The Knicks played some of their best ball of the season over the past three games, coming just a Jose Calderon 3-pointer in San Antonio away from an undefeated road trip against some of the best teams in the NBA. Tonight, Derek Fisher’s squad gave the home fans a firsthand look at its progress in a rousing 100-88 victory at The Garden.
The game was tied at 34 with 7 minutes and 14 seconds left in the first half, but from that point on, it was all Knicks. Kristaps Porzingis ignited a fastbreak with one of his five blocked shots, Derrick Williams threw down another alley-oop off a pinpoint feed from Calderon, and New York was off and running. Milwaukee would make just two field goals the rest of the half.
Carmelo Anthony (24 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists in the game) did his part to prevent a letdown coming out of halftime, playing the entire third quarter as the Knicks outscored Milwaukee, 31-19. It was a game full of highlights, a result of great defense and ball movement; in addition to Porzingis’ block party, Calderon swiped a team-high three steals on top of nine points and seven of the Knicks’ 25 assists.
Neither Anthony nor Porzingis (15 points, 6 boards) needed to play more than five minutes in the fourth quarter, as Fisher called on his rotation depth to close out the win. Robin Lopez (13 points, 9 rebounds), Lance Thomas (13 points) and Arron Afflalo (11) rounded out the five Knicks in double-figure scoring.
