The Charlotte Hornets did not need to force their talent Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, in order to win a second consecutive victory in the regular season (119-107). The main reason for this quiet success was readily apparent according to Charlotte’s leader Kemba Walker (25 pt): “ We knew they played last night. We wanted to start the match by being very aggressive on both sides of the field and it worked. We wanted to jump at their throats. We really needed this victory. »
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After resisting in the first quarter (24-27), the Knicks let go in the second act (34-23), the fault of a starting five who did not really show the example. With the exception of Tim Hardaway Jr. (21 pts), the other players who started the game (Vonleh, Hezonja, Kanter and Mudiay) were ineffective (15 pts at 7/23 shooting). Once Charlotte was safe, the two coaches were able to turn.
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Ntilikina stopped in its tracks by Parker
On the visitors’ side, Jeremy Lamb (19 pts to 8/12) stood out while Tony Parker was once again very active off the bench (16 pts to 6/13 shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 wicks) . The former leader of San Antonio was even at the origin of the sixth fault of his compatriot and direct opponent Frank Ntilikina, yet on course to succeed in a great match (18 pts at 7/11, including 4/4 at three points ). It is also thanks to Ntilikina that New York came back to 14 points during the fourth quarter before conceding a 12-0 which definitely killed the suspense.
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This thirteenth success of the regular season (for thirteen losses) allows Charlotte to keep her distance from Miami (11v-14d), the first non-qualifying for the play-offs. With only eight wins (twenty losses), New York remains twelfth in the East.
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