New York Knicks’ Block Party Snaps Nine Game Losing Streak

Easter night featured a match-up between two teams that would be better served to get a loss than a win. The Philadelphia 76ers at 18-59 were three games behind the New York Knicks on the loss column, who are 14-62, both teams are battling to gain the most ping pong balls for the number one overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

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Philadelphia came out of the gates gunning from downtown, knocking down their first two three-point attempts to start the game. One from Robert Covington to start the game and another from Ish Smith to bookend the run, Philadelphia led 10-3 with 9:03 remaining in the opening quarter. Philadelphia attempts the seventh most three-pointers in the league with 26 attempts per game. The Sixers are only top ten in three-pointers made with 8.4 per game, as they are the third worst three-point shooting percentage team, firing away at a 32.4% rate. This is how you do a proper tanking, firing away from beyond the arc when you are almost the worst three-point shooting team in the league!

This would come to play quickly, as the Sixers cooled off significantly after their first two makes. Philadelphia came crashing down back to their statistical averages, missing their next five three-point attempts. The Knicks went on an 11-2 run mid-way through the quarter during Philadelphia’s drought. New York would take the lead on this run, 14-12 with 4:29 left in the first quarter.

Andrea Bargnani was huge in the first quarter, scoring 13 points, highlighted by back to back three-pointers that gave the Knicks a 20-14 lead with 2:24 remaining in the first quarter. New York led 26-20 after the opening quarter of play.

Philadelphia got hot from beyond the arc again, starting the second quarter on a 14-4 run to take a 34-30 lead with 8:41 remaining in the first half. The Sixers knocked down four three-pointers during the run, of which Hollis Thompson was responsible for three money ball. Thompson scored 12 of his 17 points in the second quarter.

It was a nice back and forth game in the second quarter with six lead changes and three ties. New York shot 63.2% from the field in the second quarter, with Lance Thomas and Tim Hardaway Jr. chipping in eight points each. New York led 54-51 at halftime.

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Covington started the second half the same way he started the first half, knocking down a three-pointer quickly after intermission to tie the game up at 54 apiece. Bargnani help ignite a 7-2 run mid-way through the third quarter, scoring 4 points and blocking his fourth shot of the game, which led to a Louis Amundson layup. The run gave New York a 69-61 lead with 4:18 left in the third quarter.

New York held Philadelphia to 26.9% shooting from the field in the third quarter. The Knicks led 79-72 after three quarters of play, collecting a season high 11 blocks in just 36 minutes of play.

Philadelphia hit the Knicks with a 9-0 run and got back into the game by the half-way mark in the final quarter, tied at 83 apiece. Smith gave the Sixers the lead with a floater, but the Knicks immediately responded with an 8-2, highlighted by a beautiful Jason Smith bounce pass to Langston Galloway for a jam. The run gave New York a 91-87 lead with 2:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Smith drove into the paint and laid it in to cut the Knick’s lead down to two points 91-89, but this would be the last field goal scored for the remainder of the game for Philadelphia, other than a garbage put back basket by Nerlens Noel in the winding seconds. Smith finished the game with 17 points and 7 assist. Noel finished the game with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assist, and 2 blocks.

New York tied a franchise record with 14 blocks Sunday night, and ended the nine game losing streak. In a rare sight to see, Bargnani was cheered by Madison Square Garden as he took his seat on the bench. For good reason too, Bargnani finished with a game high 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assist, and 4 blocks! Amundson joined in on the block party, with three of his own.

New York helped the Sixers extend their losing streak to six, getting closer to match the Knicks in worst record of the league. Although a loss would have been more beneficial for getting the number one overall pick in the draft, it was fun to see for one night at least, the Knicks hustling and matching a franchise record in blocks.