Westchester Drops Second Game Of Back-To-Back To Windy City
After falling to the Windy City Bulls in overtime on Friday, were the Westchester Knicks able to rebound and pick up the win?
Coming off a tough loss to the Windy City Bulls, the Westchester Knicks were looked for vengeance in the second game of a back-to-back. Despite a huge contribution from Knicks assignee Maurice Ndour and Von Wafer, Westchester struggled to close out the first game.
The Knicks had a five-point lead with 46 second remaining, but ultimately lost.
Windy City had a few strong possessions down the stretch, which include four points by Bulls assignee Denzel Valentine late in the game. In their second meeting on Feb. 3, the Bulls forced overtime and picked up the victory behind Valentine’s near triple-double.
Despite a tough loss, the Knicks faced off the Bulls the following night with the hopes of picking up their first win over Windy City.
After giving up 30 points in the first quarter, the Knicks’ defense stepped up in the second quarter. While the Bulls totaled 11 points in the first five minutes, the Knicks held their opposition to six points in the remaining seven minutes.
In the process, the Dub Knicks built momentum on the offensive end and cut their deficit. After a timeout at the mid-way point of the second quarter, Westchester went on a 16-4 run and inched closer to taking their first lead of the game.
The Knicks kept their offense rolling in the second half, as they had their best quarter of the game. After trailing by 16 in the second quarter, the Knicks possessed their first lead in the game after a 3-pointer by Kevin Capers at the mid-way point in the third quarter.
Doron Lamb, Damien Inglis, and Courtney Fells totaled 19 of the Knicks’ 26 points in the quarter.
With two minutes left in the game, the Knicks were down by two points. The Knicks were within striking distance, but the Bulls scored 11 points in the final two minutes to improve to 3-0 against Westchester on the season.
In the past couple of games against Windy City, the Knicks struggled to close out. The previous night, the Bulls totaled six points in the final minute, including a dunk by Alfonzo McKinnie in the final seconds of the game.
While the Knicks struggled in that area, Bond believes the Knicks need to limit their opponent’s second chance opportunities.
“I feel like it comes on the defensive end. You know, we got to limit them in second chance opportunities,” Jaylen Bond said after Westchester’s loss to the Windy City Bulls. “We got to get the rebound. We also got to execute on the offensive end. I feel like if we do those things, we’ll be able to come out with wins.”
Despite losing their 10th game of 2017, the bench has performed well in its recent stretch of games.
The Dub Knicks opened February by playing three games in four nights. In that span, the bench has totaled 50-plus points in all three games.
In three games in February, Von Wafer is averaging 22.3 points per game on 54.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
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In their third meeting on Sat., Jaylen Bond nearly notched his fourth double-double of the season. Bond finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
“I just feel like our bench, we come in and play and spark out team,” Bond said. “I feel like we have great players that start for us, but we also have great players on the bench”