Knicks Beat Magic 113-106, Extend Their Winning Streak
By William Lee
Friday night Madison Square Garden was treated to a closely contested game, albeit between two bottom feeding teams in the NBA. Nevertheless it was a very entertaining game between the Orlando Magic and the New York Knicks, a game where there were 14 lead changes and seven ties.
On the back of a couple of ten day contract players, New York extended their winning streak to the longest of the season, defeating Orlando 113-106 for their third straight victory. With the win, the Knicks no longer hold the worst record in the League, in consequence no long have the most ping pong balls for the 2015 NBA Lottery.
Nikola Vucevic dominated early and often on what he calls his “second birthday”. On January 23, 2006 Vucevic survived the worst train derailment in Montenegrin history. When asked to reflect on the accident that killed 47 people and injured nearly 200, including a member of the youth basketball team he was traveling with, Vucevic had this to say.
"“We were lucky, ” “Very lucky.” “I was so young that I didn’t really realize that it can really change the way you look at life” “As years went on, and I got more mature, you look back on it — I was so close to the end.”"
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Vucevic still text his ex-teammates on this day to say “Happy 2nd Birthday”. Vucevic scored ten points in the opening quarter, finishing with a game high 34 points and 18 rebounds. Former first round pick of the New York Knicks Channing Frye made it rain from downtown. Frye connected on four three-pointers, most of which were coming on the secondary fast break when Orlando where in semi transition. No one put a body on Frye as he trailed the play, and Frye made the Knicks pay.
Frye was not the only person having all the fun from beyond the arc, Jason Smith showed his range, knocking down three three-pointers. Smith has not even attempted more than two three-pointers in a couple of season, let alone make a couple. In fact, Smith had not converted on a three-point field goal since January 4, 2012. Smith finished the game with a season high 19 points.
Jose Calderon bumped knees with Frye and had to leave the game with 7:11 remaining in the third quarter. Calderon left the game with a contused left knee, with reports of X-Rays coming back negative.
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New York led by as many as ten points early in the fourth quarter, but Orlando would go on a 16-4 run, where the Knicks only converted on two field goals in a five minute span. Tobias Harris capped the run off with an and-one that gave the Magic a 96-94 lead with four minutes left to play. Orlando got themselves back into the game by attacking the rim, scoring 24 points in the paint in the fourth quarter. Orlando thoroughly dominated the paint all game long with 62 points in the paint.
Langston Galloway immediately responded with a three-pointer to reclaim the lead for the Knicks. Vucevic would not be denied on his “second birthday” though, dunking the ball to give the lead back to Orlando.
Down the stretch Lance Thomas scored six straight points that gave New York a 105-100 lead with 1:25 left in the game. On the following possession Galloway would put the game away with his second three-pointer in the game, extending the lead to 108-102 with 54.4 seconds remaining. Thomas and Galloway combined for 15 points in the final quarter of play, showing New York why they deserve a permanent roster spot this season. Both players are on their second ten day contract, and would need to be resigned for the remainder of the season when those contracts expires. Galloway finished the game with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Thomas finished the game on 8/10 shooting to score 16 points Friday night.