Two of the best offensive teams in the NBA took the court on Wednesday when the Nuggets traveled to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks. Even with Nikola Jokic missing a month with a knee injury, the Nuggets came into the game as the best offensive team in the NBA, with the Knicks right behind them in 3rd. So it was no surprise that points were flying and leads were changing freely in a game that needed two overtimes before the Knicks secured a 134-127 win.
The epic showdown on Wednesday felt like it was over two times before it actually concluded. At the end of regulation, Nikola Jokic launched a three-pointer to beat the buzzer that went halfway down before rolling out, hitting the backboard, bouncing off the front rim, and falling out. Then, at the end of the first overtime, Jamal Murray missed a three-pointer that seemed to seal the win for the Knicks before a loose-ball foul was called with 0.3 seconds left, allowing Christian Braun to sink two free throws and send the game to double overtime.
However, in double overtime, the game belonged to the Knicks. They built a quick seven-point lead on the back of Jalen Brunson, who led all scorers with 40 points, and then withstood a late Nuggets charge to claim their eighth straight win. Brunson also added nine assists and eight rebounds, while OG Anunoby put up 20 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
"Give them credit," Nuggets coach David Adelman said after the game. "That was a high-level NBA game."
Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 39 points, while Jokic finished with a triple-double, registering 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists, and tied Oscar Robertson for the second-most triple-doubles in NBA history. But the Nuggets are now 1-3 in the four games since he’s been back and will need to continue to work on integrating all their pieces into a cohesive unit as they get healthier.
Karl Anthony Towns’ bloody, battered double-double effort
It hasn’t been an easy stretch for Karl Anthony Towns in New York. The big man has admitted that hearing his name repeatedly come up in trade talks is starting to wear on him, and his role on offense has been less prominent in recent weeks as well. After averaging 23 points a game in November and 22.3 points per game in December, Towns had averaged just 11.3 points per game during the Knicks’ seven-game winning streak. He also put up only 11 shots per game during the stretch, down from 14.1 on the season and 16.9 from last season.
To his credit, Towns has turned up his intensity on the glass over the seven games coming into tonight, pulling down 13.6 rebounds. The Knicks were going to need blood and sweat from Towns if they were going to keep up with Jokic and the Nuggets. They got both, but not in the ways they were expecting.
With 30 seconds left in the first quarter, Towns was driving to the basket when he and Spencer Jones butted heads. The collision led to a huge gash above Towns’ eye. Jones left the game and was evaluated for a concussion, while Towns stayed in the game to shoot two free throws before heading to the locker room to get patched up.
The Knicks adjusted fine to start, with Mitchell Robinson in the game to begin the second quarter. Robinson caught an alley oop from Kolek and then took Jokic off the dribble for an emphatic dunk. However, things stalled from there, and when the Knicks were forced to bring in Ariel Hukporti after Robinson picked up his third foul, the Knicks started to fall behind as much as they had at any point in the game.
Then, with 3:11 left in the half, Towns jogged back onto the court and promptly beat Jonas Valanciunas off the dribble for a bucket. Towns would score the next seven points for the Knicks, helping spark an 11-2 run to end the half.
For the remainder of the game, he battled under the boards with the same intensity we've seen in recent weeks. He had some wide-open looks from beyond the arc rattle in and out, so the majority of his damage in the second half was done on putbacks. He had some crucial ones, including one to give the Knicks a two-point lead with one minute to go in the first overtime that seemed to be the game-winning basket until Mikail Bridges was called for a loose-ball foul with 0.3 seconds left to send Christian Braun to the line.
By that point, Towns had fouled out with 15 seconds left to play in the first overtime, but he ended the game as the Knicks' second-leading scorer, posting 24 points, 12 rebounds, and one assist. It was just another strong performance where Towns took a backseat in terms of the offense that was schemed up for him, but continued to make a huge impact in areas where the team needs him the most.
"We a team," said Towns after the game with a large bandage over his eye. "This is a team of 15 guys who are willing to do whatever it takes to win the game. We have a system that's been working for this winning streak. We're just trying to maximize everyone's talent."
Jamal Murray registers another underappreciated, elite performances
Points were falling early and often for Jamaal Murray on Wednesday night. The point guard had 20 of the Nuggets’ first 24 points in the game, shooting 7-of-9 from the field, 4-of-5 from the free throw line, and knocking down both of his three-pointers. With Josh Hart and Deuce McBride both out for this game, the Knicks started Jordan Clarkson and had him guard Murray so that OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges could remain on the wing. It did not go well.
However, starting in the second quarter, the Knicks decided enough was enough.
"He was rolling and getting things going, and so we said, 'Hey, screw it, he's not gonna get 70 tonight and beat us,'" said Knicks head coach Mike Brown after the game. "So we started double-teaming him, and then we'd take it off, and then we put it on again, so we tried to mix up the coverage, and then try to mix up the defenders as well."
It worked for a while, as Murray only scored four total points in the second and third quarters, going 2-of-10 from the field in those two periods. Yet, he responded by pouring in ten points in the fourth quarter on 4-of-6 shooting, including a game-tying fadeaway with 13 seconds to play. He then added five more points in the last two overtime periods to finish with 39 points, six assists, and five rebounds.
"You're not stopping [Murray and Jokic]," said Brown after the game. "You just hope that you can make them both work on that end of the floor, and I thought our guys tried to make them work the guys at the point of the ball and then the defense behind it."
With Jalen Brunson and Nikola Jokic attracting so much attention, this was just another quietly impressive performance for Murray, who has become a bit of a forgotten superstar in the league, something that former teammate Michael Porter Jr. pointed out during a recent appearance on “The Old Man and the Three” podcast: “When you play alongside Joker, I don’t know if this is just all of Serbia or if it’s just fans in general, but they’ll just call you a Joker merchant. They’ll think you’re only good because you play with Joker. He obviously makes players way better…“But as you see, even without Joker, Jamal [Murray] can go score 40. Peyton Watson. Certain players, as good as Joker makes them, they’re still good basketball players by themselves. Because Joker has been so healthy throughout his career, people just don’t give Jamal the credit he deserves.”
Murray earned his first All-Star nod this season and came into tonight averaging 27.8 points, 8.3 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in 12 games while Jokic was hurt, shooting 49.6% from the field and 40.5% from three.
Knicks’ defensive changes have helped propel their eight-game winning streak
Despite coming into this game as the third-best offense in the NBA, it’s been the Knicks’ defense that has propelled them to their current eight-game winning streak.
Coming into Wednesday’s game, the Knicks were 1st in the NBA in defensive rating over their seven-game winning streak with a 95.9 mark. During that stretch, the Hornets are second at 105.3. That’s significantly better than the 113.2 rating they have for the season that had them ranked 13th. Opponents also shot 41% from the field during the winning streak and 28.2% from three, both of which were the worst marks in the NBA. On the season, the Knicks were allowing opponents to shoot 46.1% from the field (T-8th) and 36.4% from three (20th in the league). On the season, teams were attempting 38.4 threes per game and were getting up 34.4 threes during the Knicks’ winning streak, so it wasn’t just about volume.
Now, some of this is likely impacted by opponents shooting poorly, like Jokic going 1-for-13 behind the arc on Wednesday, but the Knicks also made defensive adjustments that have played a key role. During a two-game break before their current eight-game winning streak, the Knicks' coaches made modifications to the defensive scheme, working with the players to push ballhandlers to the perimeter and hedge aggressively on pick-and-rolls in order to keep offensive players out of the paint.
Keeping offensive players out of the middle is a core principle of many defenses. Not only does it help to prevent easy looks at the basket, but it forces extra passes and creates more angles for traps and help defense. The Knicks also began icing the ball screen, which is when the point-of-attack defender on a pick and roll tries to get closer to the ball-handler and turn his hips to push the offensive player towards the sideline. The screener's defender can then be more aggressive in shifting his position away from the middle to be ready to help on the wing.
This has helped the Knicks contest shots on the perimeter far more often. During the seven-game winning streak coming into tonight, 42% of opponents’ field goal attempts have come in tight coverage, which is when a defender is within 2-4 feet. That’s second-best in the NBA. On the season, Knicks' opponents took on 38.3% of their field goal attempts in tight coverage, which is 18th in the league.
Some of that success has been getting plus defenders like Josh Hart and Landry Shamet back on the court, but it's also the increased defensive communication and new gameplan.
"I think it's better for us the way we're doing it now," Bridges said earlier in the week. "I think it was tougher for us the way we used to do it. Effort can (only) do so much without having a plan," Bridges said earlier in the week. "I think just having a plan and knowing what we’re all doing with the effort has made a difference."
An 8-0 record would suggest that the difference it's made has been quite a big one.
