The New York Knicks (26–25) lost at Madison Square Garden 116–108 to the Los Angeles Clippers (20–32) on Wednesday night after a close first half gave way to a dominating Clippers performance. This was just the Clippers fourth win this season in 18 road games.
It was one of the Knicks’ poorer games of the season as they struggled both offensively and defensively and were largely unable to contest the Clippers in the paint until the fourth quarter.
The Knicks shot just 1–12 from beyond the perimeter in the first half and 6–26 overall, and allowed the Clippers to score too many easy lay ups and dunks in a game that was full of them.
The first quarter was a dunk fest for both teams; Timofey Mozgov scored 10 of his 12 first quarter points off dunks for the Knicks and DeAndre Jordan had four dunks for the Clippers. The phenom that is Blake Griffin added a few more dunks for the Clippers as he matched up against Amar’e Stoudemire.
Both teams were also plagued by turnovers in the first quarter, and the Clippers got the upper hand in that department by outrunning the Knicks in transition.
Still, the score remained close for much of the first half until the Knicks went cold in shooting in the last few minutes of the second quarter and the Clippers surged ahead by as much as 15 points.
The half finished with the Clippers up 58–47, led in scoring by Jordan, Griffin, and Ryan Gomes who all reached double-digits. Gomes was 7–8 in field goals including 2–2 in 3-pointers.
Stoudemire, Mozgov, and Felton led the Knicks in the scoring department, also each reaching double-digits. Stoudemire gave the fans a scare in the second quarter when he went down with a twisted ankle, but he was able to walk it off.
The Clippers carried their end of the first half momentum into the third quarter where they pulled up by as much as 20 points as the Knicks seemed to almost check out of the game. Stoudemire had to take the bench early on in the quarter after picking up his fourth personal foul off an offensive charge against Griffin.
The Knicks made a 9–0 run at the end of the third quarter to get a foot back in the game and finished down 88–78.
Then in the fourth quarter the Knicks showed some signs of life with Stoudemire and Toney Douglas each scoring 10 points to help cut the Clippers lead to three points midway through the quarter.
The Knicks still couldn’t get their outside shooting to fall, and the Clippers outhustled and outshot them down the stretch. Randy Foye scored 17 points in the fourth quarter alone and scored two 3-pointers.
Stoudemire led the Knicks in scoring for the night with 23 points followed by Danilo Gallinari with 21 points. Felton had a double-double with 17 points and 12 assists. The Knicks shot just under 50 percent in field goals.
Foye led the Clippers with 24 points and Griffin contributed 21 as the entire starting lineup reached double-digit scoring. Baron Davis had a double-double with 16 points and 16 assists, and Eric Bledsoe contributed 16 points from the bench.
The win is an important one for the Clippers as they had dropped their last four games against top teams in the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, and most recently the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
The last three of those four losses had been on the road, and the Clippers have seven more to go before they head back home against the Boston Celtics at the end of the month.
It was one of the Knicks’ poorer games of the season as they struggled both offensively and defensively and were largely unable to contest the Clippers in the paint until the fourth quarter.
The Knicks shot just 1–12 from beyond the perimeter in the first half and 6–26 overall, and allowed the Clippers to score too many easy lay ups and dunks in a game that was full of them.
The first quarter was a dunk fest for both teams; Timofey Mozgov scored 10 of his 12 first quarter points off dunks for the Knicks and DeAndre Jordan had four dunks for the Clippers. The phenom that is Blake Griffin added a few more dunks for the Clippers as he matched up against Amar’e Stoudemire.
Both teams were also plagued by turnovers in the first quarter, and the Clippers got the upper hand in that department by outrunning the Knicks in transition.
Still, the score remained close for much of the first half until the Knicks went cold in shooting in the last few minutes of the second quarter and the Clippers surged ahead by as much as 15 points.
The half finished with the Clippers up 58–47, led in scoring by Jordan, Griffin, and Ryan Gomes who all reached double-digits. Gomes was 7–8 in field goals including 2–2 in 3-pointers.
Stoudemire, Mozgov, and Felton led the Knicks in the scoring department, also each reaching double-digits. Stoudemire gave the fans a scare in the second quarter when he went down with a twisted ankle, but he was able to walk it off.
The Clippers carried their end of the first half momentum into the third quarter where they pulled up by as much as 20 points as the Knicks seemed to almost check out of the game. Stoudemire had to take the bench early on in the quarter after picking up his fourth personal foul off an offensive charge against Griffin.
The Knicks made a 9–0 run at the end of the third quarter to get a foot back in the game and finished down 88–78.
Then in the fourth quarter the Knicks showed some signs of life with Stoudemire and Toney Douglas each scoring 10 points to help cut the Clippers lead to three points midway through the quarter.
The Knicks still couldn’t get their outside shooting to fall, and the Clippers outhustled and outshot them down the stretch. Randy Foye scored 17 points in the fourth quarter alone and scored two 3-pointers.
Stoudemire led the Knicks in scoring for the night with 23 points followed by Danilo Gallinari with 21 points. Felton had a double-double with 17 points and 12 assists. The Knicks shot just under 50 percent in field goals.
Foye led the Clippers with 24 points and Griffin contributed 21 as the entire starting lineup reached double-digit scoring. Baron Davis had a double-double with 16 points and 16 assists, and Eric Bledsoe contributed 16 points from the bench.
The win is an important one for the Clippers as they had dropped their last four games against top teams in the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, and most recently the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
The last three of those four losses had been on the road, and the Clippers have seven more to go before they head back home against the Boston Celtics at the end of the month.
Friends Read Free