The Knicks came back in the fourth quarter to beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, 114-113, on OG Anunoby‘s late three-pointer.
Here are the takeaways…
-Friday night marked the return of Mitchell Robinson, who made his season debut with 7:17 left in the first quarter as he entered the game for Karl-Anthony Towns. The first-year Knick got the start after missing New York’s last game against the Philadelphia 76ers with a knee injury, but he got two early fouls.
Robinson played six minutes in the first quarter before being subbed off, but the center looked good while on the floor and scored four points, including a two-handed slam, while grabbing two rebounds (one offensive). In fact, in those six minutes, Robinson had a plus-5 rating.
-Although it will take some time to get his minutes back up, with Robinson back in the fold, he and the rest of the Knicks – at full strength for the first time all season – will try their best to get their defensive identity back under head coach Tom Thibodeau.
It won’t happen overnight, though, as New York surrendered 32 points against the Grizzlies’ high-powered offense in the first quarter and went into the second down by seven.
-The Knicks’ defense tightened up in the second quarter as they held Memphis to 27 points. Offensively, New York did a good job of spreading the ball around, getting mostly everyone involved and putting up 31 points in the quarter to cut the halftime deficit to three points.
-Despite Robinson and Towns’ return, as well as getting Josh Hart back in the lineup, the Knicks were destroyed on the boards in the first half, something that continued into the second half. In fact, Jalen Brunson, at 6-foot-2 and one of the shortest players on the team, led New York in rebounds for most of the game.
Overall, Memphis outrebounded New York, 58-35.
-The third quarter began with an offensive flurry but saw points come at a bit of a premium and included a long stretch where neither team could make a basket. The Grizzlies did go on an 11-2 run in the quarter, but the Knicks did well to stabilize themselves with some well-timed three-pointers towards the end…
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