Orlando, Fla. — The Knicks’ body of work is now complete ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, and it’s up to team president Leon Rose to decide whether this up-and-down team needs to develop talent for a potential playoff push. no.
The rollercoaster continued on Tuesday night with a hair-raising 102-98 win over the young Magic in front of a determined Knicks crowd at the Amway Center.
All-Star forward Julius Randle posted 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists as the Knicks (30-26) pulled even with the sixth-place Heat (29-25) in the Eastern Conference standings, even though they technically There are still percentage points. back and in the No. 7 play-in position before the trade deadline.
Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 25 points, while Emmanuel Quickley buried 4 of 9 attempts from 3-point range and finished with 18. 5 for 16 shooting in 35 minutes.
Markelle Fultz scored 21 points, Franz Wagner had 18 and rookie Paolo Banchero added 16 for the Magic, who had won six of their last 10 games.
The Knicks made seven of their first 10 attempts from the floor – including Barrett’s first four shots – as Orlando went on an 18-7 run six minutes into the game and led 26-22 at the break. of
Randle, who has scored the second-most points in a first quarter this season, attempted just three three-point shots, though he registered four of the Knicks’ six assists in the session.
Barrett opened the second quarter with the Knicks’ second drive of a four-game drive and buried an early pull-up jumper for his first points of the game, but it was his only one of seven field goal attempts in the first two quarters. .
Cole Anthony’s alley-oop dunk and 3-pointer pushed Orlando’s lead to 12, before consecutive triples by Randle made it 41-36 with four minutes left in halftime.
Fultz’s two buckets in the final minute extended the Magic lead to 48-40 at halftime, but Quinton Grimes’ left trey cut the deficit to two midway through the third.
Randle was slapped with a technical foul late in the quarter for arguing a non-call by the refs, and the Knicks trailed 69-66 entering the final period.
Early 3-pointers in the fourth by Barrett and Quickley gave the Knicks a 72-71 lead, but Mo Wagner sank two straight 3-pointers to put Orlando up by five.
Two offensive rebounds and two dunks by Jericho Sims (eight points, nine boards) put the Knicks up 85-84 with just under five minutes to play, and Randle made it 90-88 with 2:54 left. Connected to downtown.
Fultz’s driving dunk pulled the Magic back by one, but Brunson sank a short jumper and then fed Sims another dunk for a 96-93 Knicks lead with 39.8 seconds left. Brunson also sank four free throws in the final 7.7 seconds and Randle added two more for the Knicks’ third win in four games.
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