Without their two top scorers Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway, the New York Knicks sell well, but in the end the Orlando Magic, thanks to Nikola Vucevic, still succeeds.
Shortly before the game, the Knicks announced that Kristaps Porzingis would be out due to ankle problems – and Tim Hardaway had to take a break. Accordingly, New York was weak at the beginning of the game and was almost overrun in the first quarter – after only seven minutes Orlando was already ahead with 17 points, because the Knicks were defensively overtaxed. Only the substitution of Rookie Frank Ntilikina brought a bit of fresh air, so that it stood for Orlando after the first quarter 36:25.
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But the Knicks did not surrender to their fate – on the contrary. In particular, the strong Enes Kanter (18 points, 16 rebounds) led the hosts into the match and, thanks to a four-point play by Doug McDermott, narrowed the gap to only 3 points shortly before the break. And they took the spirit with them. Orlando never managed to shake them off, even though the Magic were in the lead most of the time. Especially from downtown the throwing luck was missing (6/28 3FG) and so the game remained exciting until the final phase.
In the fourth quarter Nikola Vucevic had seen enough. The Montenegrin put down a few outstanding minutes and led Orlando almost unilaterally to the 10-point lead, which should have been enough. New York, however, was shortened again and 36 seconds before the end it was only 6 points for Knicks’ possession of the ball, then Jarrett Jack scored a threesome. Evan Fournier hit two freebies, Jack answered by layup – 16.7 seconds left. Again Fournier stayed cool, Michael Beasley scored for 2, but now it was only 4 seconds. With his points 33 and 34 it was Vucevic who made the final decision with two free throws.
The center ended the match with a thoroughly impressive statline (34, plus 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks, 13/19 FG), so it wasn’t that important that Aaron Gordon (10 points, 3/11 FG) got a used day. Also strong at Magic were Fournier (20), Jonathon Simmons (16) and Elfrid Payton (15). Knicks topscorer was Beasley with 21 points, Lee came to 19.