After a three-game losing streak at the beginning of December, the Westchester Knicks bounced back by winning three of their next four games. At one point, the Knicks were inching closer to the top of the Atlantic Division.
Since their victory over the Raptors 905, courtesy of a Keith Wright tip-in, Westchester has been on a recent losing skid.
The Knicks met the Long Island Nets in the first-ever regular season “Battle of the ‘Burbs” meeting. Long Island Nets head coach Ronald Nored sensed a form of a rivalry in their first meeting.
“It was definitely good. We don’t have fans in here all the time, but you can definitely see there was a Westchester contingent here,” Nored said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how that just continues to grow.”
Outside of the contest, the meeting between the two teams was the first time the NBA D-League experimented with a four-person referee crew.
Today's W. Knicks at L.I. Nets @NBADLeague game featured an experimental quartet of referees. The 4-some: DeRosa, Bullock, Mensah & Ransom. pic.twitter.com/EsmZnrfc9A
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) December 26, 2016
The Knicks stormed out of the gates by staring the game on a 21-9 run. While the Nets kept their pace as the first quarter progressed, it was mainly the Chris McCullough show. He scored the first nine points for the Nets en route to 25 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists.
Long Island mounted a comeback in the second quarter after being down by 15 at one point. The Nets ended the half on a strong note by erasing the 15 point-deficit.
Also, they doubled their first quarter production by scoring 44 points in the second quarter and took a nine-point lead into the second half.
“I thought we finally dug in and got stops. And as a result of that, we were able to take a sizable lead ourselves,” Ronald Nored said. “The Knicks did a great job by coming back, but we were able to find a way to win at the end.”
After being up by 15, the Knicks found themselves down by 14. The one thing that plagued Westchester was foul trouble.
Chasson Randle had a productive game, but had five fouls. With Randle in foul trouble, Jordon Crawford was able to step in and have an impact on both ends of the court.
Crawford, who prides himself on defense, was able to finish the game with 16 points, three assists, three rebounds, and one steal.
Damien Inglis was on the verge of a triple-double, but he fouled out in the final two minutes of the game. Inglis finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, and six assists in 27 minutes.
Westchester head coach Mike Miller praised Inglis’ effort, especially on the offensive end.
“I think he played very well. I though he was very sharp. Though he really saw things,” Miller said. “He triggered so much offense out there. I think he’s in a really good rhythm right now playing well. He played very well in Toronto last week.”
The Nets’ bench came through in their Dec. 26 meeting. They outscored Westchester’s bench 47-31.
That wasn’t the case in their next matchup against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The Knicks held Fort Wayne to 17 points off the bench. The Knicks ‘defense stepped up for most of the game, but gave up 33 points in the final quarter.
In the process, the Mad Ants almost had an opportunity to seal the game. Trey McKinney-Jones drained a three in the final seconds of the game, but that was the closest Fort Wayne got.
The Knicks were able to get a collective effort that night. Westchester’s bench was the driving force in the game. Kevin Capers and Jordon Crawford were able to come in and score. The Knicks totaled 50 points off the bench in their final game of 2016.
Not only did Jaylen Bond come in and hit shots, but he was crashing the glass as well. Six players—Jaylen Bond, Kevin Capers, Jordon Crawford, Damien Inglis, Marshall Plumlee, and Von Wafer—scored in double digits.
Westchester continued to have issues with the Delaware 87ers. They lost their previous two meetings against the 87ers and were looking for their first victory of the season against their division foe.
The Knicks’ offense was clicking in the first half, but things starting to go downhill in the second half. They were getting good looks against Delaware, but couldn’t capitalize on them. After scoring 31 points in the second quarter, Westchester totaled 33 points in the second half.
The Knicks’ first points of the fourth quarter came nearly five minutes into the final frame. In between those five minutes, the Dub Knicks had five turnovers, including two shot clock violations.
The Knicks inserted Chasson Randle in the game at that point for some much-needed offense, but the team’s biggest struggle was on defense.
Westchester let Richaun Holmes get through the lane on back-to-back possessions for easy slams. The 87ers did most of their damage in the paint, as the Sevens totaled 74 of their 116 points in the paint.
Maurice Ndour, who was on assignment from the New York Knicks, believed the team needed to execute better down the stretch of that game.
“I think we got to execute better down the stretch,” Ndour said. “I think at times we just try to isolate and go one-on-one instead of trying to make the extra pass, so I think we just got to focus on making sure we execute down the stretch, especially in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line. Just got to do a better job doing that.”
The Westchester Knicks struggled during their recent stretch of games. The Knicks were coming off a tough month, which included three games in four nights to start off 2017.
Must Read: New York Knicks: Maurice Ndour’s Recap From Westchester
Westchester has a mini home stand before they head to Canada for the NBA D-League Showcase, which could be a great opportunity for the Knicks to build momentum.