Missing Jalen Brunson and on the second night of a back-to-back — having just lost to the Lakers in OT the night before — NY played good Defense and were gamely in the game — down 79-78 to the Clippers entering the 4th quarter — but didn’t have enough firepower down the stretch, and lost 105-95. On a Friday night in LA.
The Knicks went scoreless for almost the first 4 minutes of the 4th — allowing the Clippers to take a 7-pt lead, and NY was unable to create a sustained answer without Brunson. Bogdan Bogdanovic killed NY with offensive rebounds and tip-ins, while the Knicks’ offense was spotty — with intermittent jumpers or drives by Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. Karl-Anthony Towns missed two key 3’s in the quarter, before finally making a drive.
Bridges (22 pts on 8-12 shooting), Towns (23 pts on 8-21 shooting with 10 rebounds), Hart 14 pts on 6-13 shooting with a career-high 20 rebounds), and Precious Achiuwa (9 pts on 4-6 shooting with 5 rebounds in 16 min) were the key Knick performers on the evening.
But OG Anunoby — just off a 29-pt performance against the Lakers — shot 4-15 (2-8 from 3) for 11 pts, Miles McBride shot 2-13 (2-9 from 3) for only 7 pts, and NY had another horrid night from 3 — 9-34 for 26% compared to the Clippers 15-38 from 3 (39%).
NY did outrebound LA, 53-47, despite being without Mitchell Robinson — given a scheduled night off due to his recuperation from ankle surgery.
#### Thibs’ Thoughts
“They’re a very good defensive team,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “Hard fought game. Came up short in the end.”
“They have size,” continued Thibs. “I thought overall…. they shot 42 percent. We outrebounded them by 5. Our turnovers probably hurt us some; we gave up two timely offensive rebounds in a crucial sequence mid 4th. So we have to clean that up. We went in saying that if the defense, and the rebounding, and the turnovers were down — we’d have a chance to win. And I thought we were in position to win until the end. We fell short tonite, but there were some good things that happened in the game.”
NY falls to 40-23; the LA Clippers improve to 34-29.
### 1\. Clippers Have Big, Defensive, Veteran Team
The Clippers were led by 35-year-old veteran Hall of Fame playmaker James Harden who had 27 pts on 7-20 shooting (5-12 from 3) with 7 assists and a +14.
Kawhi Leonard (6’7 and now 33 years old) had 20 pts on 6-18 shooting (1-6 from 3; 7-8 in free throws), and 36-year-old 6’8 forward Nicolas Batum killed NY with 17 pts on 6-9 shooting (5-7 from 3).
The Clippers also got tremendous inside play from 27-year-old, 7-foot center Ivica Zubac — a 2nd round pick in 2016 who is averaging 15.9 ppg and 12.5 rpg on the season. Zubac scored 16 pts on 8-18 shooting, with 14 rebounds, and a +19.
### 2. Clippers Come Out Punching; Knicks Punch Back
The Clippers punched the Knicks in the face to start the game to take a 9-0 lead on consecutive dunks by Zubac, a 3 by Batum, and a jumper by Leonard.
The Knicks punched right back with a 10-0 run to take a 10-9 lead off a dunk by Towns, a 3 by Deuce McBride, a 3 by Anunoby, and a jumper by Bridges.
Back-to-back 3’s by James Harden late in the quarter gave LA a 6-pt lead — 31-25 lead after 1 quarter.
### 3\. NY Takes 9-Pt Lead in 2nd; LA Takes 6-Pt Lead Back
The Knicks pushed back in the 2nd quarter — Mikal Bridges with 7 straight points (two drives that netted 4 free throws, and a 3) — then a drive by Precious Achiuwa off a Bridges assist.
Precious then hit a drive off a Cameron Payne assist, Bridges hit a J off a Precious assist, and Precious hit a 12 footer and NY was up 39-33.
NY went up 9 on a KAT 3 and it was looking like it was going to be a good night for NY.
But the Clippers reeled off 9 straight points to tie the game — 3’s by Harden and Leonard, a jumper by Leonard, and a 3 by Batum.
Harden got fouled taking a 3 and made all free throws, and Zubac dunked to end the half with LA up by 6 at 60-54.
### 4\. NY Slices LA Lead to 79-78 Entering 4th
NY fell behind by 9 points after a Kawhi Leonard 3 with 7:51 left in the 3rd but fought back.
McBride and KAT hit 3’s, Bridges sliced in for a drive, and KAT scored inside — then OG hit a 3 and it was 78-75 game with 2:31 left in the 3rd.
Both teams played stifling defense and nobody scored until an OG 10-foot floater with 5 seconds left in the period brought NY within 79-78.
### 5\. Knicks Not Enough Firepower Down Stretch without Brunson
But the Knicks couldn’t buy a bucket at the start of the 4th — going almost the first 4 minutes without one.
Cam Payne missed a floater, then missed a 3, Bridges missed a drive, Payne lost the ball out of bounds, and Landry Shamet missed a drive — before Shamet finally hit a drive with 8:18 left in the quarter to make it an 85-80 game, LA on top.
Three key turnovers doomed the Knicks in the 4th:
* The Knicks were down 90-85 with 6:45 left when Josh Hart grabbed a defensive rebound, but Kawhi Leonard stole the ball, fed Bogdanovic, who fed Amir Coffey who hit a BIG 3 to give LA an 8-pt lead.
* With 4 minutes left and NY down 7, Harden missed a J but Bogdanovic sliced in for the offensive rebound and tip in, and
* On the next time down, after a Bridges J pulled NY back to within 7 with 3:29 left, Zubac missed an 11-footer but again Bodanovic sliced in for an offensive rebound and tip in and LA was back up 9.
And that was pretty much ballgame. The Knicks could not dent the 9-pt lead.
### The Boxscore
[https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/\_/gameId/401705477](https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705477)