OG Anunoby scored 35 pts on 15-24 shooting (3-6 from 3). Photo courtesy NY Knicks.
The Knicks laid down the DEFENSE in the 2nd half to turn a 68-68 halftime tie into a rout of a win, 128-113 over Dallas on a Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Dallas was without Kyrie Irving — out for the year with a torn ACL — and Anthony Davis, who they traded Luka Doncic for at the trade deadline a month ago — so are in free fall. NY was without Jalen Brunson (sprained ankle), Miles McBride (sore groin), and Mitchell Robinson (rest night on his recuperation schedule).
The Knicks would have blown Dallas out in the 1st half had not Naji Marshall — the 6’7 wingman for the Mavericks — been scoring in every way imaginable even with defensive standout OG Anunoby on him. Marshall hit his first 12 shots en route to a 38-pt night on 17-25 shooting.
But in the 2nd half the Knicks limited his damage while applying a pressure D. Anunoby had a tremendous night offensively was well — 35 pts on 15-24 shooting (3-6 from 3), while Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart both had triple doubles — Towns had 26 pts on 10-19 shooting (2-7 from 3) with 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his 1st career triple double, while Hart laid down 16 pts (on 6-9 shooting, 2-2 from 3), 12 rebounds, and 11 assists for his Knick-record breaking 9th triple double of the season (breaking Walt Frazier‘s Knick record).
Mikal Bridges added 21 pts on 9-14 shooting (2-4 from 3), and Cameron Payne was exceptional all night at the point, even though he finished with only 2 pts and 5 assists. His Defense and aggression on offense led the Knicks, as did the Defense of Hart, Anunoby, Bridges, and KAT. The 2nd team of Precious Achiuwa, Landry Shamet, and Tyler Kolek (9 assists in 19 minutes) also applied a suffocating D in the 2nd half.
“We started the game pretty well, and then we started trading buckets,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “Midway through the 1st. And then I thought the aggression and communication was a lot better in the 2nd half.
“We had a number of guys step up and play well on both ends,” continued Thibs. “Obviously the way Josh was going — another tiple double — breaking the record; great accomplishment — and then KAT do it as well — that’s pretty special. OG was terrific throughout. I thought Mikal gave us really good minutes; and I thought our point guard play between Cam and Tyler was also very good. And I thought that Precious’s energy in the 2nd half was also very good for us.”
NY improves to 45-26, and are 3 games ahead of Indiana for 3rd in the East with 11 games to go. Dallas falls to 35-38.
1. Offensive Jamboree in 1st Half
The Mavericks are coached by Hall of Fame point guard and former Knick Jason Kidd, who was a Defensive stalwart during his career. And Dallas reflected his play the first time the Knicks faced them this year, on November 28th when Quentin Grimes and the Mavs blasted NY 129-114.
But Grimes is in Philly now, and Doncic is gone, and Kyrie is out — so this is a different Mavericks team. The Knicks scored at will on them throughout the 1st half, with Karl-Anthony Towns doing whatever he felt like against the Dallas front line of 6’11 Kai Jones and 6’10 Dwight Powell off the bench.
Bodega too strong 😤 pic.twitter.com/mWVdn2b4QC
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 26, 2025
OG was scoring from everywhere as well, Bridges too, and Hart was hitting his J.
2. Marshall Has Arrived for Dallas
NY would have had a huge lead had it not been for Naji Marshall — the bulky, quick 6’6 forward in his 5th NBA season — who had just scored 22 the night before to help Dallas beat the Nets.
Marshall went undrafted out of Xavier, and played the last 4 years with the New Orleans Pelicans, where he was getting around 20 minutes a night and 7+ points. He signed a 3-year contract with Dallas last summer that pays him $9 M a year. He’s averaging 13.5 ppg in 27 mpg this year.
But the 13.5 ppg average is a mirage — as Marshall has been Dallas’ primary weapon the past month — scoring 20+ ppg most nights, including games of 29 and 34 before scoring 38 in this one.
Marshall was scoring in the paint on drives and 15 footers and OG couldn’t seem to do a thing about it.
Naji gettin’ buckets 🪣 pic.twitter.com/svwNFnSNof
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 25, 2025
Dallas was also getting scoring from Spencer Dinwiddie — always a tough cover — and Brandon Williams a quick 6’1 point guard off the bench who had 22 pts on 7-11 shooting for the night. Josh Hart was doing a JOB on Klay Thompson, who only scored 6 pts on 2-11 shooting (0-3 from 3) in 22 minutes on the night.
3. Knicks Lay Down DEFENSE in 2nd Half
But as the 2nd half began, the Knick Defense was on another level. New York scored the first 9 points of the 2nd half — on scores by Bridges, Anunoby (a dunk off a steal), Hart (free throws off a drive), and Anunoby again (a 22 footer) — and led 77-68.
OG steal and stuff 🔒 pic.twitter.com/CqCeqBQxoq
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 26, 2025
Dallas tried to push back into the game — and pulled within 4 — but NY’s Defense was relentless and the Knicks pushed back out to a double-digit lead and by the end of the quarter, were up by 16 after Precious Achiuwa drove full court off a rebound and outlet by Hart — and spun the ball in the hoop under instense pressure.
Naji Marshall hit the last bucket of the 3rd quarter and first bucket of the 4th quarter to pull Dallas back within 12 but it was their last hurrah as the Knick Defensive pressure continued, and NY started to pull away on scoring by KAT, and Bridges, and Anunoby, and Shamet.
Kolek played point in the 4th and was exceptional orchestrating — as he finished with the 9 assists in 17 minutes.
What a pass by Tyler Kolek! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/88XDXHPSX6
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 26, 2025
4. OG Dripping Blood, Drains a 3
At one point in the 4th, OG Anunoby — who was ON FIRE offensively and by that time containing Marshall — got hit in the nose on a play inside. OG wiped the blood from his nose onto his jersey and continued to play — and hit a 3 from the corner. Next time down he dunked inside off a KAT assist and NY was up 117-94 with 4:44 left and ballgame.
Bloody nose from OG?
Doesn’t matter 💰 pic.twitter.com/n8Nj892TAo
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 26, 2025
5. First NBA Bucket for McCullar
Kevin McCullar Jr. drove inside for an and-1 with 1:41 left to give NY a 126-105 lead and LIGHT UP the NY bench as it was his first points in the NBA.
Kevin McCullar Jr gets his first career NBA bucket! 👏 pic.twitter.com/M7aerCoyxg
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 26, 2025
Josh Hart was given the Game Ball for his triple double — but he handed it over to McCullar.
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705614