Fresh off of a win in Detroit, the New York Knicks were aiming to go 2-0 on the road as they prepared to face the San Antonio Spurs. They were also seeking their fourth straight win for the first time this season. Each time the Knicks hit their stride, they never won more than three games in a row. They hoped this time around it would be different, but the odds were not in their favor.
The Knicks were able to get on the board early with a layup from RJ Barrett in the first few seconds of the game. For the rest of the first quarter, he played hard, but not smart. He picked up a personal foul which sent Lonnie Walker of the Spurs to the free-throw line. After making 2 of the 3, it put his team on top of the Knicks 7-4. From there on out, the Spurs held the lead.
At the 1:36 mark, the Spurs led the Knicks by as much as 10, but the Knicks would not accept that. Although they missed their first 6 three-pointers and turned the ball over 5 times, 3 players off the bench were able to put them back in the game. Three consecutive baskets from beyond the arc by Immanuel Quickley, Kevin Knox, and Obi Toppin cut the Knicks deficit to 2. The first quarter ended with the Spurs on top of the Knicks 25-23.
The Knicks, however, came into the second quarter with a little pep in their step. A finger roll layup by Alec Burks evened things out 25-25. Following that play, the game kept going back and forth. The score was tied 3 more times throughout the rest of the quarter. Both teams had stretches where they played well and stretches where they played poorly. The Knicks never led by more than 5 points. Their defense could not keep the Spurs out of the paint. They were down four at the half, after a three-pointer by Patty Mills at the buzzer. It was a 51-47 game at the break.
Coming out of the locker room, the Spurs started to build on their 4-point lead. Mills’ buzzer-beater was a momentum changer as the Knicks, down 9 at the 7:04 mark, called a timeout. While a three-pointer by Ntilikina and a layup by Barrett got the team going afterward, they still could not find themselves. The Spurs were up 17 on the Knicks with just about two minutes remaining. In the third quarter, the Knicks only scored 18 points and were shooting just under 42% from the field. After being close at halftime, the Knicks dug themselves a bigger hole. The third quarter ended with a score of 87-68.
At the start of the fourth, a personal foul on Mills sent Alec Burks to the line. Burks made both his free throws, but the team continued to remain stagnant. The Spurs took their largest lead of the game, on top of the Knicks by 27 with 7-minutes to go. Back-to-back baskets by Quickley from downtown cut their lead to 19 with 4:30 left in the fourth. That is the closest they were able to get. The Spurs dominated the Knicks 119-93.
With this loss, the Knicks are now back to exactly .500. They are tied for wins and losses at 18-18. Though they started the month of February on a positive note, the same will not hold true for March.
“When you’re on the road you have to play well for 48 minutes, and we didn’t do that,” coach Thibodeau said. “We didn’t close out the second quarter well, we didn’t start the third well. You get what you deserve.”
Next Up
The Knicks fly back home to host the Detroit Pistons at the Garden on Thursday, March 4th at 7:30 pm. In their last meeting, the Knicks walked away with a 109-90 win.
The Spurs will host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, March 4th at 9:00 pm. In their last meeting, the Thunder walked away with a 102-99 win.
