With everyone buzzing about a possible Thanasis Antetokounmpo trade, basketball was played at Madison Square Garden tonight, with the New York Knicks (14-7) hosting the Charlotte Hornets (6-16). For the second straight night, New York controlled the first quarter (limiting the Stingers to just 12 points) but faltered in the second, clinging to a 53-47 halftime lead. After a concerning start to the second half, Karl-Anthony Towns took charge, and the ‘Bockers withstood a scoring barrage by LaMelo Ball to win, 119-104.

Towns was the dominant force of the night, pouring in 35 points with 13-of-23 shooting, grabbing 18 boards, and adding five assists, two steals, and just one turnover. Jalen Brunson added 26 points on 9-of-16 from the field and had the steady hand whenever Charlotte got frisky. Josh Hart delivered his usual all-around excellence with 17 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, while Mikal Bridges quietly chipped in 16 points and timely stops. Rounding out the starters, Miles McBride continued his hot shooting from three and posted 15 points and +18 in 34 minutes.

The bench scoring was mostly invisible, with just 12 points split between Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek. Guerschon Yabusele and Ariel Hukporti combined for zero points and three boards in 21 minutes. The latter fouled out in 12 minutes, which is kind of impressive in a way.

For the Hornets, Ball finished with 34 points, nine assists, and eight boards on 12-of-27 shooting. And Kon Knueppel, the popular rookie, scored 13 points and made one three-pointer. He’s 1-of-13 from deep against the Knicks this season. Stick that in your Rookie-of-the-Year pipe and smoke it.

The Hornets began the contest missing seven of their first nine shots. New York was bricky, too, missing all four of their first long attempts, but they made half of their field goals to take a 14-7 lead by midway through the quarter.

Charlotte really excels at fouling, leading the league in that department, but played a pretty clean first quarter (three fouls for them, none for the Knicks). However, the visitors finished the frame with six turnovers to five made field goals. The ugly shooting was contagious. The teams combined to shoot 3-of-23 from downtown, and New York missed eight tries before Deuce McBride dropped one with the clock running out. By the break, New York was ahead 27-12. That’s right, 12.

Rookie of the Year contender Kon Knueppel missed all seven three-point attempts when these clubs clashed last Wednesday. He missed three to start tonight. For the Knicks, Coach Mike Brown subbed in Ariel Hukporti with under two minutes to go, playing minutes that would have gone to Mitchell Robinson (load management).

In the second period, New York stretched their lead to 20, but Charlotte clawed back with a flurry of threes from Kon Knueppel, Salleun, and LaMelo Ball, plus lively paint play by Ryan Kalkbrenner, trimming the lead to three. The Knicks were out-rebounded and outgunned.

Making two of three so far tonight, McBride has made 19 of his last 28 three-point attempts. Aside from him and Tyler Kolek, the home team went 2-of-16. Towns hit one of those, and Brunson canned the other at the buzzer, giving New York a 53-47 lead.

This game mirrored last night’s, with the Knicks dominating the first quarter and snoozing through the second. After limiting the Hornets to 12 points, they were outscored 35-26 in the second period. This seemed like a possible trend, but perhaps not. According to the stats I checked, they’ve won the first quarter 13 times this season but lost the second in just four of those. So, maybe not a trend after all?

Through two quarters, both teams shot 43% from the field, and the three-point accuracy was mutually unattractive (Knicks 6-for-21; Hornets 6-for-22). Our heroes doubled Charlotte’s assists (14 to 8) and won the turnover battle (five giveaways, all in Q2, to the Hornets’ nine). KAT led the way for New York with 19 points; LaMelo Ball scored nine for the villains.

The Knicks began the half with terrible defensive efforts, causing Mike Brown to beg for a timeout before two minutes had passed. Whatever wisdom he imparted seemed to correct the problem. From there, KAT served up two treys, Brunson added a bucket or two, and Bridges had a few beautiful touches at the rim to restore an 18-point lead. Bridges and Hukporti recorded back-to-back blocks, both of which were cashed in at the other end. With help from Ball, Liam McNeeley, and Knueppel, the Hornets showed some interest in keeping up. By the quarter’s curtain, New York was ahead 90-75.

Hukporti recorded his second block to start the final frame, then fouled out after 12 total minutes of play. Shortly before his sixth foul, Huk passed up a dunk to kick out to the corner, and Mike Breen was flabbergasted. So were we. This is not the Incredible Huk we’d hoped for. . . .

Until midway through the fourth, the Hornets circled that 15-point deficit, making insincere feints at comebacks. Then Ball hit back-to-back triples and a free-throw, and now the number was 11; and after two McBride free throws, Tidjane Salaun scored five straight to make it eight. Would the Knicks gird their loins, summon their resolve, and prevent a collapse?

They would. McBride hit a triple, Brunson scored an And-1, and with two-ish minutes remaining, the 14-point differential was secure.

Jazz at the Garden on Friday. Rest up, Knickerbockers.