The Knicks still need some assistance to get fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, but they continue to do whatever they can to get the best of the post-season.
On Saturday afternoon, the Knicks held their first match of their final two games, beating the Hornets, 118-109, in overtime at the Garden for their 40th win of the season. The win temporarily took him back to the No. 4 position in the East – ahead of the inactive Hawks via a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Knicks are also half a game ahead of Miami, pending a visit to the Heat on Saturday night at No. 3 Milwaukee.
The Knicks will conclude the regular season at the Gardens against the Celtics on Sunday, while the Hawks host the NBA-worst Rockets and the Heat will tour Detroit. The three-way tie would give the Hawks the No. 4 slot as the Southeast Division champions and would leave the Knicks at No. 6 due to a tiebreaker lost against the Heat.
Julius Randle heard the “MVP” chant for his sixth triple-double of the season, accelerating the Knicks (40-31) with 33 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Reggie Bullock buried five 3-pointers, including a key in overtime, and finished with 17 points. Alec Berks added 14 points and center Nerlens Noel played another strong defensive game with the Knicks having seven blocked shots and five of 11 rebounds.
Elfrid Peyton remained in the starting lineup, but played only 12 minutes. Derrick Rose scored 15 points from the bench in 25 minutes after missing the comeback win on Thursday against Spurs due to an ankle sprain. It was unclear whether Rose had injured himself yet again, but coach Tom Thibodew went on to stretch and overtime with Immanuel Quickley (13 points) and the Berks’ guard combination, with both Rose and starter RJ Barrett on the bench Gone.
Miles Bridges scored 30 points in his return from the Health and Safety Protocol and Davonte Graham added 25 points for the Hornets (33–38).
The Knicks led by as many as 17 in the third quarter, but Bridges scored 16 in a 30–16 closeout run by Charlett to cut the cushion to three, 89–86 and enter the final 12 minutes.
Malik Monk’s drive in the fourth put Charlotte ahead, and Graham followed with a 3-pointer for a 93–89 turnaround lead. The Knicks 102-101, Randall goes back to the tray with 5:19 left.
The Knicks’ defense kept the Hornets out for more than six minutes without a field goal (0-for-5 with three turnovers), until Terry Rozier’s drive tied the 104-104 with 37.8 seconds remaining. Created.
It appears that Burke was knocked out by Jalen McDaniels while grabbing a defensive rebound, but no foul was called and the Hornets were knocked off the boundary.
Graham’s missed 3-point effort resulted in overtime, and 3-pointers by Berks and Bullock scored 14–2 to open the extra season.
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