It took New York just 24 hours to do what it hadn’t achieved in the previous six weeks. But to continue their climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Knicks will have to figure out a way to beat the hottest team in the Western Conference.
The Knicks will look to win their third straight game on Wednesday when they visit the surging Dallas Mavericks in the final regular-season game between the teams.
The Knicks closed out a perfect back-to-back set Monday night when they overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to rout the Sacramento Kings, 131-115.
The Knicks arrived in Sacramento after a 116-93 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night. But New York’s first winning streak since a three-game run from Jan. 10-15 appeared out of reach when Mitchell Robinson played just two minutes due to illness and Julius Randle was limited to less than a minute in the second quarter due to foul trouble.
But fueled by a resurgent Randle, the Knicks produced their biggest second half in 52 years to turn a potentially lopsided loss into a much-needed victory. Randle scored 33 of his career-high 46 points in the second half for New York, which trailed 63-48 at the half before scoring 83 points — its most points in a second half since an 83-point outburst against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 28, 1969.
“We were flat and we knew we had to get going,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “(Randle) provided that energy. When he gets going like that, that lifts everyone. We were able to feed off of that. That was huge. You feel like you have a chance to win.”
The consecutive victories have at least improved the Knicks’ chances of returning to the playoffs. New York is still chasing the Atlanta Hawks for the 10th spot in the East and the final berth in the play-in tournament.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks extended their winning streak to five games on Monday when Luka Doncic delivered 35 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in a 111-103 win over the visiting Utah Jazz.
The win helped Dallas move away from worrying about the play-in tournament and closer to envisioning scenarios in which they have home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
Dallas, which has won 11 of its last 13, entered Tuesday in fifth place in the West, 3 1/2 games ahead of the seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves and 3 1/2 games behind the second-place Memphis Grizzlies.
In addition, Monday’s win pulled the Mavericks within a half-game of the fourth-place Jazz. A loss would have ensured Utah, which leads the season series two games to one, would own the tiebreaker should the teams finish tied in the standings.
“Four (seed), you have the home advantage — that’s a big thing,” said Doncic, who made 5 of 11 3-pointers in the win. “We’ve never had it since I’ve been here.”
The Knicks defeated Dallas 108-85 in their first meeting on Jan. 12.
–Field Level Media
