With Jalen Brunson still hurt, Knicks' lead disappears in loss to Magic
Julius Randle #30 of the New York Knicks looks on during a game against the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
With Jalen Brunson in street clothes again, the Knicks needed a star turn from Julius Randle. Instead, Randle, who after bemoaning his performance on Saturday as “terrible,” struggled again, and the Knicks could not overcome it.
Without their floor general, Randle fought through a miserable 5-for-18 shooting performance as the Knicks fell to the Orlando Magic, 98-94, at Madison Square Garden on Monday
The Knicks (23-17) led much of the game, moving ahead by 11 points in the third quarter, but surrendered the lead in the fourth quarter and basically saw the offense disappear. After OG Anunoby hit a three-point field goal with 7:38 to play to give the Knicks an 88-81 lead, they scored one point in the next 6:07.
“Stagnant,” said Randle, who finished with 15 points. “Way too stagnant.”
That certainly can be attributed to the absence of Brunson, but the Knicks, as coach Tom Thibodeau regularly says, should “have enough to win.”
“Obviously, it is more difficult,” Josh Hart said. “You know, you’re missing 25 a game and there’s someone who can control the pace of the game. That’s difficult to replace. When he’s out, we’ve got to figure out plays that get guys in positions to be successful.
“Playing faster, having more pace so we’re not stagnant. That’s something we got to figure out. I obviously don’t know what his timeline is, but we just got to figure that out.”
With Brunson sidelined for a second straight game after suffering a left calf contusion Thursday in Dallas, Deuce McBride again stepped into the starting lineup. He had a career-best 20 points, topping his career-high 19-point effort Saturday, and came up big as the Knicks tried to hang on in the fourth quarter.
After McBride’s three-pointer put the Knicks up 85-79, he drew chants from the crowd after turning the ball over and racing back to break up a long outlet pass, crashing into the front row of the baseline seats. But Cole Anthony took over from there, scoring 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.
The son of former Knick Greg Anthony scored eight of 12 points in an Orlando run and found Chuma Okeke in the corner for a three-pointer that closed the gap to one point.
Anthony then hit a short second-chance shot to give Orlando its first lead since the second quarter at 90-89 with 3:42 left.
Randle went to the line with 2:37 remaining and the Knicks down by one and missed both shots. Orlando’s Paolo Banchero hit a midrange jumper and a foul-line jumper and the lead was up to five.
The Knicks got within three but could not pull even again.
While the Magic got big play after big play down the stretch, the Knicks saw Randle come up empty, including a bricked three-pointer in the final minutes. He did have a team-high five assists without a turnover after Saturday’s six-turnover game. He turned his ankle in the first quarter but later said he was fine, and he did play 38 minutes and 22 seconds.
“Julius, he usually doesn’t have games like that,” Thibodeau said. “I thought he was doing other stuff for us. Julius can beat you a lot of different ways. He can beat you with the pass. I thought we had good possessions with the dribble handoff with him, it got us moving into it pretty quick. That part was good. It was choppy.”
Randle shot 1-for-8 in the first half, but the Knicks still managed to hold a two-point lead at the break, thanks to 14 points from Anunoby.
“I think we got good shots,” Anunoby said. “We just missed them and then the other team made shots.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
