Knicks Fall To Magic In First Loss At The Garden | New York Knicks

Knicks Fall To Magic In First Loss At The Garden | New York Knicks

The next postgame show is presented by Tri-State Audi. Visit your tri-state area Audi dealer today. Tonight against Orlando, Fran Vagner of the Magic. Excellent game with 28 points. The Knicks were down 20 at the half. Jaylen Brunson before he appeared to tweak his right ankle. Up and good for two of his 30. Knicks within nine, but they would get no closer. Jaylen Suggs on Orlando’s next possession with a key three. And the Knicks lose for the first time all year at home as a Magic win it 124 to 107. Great to have you with us here, Bill Pedo along with Wally Zerbiaak. You talked about Orlando. You were concerned about Orlando. You’d been talking about them while we were watching the game before we were watching the game. They’re big, they’re physical, and the Knicks just did not get it going, especially in the first half. The Knicks led two nothing and that was it the rest of the night in terms of lead. Listen, it’s the mindset of a competitive team. And this is a team that uh is good. They’re young. They’re hungry. They want to make noise in the playoffs. They saw the Knicks incredible offensive numbers for the last few games and they said to themselves, “We have been physical with team this team. The Knicks have had battles with this team for the last two years. It has not been fluid basketball. It has been a war when they go to when when these two teams play. Complaining to the officials, a lot of banging, a lot of holding, a lot of grabbing. This is a big strong team and they impose their physical will on the Knicks. Knicks are going to have to learn that when their offense is huming, they’re scoring 130. They’re going to be some teams that come in here and they try to take some cheap shots at them. Tried to get them off their game, took them off their spots. Orlando had a g great game plan. They executed and got a big time win here at the Garden. So, the Knicks now 7- on the year at home, 5- one at home during this home stand. One more game left on this home stand Friday when Miami comes to town. We’ll see about Jaylen Brunson in terms of his availability for Friday. The rebounding Knicks have dominated that aspect of play during this winning streak. But tonight, Orlando outboarded the Knicks 49 to 37. Orlando’s big at every position. There were a lot of mismatches on the floor. Orlando took advantage of them. They’re not a great outside three-point shooting team, but they will beat you up in the paint. And Mitchell Robinson was in this game, too. He came back after yesterday. So, it just goes to show you that at every position, this Orlando team has guys that are not afraid of contact. They’re going to go after those boards. They know the Knicks are a really good rebounding team. Now, the Knicks were coming off a back to back. So, that is always tough when you’re playing against a young, hungry team like the Magic. Knicks were at home, though, and this team came in on a mission to send a message to the Knicks that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the East. The couple teams that I think are going to be the most formidable foes for the Knicks in the East are the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. Why the Magic? Because of their wings. I said it in the pregame. Ban Carol didn’t even play the second half. He was an all-star last year. Tremendous player. And Fron Vagner is a big- time problem. That guy can guard anyone in the league and he is tough to defend with his size and his athleticism. Orlando leads the league in free throw attempts per game at 32 1/2. Tonight they took 33 shots from the line and made 28. You see the rest of the numbers. Orlando wins at 124 to 107. Orlando’s now 5 and5. Uh Desmond Bane was acquired in the off season. Many think that Orlando’s going to be a contender. It’s taking them a little bit of a while here to get their legs, but boy, they were impressive tonight, winning at 124 to 107. And Fran Vagner is an elite talent. He’s 6’10, moves like he’s 6’2 and he scored 28 points. Listen, OGN and OB is one of the best defenders in the league. And France Vagner did whatever he wanted against him. He posted him up, got to the free throw line, used his size, used his athleticism. That was an elite matchup for me to watch. I said it in the pregame, the two wings, Bridges and Anobi against Vagner and uh Banero. And you know, the way Vagner and Vancero played, those guys are are the real deal. They came into MSG and they were not scared, they were not afraid, they were not intimidated one bit. This team is uh if they can stay healthy, they’re going to be a force. Coach Mosley is a heck of a coach, too. He gets his guys to play defense and to play physical. They’re going to be like the Detroit Pistons were last year in the playoffs. They’re going to bang the Knicks. They’re going to play physical with the Knicks. And the Knicks are going to have to be ready for teams to try to be physical with them because as skilled as the Knicks are, they’re great three-point shooting team, skill at every position, elite players that are all-star caliber. you can get in their heads a little bit if you’re a physical team. The Knicks have showed that. So, the Knicks are going to have to show that they can deal with the physicality and they’re gonna have to answer the some questions about teams coming in here and trying to bang them around. By the way, Vagner was tonight’s drilling moment brought to you by FanDuel Casino. Get your thrill on. Jaylen Brunson, an excellent game. Another 30-point night. Finished with 30. Uh last couple of minutes looked like he turned that right ankle, took the free throws, limped right to the locker room. But overall, despite Brunson’s solid game, the Knicks scored only 42 points in the first half. And remember last night they scored 42 points in the first quarter. But Brunson was excellent. Yep. He was excellent. He was aggressive to start. He was getting fouled it felt like every single possession. You know, Jaylen doesn’t mind these kind of games. I mean, he’s going to compete. He’s going to go right at his opponents. I mean, he’s got tough defenders all over him. Anthony Black and Jaylen Suggs are elite perimeter defenders with a lot of size and a lot of strength and and great athleticism and they made Jaylen make some really really tough shots. I thought Jaylen got lost in the competition of this game which you love. Your captain just wanted to try to help will his team to a victory and unfortunately he kind of tweaked that ankle when he was selling out going to the basket at the end of the game. You got to only hope that he’s going to be okay. You got to remember this is a marathon, not a sprint. Jaylen Brunson hobbled at this point in the season. Is not a good thing, but you never know with Jaylen. He knows his body very well. And if he can go, he will go on Friday. Knicks host Miami on Friday. Then they are at Miami on Monday. Let’s take a look at how Brunson hurt that right ankle in the final stages of the game. Wally, take a look. We’re not doctors, but it’s obvious when you take a look at the right foot right there that he rolled it and he took his free throws. and after that went right to the locker room. So, yeah, that that looks like a significant sprain, but you never know. Um, you know, having sprained ankles many of times, once you sprain it once, those ligaments are gone, so it’s just going to roll in a situation like that, and you hope there isn’t too much swelling. Uh, the Miami Heat are coming in here, this team, that team plays fast. That team runs up and down the floor. So, Jaylen needs to be really, really good to go if he can go on Friday. We’ll see what happens. But, um, they got other guys that can step up. You know, Jordan Clarkson’s dying for minutes when he got in the game. He played hard. You know, it wasn’t always you, it was it was semieffective, but he’s ready to go if his number’s going to be called. Deuce McBride was solid. Knicks have Shamut playing great basketball. So, we’ll see what happens. I’m not a doctor, but um the Knicks just got to regroup from this one and learn from this one and bounce back and get ready for a backto-back against Miami. Nine turnovers for the Knicks in the first half. That’s the worst first half they’ve had all year in terms of turnovers. Is that why they only scored 42 points in the first half? By far their lowest scoring half of the year. One of the reasons, and it’s it’s all attributed to that Orlando Magic defense. I mean, they did not give the Knicks anything. They pressed up on every player. They did not allow the Knicks to go into those dribble handoffs and the fluidity with their offense moving the ball. They contested every pass to the wing, every pass to the corner, every dribble handoff. There was body contact knocking the guy off the spot. And the Knicks are going to have to learn from that. A physical team is not going to let the Knicks just do whatever they want on the offensive end of the floor the way they had been the whole entire home stand. They made the Knicks uncomfortable. The Knicks are going to have to get to counters and they’re going to have to adjust and watch this film and learn how to deal with teams that are going to try to knock them off their spots. Orlando’s got a lot of balance. They have an excellent bench. I agree. Four of the five starters in double figures. Two of the bench players were in double figures. They had basically a contribution from everybody tonight. You have Isaac coming off the bench, sevenfooter, elite defender. Betaz, he is a nuisance to the Knicks. He seems to always catch someone in the nose or the face. And Anthony Black was a starter most of his career. 17 tonight off the bench, right? And and he is an outstanding perimeter defender. He’s a lock down defender when he’s in the game. And when he knocks down some shots, he has good size and he can give some contribution offensively. He’s a differencemaker. So, this team is for real. this magic team that pick up for by Desmond Bane getting him in this lineup. He fits their culture perfectly with his strength and his he needed shooting. Uh this team is going to be a team to be reckoned with I think for the rest of the season in the East. Bane was really struggling from downtown coming in but went three for six with 22 points. Monica McNut as always called the game on the radio on ESPN New York. Uh Monica, what do you think about tonight’s outcome? Ma’am, Wally, I heard you. But I literally said to Pat before I came downstairs is I really don’t love finishing games and being like, “Okay, are they good?” Like, how good is this team compared to what the expectation is for the Knicks? Now, granted, the Magic are a team that last year they had a terrific defense. Yes, the offense was a little bit sluggish, but people knew about the pieces that they had. So, considering that this was the second night of a backtoback, I’m not alarmed by the outcome. But guys, candidly, what I was a little bit perturbed by was I thought, and we’ve used this word before, y’all, the compete level in the first half. Nights, some nights you might not shoot the ball well, which is fine. Some nights you might end up getting outrebounded. As rare as it may be, it happens. But I didn’t think that there was a level of focus that I thought this team needed to continue to make a statement early in the season here in this home stand to start the game. I like that you used that term the same way in the Chicago game. I remember, Monica, and I thought you were spot on. And uh listen, you can make an excuse that it’s a backto-back um that this Magic team was sitting on the Knicks watching film, get preparing for this game, but at the same time, if you want to be an elite team, you have to be ready for a hungry team like this, don’t you think, Monica, to come into your building and try to get that win when the Knicks are seven and0? 100% Wally, we’re on the same page. And it it took me back to a game last year. I can’t remember what month we were in where you end up looking at the roster and you go down the size and yes, you know that the Magic have size at a number of positions, but I just thought and it’s it’s kind of coincidental because pregame I asked Mike Brown, what are three things that you could give me, Mike, that would say this team is playing well? Because I know as as media we look at, okay, who was this versus? And what is this team’s record? And of course the coaching staff doesn’t do that. But the last thing he said y’all when he got to defense, he said that we bring a level of physicality to the defensive side of the game without sending the other folks to the free throw line. Tonight didn’t think that physicality was necessarily there and they allowed the Orlando Magic to shoot 28 of 33 from the free throw line. So not quite the formula you want to see for a successful game for the Knicks. All right, Friday’s games on national TV. You can listen to Monica and Tyler Murray on the radio on ESPN New

The Knicks 5 game win streak has come to an end as well as the perfect 7-0 record at The Garden in a 124-107 loss to the Orlando Magic. Jalen Brunson lead the Knicks with 31 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points and 12 rebounds for a league-leading 10th double-double.

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Knicks Fall To Magic In First Loss At The Garden | New York Knicks