Whoever is sticking a pin in a knock point guard voodoo doll needs to stop.
Hex didn’t stop the Knicks on Tom Thibodo’s playmakers before the 94-93 win Thursday against the Knicks, but it would be against a decent team.
One of those voodoo pins recalled the Flying Frenchman, Frank Ntilikina, standing Nux’s last point guard.
Reggie Bullock’s last second steal, Evan Fournier, won the game, but Nitilina won that night when he slid down the lane, trying to leap over Orlando center Nikola Visevic for a Tomahawk (sort) slam dunk. The ball bounced off the front rim, causing it to slip and fall.
“It was a good drama,” Nitilina said. He said, “I wanted to be aggressive on the play. The guard was looking at the screen. ”
The Garden crowd was smaller than the usual socially perverted thrones of 2,000 – probably due to a rival. But it roared as if it were a pre-epidemic full house.
“It was really good,” said Julius Randle, who provided 17 assists to help the point guard-decommissioned Knicks. “I like it. He should do more of it. He was really good and helped us win the game.”
Ntilikina, started and eventually came out of his painful scoring drought to save the Nucks with 12 of his season-high 13 points in the second season.
“I think Frank plays a very good game all around,” said Tom Thibodo. “He’s taking the right shot. And as long as he does that, we believe in the process of working on those shots and when he openly shoots them well, and some are about to go, Will not do anything. That is part of the game. So just dare them to continue, you are wide open. ”
Another Knicks point guard could not play in the popular rogue and recent starter Emanuel Quickley, who is sprained at the ankle. Thibodo had to shuffle Broadway to make another hole in his leaky ship.
The coach eventually took swingman Alec Burke out of his hat to fill the vacuum. And it didn’t hurt that Randall led his brilliant partner to another pairing with 17 partners – a big man en route to the triple triple since the 1970s.
But they could not do this until Nitlikin came out of his foul odor, entering his last four matches without thinking the night away. Late in the first half, Ntilikina was in keeping with his fifth straight scorer game – which was done by only one player in the last three seasons, which, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, recorded at least seven minutes in each competition Were. His streak of missed field goals was reduced to 16.
In the final seconds of the first half, Nitilina landed another goose egg before drawing a foul as she walked to the basket without firing a shot. But Orlando was in penalty. Ntilikina walked in line, badly brick-breaking his first try before the next sinking to break his personal shutout.
In the second half, the Seine River, which runs into floods in February, spread across its banks on 18 March.
To start the third quarter, Nitlikina went wild. He banged in two straight 3-pointers. Feeling his mojo, he then takes him to Vovecik. As Orlando raced down 17 to take the lead, Ntilikina put the Knicks back on top with a corner 3 for an 88–87 lead.
With Rose making a garden appearance in glasses and still out on the COVID-19 protocol, Payton Nursing was down to Thibodeau Ntilikina, out with his sluggish hamstring strain, Austin River Nursing with a lukewarm ego and Quickley a buttock ankle. And got ripped off.
Johnny Bryant, a former Jazz assistant, has insisted for Burke, who he saw capable point work in Utah. Burke had 21 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
“He’s a veteran. You can’t pace him,” said Thibodo.
Thibodo was allowed to put Nitilika on the bench and Burke turned it down.
Away from Fournier, Burke removed the lane and pushed a floater. He missed a free throw but gave Nikki a three-point lead, with 30.4 seconds left. It was enough.
Finally, Garden chanted a familiar New York baseball melody “Reg-G, Reg-Ge” when Bulk dropped the ball from Fournier for 12 seconds to preserve the victory.
Bullock got the ball from backup point guard Burke for one night, and he dribbled in the final seconds leaving the Orlando defender. The buzzer started ringing. Ntilikina led a charge off the bench as players flocked to Bullock in center court in a clunky playoff scene.
Big night for the Knights, who are already in 21st place from last season’s win.
Leave a Reply