The Knicks were in Brooklyn last night (Wednesday) to play the Nets at the Barclays Center after returning to the Garden from a four-game, six-day road trip facing Western Conference opponents. They opened the game 15-11 and the No. 5 seed in the East.
The Knicks ended the circuit, which began with a 117-113 loss to the Utah Jazz on December 13, with a gutsy 114-109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. They defeated the Phoenix Suns last Friday by 139-122 last Friday in the second game and fell to the Los Angeles Clippers last Saturday 144-122.
The Knicks will now face the force multiplier Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks for two straight games at Madison Square Garden on Saturday and Christmas Day.
Their victory over the Lakers was noteworthy because LeBron James and Anthony Davis were both in the lineup for Los Angeles while the Knicks were minus starting center Mitchell Robinson, who is expected to be out until at least early February following surgery nearly two weeks ago to repair a stress fracture in his left ankle sustained against the Boston Celtics on December 8.
To make matters more troublesome for the Knicks, Jericho Sims, who head coach Tom Thibodeau inserted into the starting lineup instead of Robinson’s primary backup Isaiah Hartenstein to maintain continuity, suffered a sprained right ankle less than four minutes into the game versus the Lakers and was sidelined for the rest of the night.
The Knicks signed 38-year-old veteran free-agent Taj Gibson last week to add experienced front court depth. Gibson played with his hometown team from 2019-2022. The 6-foot-9-inch power forward logged 49 games for the Washington Wizards last season. But on Monday, Hartenstein was the pulse of the Knicks rediscovering their defensive intensity, efficiency, and proficiency on the boards.
The 25-year-old 7-footer, who is in his second season with the franchise, had a career-high 17 rebounds and nine points in 39 minutes and fiercely battled James and Davis in the paint. His relentless activity on both ends was critical to the Knicks 52-41 rebounds advantage, 62-52 points in the paint plus margin and holding an opponent to under 110 points for the first time since a 119-106 road win against the Toronto Raptors on December 1.
In the Knicks’ previous six outings prior to Monday, they were horrendous defensively, giving up an average of 132 points per game.
“That was a big emphasis, just coming in knowing we had to play better defense,” said Hartenstein. “I think that starts with communication. I think we did a good job communicating and rebounding the ball, so I think we just gotta keep building on that. I think we’re going in the right direction.
The Knicks forced the Lakers into 42.4% shooting overall and 31.7% on 3-point attempts, although many of Los Angeles’ misses were a function of their own inability to make open looks.
“It’s very rare we get outscored in the paint, and [the Knicks] were very deliberate in trying to play downhill, get to the paint, but just constantly coming at you,” said Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.
James and Davis did their part to keep the Lakers in the game until the final minute after the Lakers held a 58-57 halftime lead. James has his 109th career triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists and Davis registered 32 points and 14 rebounds.
However, they were countered by the Knicks’ Julius Randle’s 27 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Brunson’s 29 points and Immanuel Quickley’s 20 points off of the bench.