NEW YORK, USA – The New York Knicks demolished the San Antonio Spurs, 130-118, to snap a franchise-record 18-game home losing streak on Sunday, February 24 (Monday, February 25, Philippine time).
Damyean Dotson scored 27 points while Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith and Emmanuel Mudiay all had 19 in the Knicks’ first victory at the the Madison Square Garden since December 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Season-high 27 PTS | Career-high 8 3PM@wholeteamDot fills it up in the @nyknicks home victory! #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/LiQOuYdAbR
— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2019
New York’s win even attracted the attention of the 2019 Oscar presenter Samuel Jackson, who pointed out the result to Hollywood director Spike Lee before presenting him with the Best Adapted Screenplay award.
“The Knicks won tonight. I repeat, the Knicks won tonight,” Jackson said addressign Lee, a Knicks megafan.
Smith also had 13 assists and 6 boards and Knox had 10 rebounds while rookie Mitchell Robinson finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
@Dennis1SmithJr's 19 PTS, 13 AST, 6 REB help the @nyknicks pick up the W at MSG! #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/UQRI2SRYhs
— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2019
DeMar DeRozan had 32 points and 9 rebounds for the Spurs, who dropped to 1-6 on their road trip that ends Monday against the Brooklyn Nets.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points, but was limited to just 13 minutes through 3 quarters because of foul trouble.
The Spurs came in as the NBA’s best three-point shooting team but were just 6-of-24 from behind the arc.
The Knicks led by 9 at halftime and then started to seize command in the 3rd quarter to go up by 19 with just over two minutes left in the period.
San Antonio cut it to 83-94 after 3 quarters but their troubles continued in the 4th.
Nuggets over Clippers
Elsewhere, the Denver Nuggets cruised past the struggling Los Angeles Clippers, 123-96, behind strong performances from Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap.
Jokic had 22 points and 16 rebounds and Millsap had 21 points and 16 boards for the Nuggets, who won their fourth straight.
Nikola Jokic (22 PTS, 16 REB) and Paul Millsap (21 PTS, 16 REB) each record big double-doubles in the @nuggets win! #MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/COoCZAaNno
— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2019
After leading the charge, Jokic went to the bench two minutes into the 3rd quarter after getting hit with his fourth foul.
Their combined 43 points helped the Nuggets improve to 26-4 at home and pull within a game of the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors.
Lou Williams scored 24 and Danilo Gallinari had 19 for the Clippers, who couldn’t capitalize on Denver’s uncharacteristic 22 turnovers and 12 missed free throws because they couldn’t make a basket.
Given NBA teams tendency to now shoot more three-pointers, the Clippers did their part but managed to make just 3-of-24 from beyond the arc.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers wasn’t convinced they lost because of poor shooting.
“I would love to say it was shots missed, I thought they were the tougher team, the more physical team,” he said. – Rappler.com
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