A day after giving thanks for a surprising 117-109 win at Boston, a surprising victory that snapped a six-game losing streak, the New York Knicks welcome the New Orleans Pelicans to Madison Square Garden.
New York turned in a defensive effort that had been sorely lacking against the slumping Celtics, who have lost three straight to fall to 9-9. The Knicks, who allowed at least 115 points in each game during the six-game slide, held Boston to 39 percent shooting while leading by as many as 26.
New York held Boston's stars to flat-footed showings.
Kyrie Irving scored 22 points but went 9 for 25 shooting, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range, and Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward shot a combined 14 of 36 from the field.
New York survived a late run by Boston, which trimmed a 16-point lead to three with under a minute left before Trey Burke hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining.
"They stuck with it, young fellas on a back-to-back in a hostile environment," head coach David Fizdale said a night after his team blew a 10-point lead in the third quarter of a 118-114 loss to Portland. "They played through a lot of adversity." >> Read more
Copyright 2018 by the Associated Press