After three losses in four days in their Madison Square Garden – Charlotte, 87-97, Minnesota, 110-112, and New Orleans, 91-102 – the Knicks needed to find the way to success to stay in the qualifying zone. for the play-in (places 7 to 10) in the East. That’s what Tom Thibodeau’s men managed to do on Sunday night by beating (110-102) the diminished LA Clippers – still without Kawhi Leonard, Paul George … – by racing in the lead from start to finish. thanks to a euphoric first quarter in attack (39-31).
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Faced with visibly inside Angelenos during this early afternoon game, and lacking in obvious aggressiveness in the fight -52 to 40 on the rebound for the Knicks, only 6 offensive catches for the Clippers-, the New -Yorkers could have taken shelter earlier. But a certain nonchalance at the end of the game and a few errors allowed the visitors to pick up.
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28 points for RJ Barrett
Led by Reggie Jackson (26 points, 10/18) and Ivica Zubac (17 points, 14 rebounds), Tyronn Lue’s men had several opportunities to come back to within four points of their host. But their overall clumsiness (43% collective success, 2/16 shooting for the duo of the five majors Nicolas Batum-Marcus Morris Sr) got the better of their comeback attempts, while they will still chain five matches to the outside.
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On the Knicks side, RJ Barrett delivered his best offensive performance of the season (28 points at 9/24, 14 rebounds, 6 assists), while Julius Randle continued to polarize the rest of the game (24 points at 8/15, 9 rebounds , 5 assists but 7 stray balls). In the Franco-French duel of the day, Evan Fournier (14 points at 5/12, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) for New York scored several important shots, and dominated Nicolas Batum from a distance. The captain of the Blues, recently author of a 32-point game for the Clippers in a victory against Indiana, was content with 6 points at 2/7, only triggering 3 points, and adding 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 interceptions in 25 minutes.
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New York is tied for 10th with Boston (23-24). But the Celtics could remain alone in this place provided they win in Washington.
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