The Knicks picked up their first road win of the season in a 118-106 victory over the Mavericks on Friday night. >> Read More
Things to know about tonight's game...
1) Allonzo Trier, the undrafted rookie, led the Knicks' offense with a career-high 23 points on a very efficient 8-of-10. He also had two rebounds and one assists as well. Tim Hardaway Jr. was second on the Knicks with 18 points on 7-for-17 from the field.
2) Getting another start down low, rookie Mitchell Robinson impressed with veteran rim protector DeAndre Jordan opposite him for the Mavs. Robinson had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a super athletic alley-oop backwards slam that got the crowding going in Dallas. He pulled in seven boards and had three steals as well.
3) Mario Hezonja came off the bench in the second quarter, and began to cook. He has 11 points in his limited minutes, as he attacked the rim and knocked down his jumpers for a 5-for-7 night from the field.
4) Frank Ntilikina didn't have the best shooting night compared to his outing against Indiana. However, he led the Knicks with seven assists.
5) Mavs first-rounder Luka Doncic was having a great start to his rookie campaign entering tonight. But the Knicks were stingy on defense when the ball was in his hands, holding him to 18 points on 8-of-15shooting.
Jake Brown:
While the Mavericks are just not very good at all, this was a nice first road win for the Knicks. They played tremendous team basketball, getting everyone involved. Allonzo Trier was the star of the show, finishing with a career-high 23 points.
The telling stat is that seven Knicks finished with double figures, including Mitchell Robinson. The 20-year-old rookie had a few foolish fouls to end the first half, but made up for it with a sensational highlight reel slam way above the rim in the third quarter. Robinson finished with 13 points, 10 boards, three assists, three steals, and a block in an all-around career night for him.
The young kids played really well tonight and they avoided playing iso ball, which was their demise in the fourth quarter Wednesday. They also got Emmanuel Mudiay back for the first time. He made a couple key shots in their third quarter run to get a double-digit lead, and he also had a couple beautiful passes. It was intriguing to hear David Fizdale call him the team's best passer, but he looked like it a few times tonight, playing 16 minutes in his debut.
This team needed to get that first win on the road, and they beat down a team tonight that is about at the same level as them. They have new guys coming up big each night, and that was Trier and Robinson this time around. Something to watch moving forward will be Trey Burke and his playing time. The point guard only played six minutes tonight, finishing with just two points. His playing time has been a roller coaster ride so far, and will be worth monitoring. Coach Fizdale clearly is mixing and matching guys and seeing what works, so we'll see a lot of different looks depending on what is working and what is not.
WHAT 😮 pic.twitter.com/RRNsj9rJX5
- NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 3, 2018
.@T_HardJR heating 🆙 ♨ pic.twitter.com/k9ytgduPJ0
- NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 3, 2018
That's 1️⃣1️⃣ points in Q2 for @mariohezonja 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DC2Zc7Qxxw
- NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 3, 2018
That's 1️⃣1️⃣ points in Q2 for @mariohezonja 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DC2Zc7Qxxw
- NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 3, 2018
What's next:
The Knicks make their way back to the East Coast, but not before stopping in our nation's capital to face the struggling Wizards on Sunday at 6 p.m.