Knicks Get Pummeled At Home By The Magic, Lose 115-89

by
Former Writers
November 12, 2018

Coming into yesterday’s game against the Orlando Magic, the New York Knicks were looking to put their loss to the Toronto Raptors behind them. However, things didn’t go as planned for the Knicks. In the first quarter against the Magic, they were on the receiving end of an avalanche. The Magic started the game on a 10-0 run and never looked back.

They were outscored 30-10 in the first quarter by a Magic team that’s in the bottom half of the NBA in scoring (103.5 ppg). The Magic closed out the first quarter on a 20-8 run. The Knicks had a rough night on the offensive end of the floor. For the game, they shot 31-88 (35.2%) from the floor and a brutal 5-28 (17.9%) from three point range.

Ross and Vucevic Led The Way For The Magic, Gave The Knicks Fits

Nikola Vucevic gave the Knicks fits last night. Vucevic scored 21 points on 10-17 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds. What made it impressive is he did it in 26 minutes of action. Terrance Ross also played a big role in the win for the Magic. Ross scored 22 points on 8-12 shooting and dished out three assists. He played 22 minutes on the night.

The Magic also found success simply in moving the basketball. They found the open man way too often, breaking down the Knicks defense. The Magic had 31 assists and turned the basketball over nine times. In the fourth quarter, they increased the lead to 34, which was the biggest lead of the game.

As for the Knicks, they went the opposite way. They only dished out 13 assists on the evening, and shot themselves in the foot often, turning the basketball over 19 times. Despite yet another brutal loss, they did have a couple bright spots.

The Bright Spots For The Knicks

Despite the Knicks having a poor offensive night, Enes Kanter had himself another good game. Kanter snapped the 10-0 run the Magic started the game with, scoring a tip in bucket to put the Knicks on the board. For the game, Kanter scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, putting together another double-double for the fifth straight game. He’s also the first in Knicks franchise history to accomplish that feat for the fifth straight game.

Another bright spot for the Knicks was rookie Mitchell Robinson. Against the Magic last night, Robinson set the Knicks rookie record for the most blocks in a game with nine, two away from the Knicks franchise record. What makes his nine block game performance impressive is he did it in 22 minutes of action.

Notes

The last rookie to have at least nine blocks in a game was Nerlens Noel, who achieved that feat on February 20th, 2015 against the Indiana Pacers. The motivation behind the Knicks City Edition Uniform they broke out last night was to pay homage to the 1952-61 Knicks uniforms. Rookie Knox added 17 points for the Knicks.