Karl-Anthony Cities wasn’t certain how he’d match into Mike Brown’s up-tempo Knicks offense.
For one evening, in opposition to the lowly, one-win Washington Wizards, these uncertainties vanished.
Cities delivered his most dominant efficiency of the younger season in New York’s 119–102 win at Madison Sq. Backyard on Monday, ending with 33 factors on 12-of-24 capturing, together with 3-of-8 from deep, to go together with 13 rebounds and 5 assists.
He punctuated the evening with two vicious dunks in visitors — first decreasing his shoulder into second-year ahead Alex Sarr’s chest earlier than ending by him and flexing below the rim, then slicing baseline for an additional emphatic throwdown. He even capped the primary half with a four-point play that gave the Knicks a three-point edge heading into the break.
Cities tallied 16 factors throughout the primary two quarters and one other 14 within the fourth, slamming the door on a late Wizards rally.
It was simply essentially the most comfy and assured Cities has appeared in Brown’s new system. Coming into Monday, he averaged 18.3 factors on 38% capturing from the sphere and 35.7% from three — effectively beneath final season’s 24.4 factors on 50/40 capturing splits below Tom Thibodeau.
But Brown maintained persistence. The coach insisted Cities’ impression would floor if he stayed aggressive, continued touching the paint, and trusted the ball would finally come again his approach.
On Monday, that persistence paid off — even when the Wizards, who lack a middle able to guarding Cities’ measurement and talent, provided minimal resistance.
Jalen Brunson completed with 16 factors and 9 assists, OG Anunoby added 16 factors on 7-of-13 capturing, and Jordan Clarkson supplied a set off the bench with 15 factors for the second straight sport. Josh Hart posted 12 factors, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists with the second unit.
The Knicks averted what had all of the makings of a entice sport — their first of the season — in opposition to a group projected to compete for ping-pong balls by yr’s finish.
A entice sport, also called a setup, is when a contender overlooks a struggling opponent and pays the value. On the second evening of a back-to-back, contemporary off six straight video games in opposition to projected playoff groups, the Knicks confronted one of many league’s backside dwellers. The Wizards had been considered one of solely 4 groups with one or fewer wins getting into Monday.
New York flirted with catastrophe early, main by simply three at halftime — hardly ultimate for a group with championship aspirations.
Brown, nonetheless, noticed it coming.
“These guys [the Wizards] are in the NBA for a reason. They’re talented and their record doesn’t speak well for them right now,” he stated earlier than tipoff. “They probably wish it was better or probably could be better and it’s not up to us to decide whether or not they’re good or bad. It’s up to us to know it’s a back-to-back, we’ve got an NBA team in front of us, let’s play how we’re capable of. And I’m a firm believer in worry about yourself. If you’re able to take care of yourself at the highest level, everything else will fall into place… So no matter who’s in front of us, we’ve gotta come to freaking play, and if we expect to be great, then we will.”
It took two quarters, however they lastly did — and when it clicked, it blew the sport open.
The Knicks erupted within the third quarter, outscoring Washington 41–24 and capturing 15-of-22 from the sphere, together with 6-of-10 from three. The ball motion — a trademark of Brown’s system — reached its peak: New York recorded 12 assists within the third quarter alone, tying for the second-most in any quarter by any group this season.
Beginning middle Mitchell Robinson sat out the second leg of the back-to-back as a part of his load administration plan for his surgically repaired left ankle. Landry Shamet began in his place, including eight factors on 3-of-8 capturing in 25 minutes whereas serving to area the ground.
The Knicks have now rebounded from a three-game street skid with back-to-back wins at residence. Up subsequent: Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and the Minnesota Timberwolves — a matchup that might double as a reunion for Cities and a measuring stick for the Knicks, particularly with celebrity guard Anthony Edwards anticipated to overlook the sport with a hamstring pressure.
