Knicks survive physical game with Magic, win sixth straight

ORLANDO, Fla. — The schedule promoted the next event to follow the Knicks and Magic into Kia Center — a WWE wrestling event. And the only reaction from the crowd could have been “how is that any different from the show on display on this night?’’

At their best, the Magic turn the games into a defensive dogfight. And now, missing three of their best players? The goal is to drag teams into the gutter with sticks and bats — not much different from the style the Knicks have utilized in recent years.

It only made sense that in a game that was ugly, physical and chaotic, Josh Hart would thrive, leading the Knicks to a 108-85 win, their sixth straight victory and 16th in their last 20 games.

Hart had a season-high 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and in the non-stop whistles, the 43 personal fouls, the three technical fouls and the collision of bodies, he found a home.

“I mean, I like that environment,” he said. “It’s fun. I feel like it suits me. It suits my game.”

“The best way to describe it is controlled chaos,” Jalen Brunson said. “He figures a way to out-physical, out-tough anybody on the court. That’s just who he is. That’s just in his DNA. I laugh every single day when people make fun of my reaction when he was traded here. I just knew what he was bringing to the table every single night.”

The Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns sat out much of the second half with foul trouble, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Someone had to step up, and it wasn’t only Hart. Brunson had 26 points and nine assists and Mikal Bridges, fresh off his 41-point effort on Wednesday, added 17 points.

The Knicks (21-10) struggled to shake the Magic all night. They finally pushed ahead for an eight-point lead entering the fourth quarter and then, helped by a pair of steals, mounted a 9-2 run in the opening 89 seconds of the final period to go ahead by 15. The Magic never got their deficit below double-figures again.

The Knicks extended their lead to as many as 24 points, limiting Orlando to 31 points and 11-of-39 shooting after halftime.

Jalen Suggs, who threatened to take over early, had 27 points for Orlando (19-14). He played the fourth quarter with five fouls.

The Magic, playing without Paolo Banchero, who is still rehabbing from a torn oblique, and both Franz Wagner and Mo Wagner, have little choice but to rely on their defense. The first half followed the playbook set forth by coach Jamahl Mosley’s squad in the first two meetings — using physicality to try to muscle the Knicks out of their offensive flow.

With 3:54 remaining in the second quarter, Suggs drove to the basket, drawing a foul on Bridges as he made his move. But as he continued to the rim, he delivered an elbow to Towns’ mouth, and in the ensuing sequence, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was hit with a technical foul. A replay review resulted in a flagrant 1 technical on Suggs as Towns wiped the blood from his lower lip.

The Knicks managed to get to intermission tied at 54-54 after an early surge from Suggs, who scored Orlando’s first 11 points, and Goga Bitadze, who scored the next 11. But it was less stopping scorers than surviving the shoving, grabbing and hacking.

“Defensively we picked it up, played great,” Hart said. “Obviously, Suggs got it going early. He’s a great defender. He probably has to learn now he can’t be too aggressive defensively because they need him offensively. We knew once he got in foul trouble and couldn’t play, we were able to pack the paint a little bit, not allow them to get anything at the rim and rebound the ball. Defense was great.”

“The physicality of the game, we knew it would be that way,” Tom Thibodeau said. “Just adapt to it. I thought we got our defense going pretty good in the second half. The rebounding was good. The defense was good.”

Notes & quotes: Thibodeau said Mitchell Robinson’s return, which has been plotted for late January at the soonest, remains without a definitive timeline, but he noted, “Overall he’s doing very well. Still hasn’t been cleared for practice. That’ll be the next step and he’s getting closer. When that is, I’m not sure. There are still some benchmarks he has to get through. But he’s done a terrific job. He’s light. He’s lean. He’s working extremely hard. We just want to make sure we’re patient and let him work through it. I wouldn’t say it’s all-out sprinting, but it’s the next step. There’s jumping. It’s going to be step-by-step. Then full-speed running is probably the next phase. Once we get through that, then contact, and then he’ll probably be cleared for practice.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.