the spot from the momentum-carrying Magic.
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Perhaps eager to make a statement after a relatively listless showing on Tuesday, the Knicks came out firing from the get-go: New York scored the first seven points of the game (including the first five from Josh Hart, who scored 19) and were up by a dozen before the midway mark of the period. The Knicks' 31-23 lead by the end of the first was a diverse effort: Brunson scored 10 as all but one of the eight New Yorkers who partook in the period hit at least one from the field.
Conversely, Orlando (37-27) had only three men score, as Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr., and Jonathan Isaac accounted for all 23 tallies. The Magic managed to cut the lead to seven before the half let out but the Knicks more or less broke their will with a 9-0 tally to end the first 24.
With the lead well-secured, the Knicks used the second half as defensive window dressing and boosted their lead to as high as 26. Brunson was one of four Knicks to hit at least a trio of triples, with Miles McBride notably going 3-of-3 en route to 14 points in relief. Though he hit only 3-of-10, Donte DiVincenzo made franchise history, becoming just the fourth Knick to hit at least 200 three-pointers in a single season. With 19 games left, DiVincenzo is 42 away from breaking Evan Fournier's team record set in 2021-22.
Banchero did what he could to beautify the Magic's brutal effort, falling a rebound short of a double-double next to 23 points and four blocks. Carter, back on the floor after missing Wednesday's win over Washington, pulled in seven offensive rebounds but was held scoreless after his opening period breakout.
The Knicks have another impactful game ahead on Sunday when they host the Philadelphia 76ers in the first half of a Manhattan-based back-to-back (7 p.m ET, MSG/ESPN). Philadelphia is two games behind the Knicks in seventh place after falling to New Orleans on Friday.
