Cameron Payne went out with an ankle sprain at the half, leaving the Knicks with 1 point guard — rookie Tyler Kolek — but he played fine and the Knicks had an 81-78 lead with 3:15 left in the 3rd in what looked like it would be a barnburner finish.
But then the roof caved in.
James Harden hit a fall-away 3 as he fell into the stands; then Harden hit another 3, and another 3 — 3 straight 3’s — and old nemesis Nicholas Batum hit a 3 and the Clippers had a 10-pt lead entering the 4th. Then Kawhi Leonard woke up and starting hitting 3’s and everything else he took — scoring 10 straight Clipper points — and then Derrick Jones Jr joined the action — hitting a 3 and a drive-and-1 and the Clippers led by 19.
The Knicks finally got things under control and pulled back within 8 with 1:34 left — but the Clippers got to a loose ball and Norman Powell hit a killer 3 and it was Good Night NY. On a Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Clippers shot 53% from 3 for the game (16-30); NY shot 38% (13-34).
NY drops to 45-27. The LA Clippers improve to 41-31.
1. Payne & Knicks Jump Out to 14-Point Lead in 1st
The Knicks remain without point guards Jalen Brunson (ankle sprain) and Miles McBride (sore groin). But Cameron Payne has been an able starting point guard with Tyler Kolek looking great as a point-guard’s point guard in reserve.
This was Payne’s best game yet — as he orchestrated and attacked from the get go — leading the Knicks to a 14-pt lead in the 1st quarter.
The game started out with a drive by Karl-Anthony Towns, a Mikal Bridges drive, a Payne floater, an OG layup, and a KAT 3 and NY was up 11-2.
Two Bridges drives and a Cam Payne 3 made it 18-5 NY.
Payne hit a 3 and a deuce late in the period to put the Knick lead at 25-15, and then KAT scored 8 straight points at the end of the quarter (2 drives and a 3) to make it 33-19 NY.
2. Clippers Pull Close in 2nd
The Knicks had a 12-pt lead midway thru the 2nd quarter when the Clippers went on a run: Kawhi Leonard with a J and Norman Powell with a drive and a floater for 6 straight points to cut the Knick lead to 6.
Then after a KAT 14-footer, Powell hit a 3, and then Kris Dunn hit a J and it was a 3-pt game.
Leonard hit 2 drives and Harden scored inside and the Clippers were within 1.
Cam Payne hit a 3 near the end of the period, but Harden matched him with a 3; Bridges hit a pullup but Harden matched him with a drive and it was 55-54 NY at the half.
James Harden (29 pts on 8-16 shooting, 6-9 from 3), Kawhi Leonard (27 pts on 10-18 shooting), Ivica Zubac (18 pts), and Norman Powell (19 pts on 7-12 shooting, 4-5 from 3) .
3. Payne Out at the Half
Cameron Payne did not take the court when the 2nd half began. It was reported later in the 3rd quarter that he had suffered an ankle sprain and would be out for the rest of the game. Payne would go for 15 pts on 6-9 shooting (3-6 from 3) in the 18 minutes he played.
4. Heading for a Barnburner Finish
That meant Tyler Kolek would be the point guard the rest of the way. And he did a fine job orchestrating — 7 assists in 19 minutes — although he didn’t provide much scoring on this night — 0 pts on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from 3).
Kolek was feeding OG and Bridges and KAT — and all were scoring with great efficiency. At one point after a Bridges drive in the 3rd to make it 59-57 NY, Monica McNutt on the radio mentioned how efficient OG and Bridges were — at that point they were like 9-12 and 7-12 from the floor respectively. But she jinxed Bridges, because after that he’d miss his last 4 shots of the game — missing 3 straight 3’s and a 2-pt jumper.
Anunoby would finish with 28 pts on 11-17 shooting (3-5 from 3). Bridges had 17 pts on 7-16 shooting (1-5 from 3). KAT would finish with 34 pts on 11-20 shooting (4-7 from 3).
5. The Roof Caves In
And then with NY up 81-78 with 3:15 left in the 3rd — the Roof caved in. Harden with 2 free throws after drawing a foul, and then 3 straight 3’s. Then Batum hit a 3. Then Ben Simmons (remember him?) scored to end the 3rd quarter with the Clippers up by 10, just like that.
And it got worse to start the 4th as Kawhi Leonard woke up with 10 straight Clipper points, and then Derrick Jones Jr out of nowhere with a 3 and a deuce and NY was down 19.
6. Final Knick Flurry Squashed
The Knicks were down 17 with 3:04 left when the launched a final flurry — OG free throws, an OG drive, KAT free throws, and an OG 3 made it 9 straight Knick points and a 119-111 game with 1:34 left.
But the Clippers got a loose ball on a scramble and Norm Powell hit a good-night-NY 3 with 1:12 left for the old ballgame.
Etcetera
Hart had 7 pts on 3-9 shooting (0-4 from 3), with 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
Mitchell Robinson played 13 minutes (2 rebounds, 0 pts) of strong defense, and Precious Achiuwa played great in 8 minutes (6 pts on 2-3 shooting with 3 rebounds).
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705622