KNICKS STARS SIT IN TOUGH LOSS
Kanter, Beasley aren’t enough to finish off Orlando
The supporting cast wasn’t ready for starring roles.
Without an injured Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. — whose surprising absence was announced to teammates just minutes before Sunday’s tipoff at Madison Square Garden — the Knicks overcame an early 17-point hole, but struggled in the closing minutes without their top two scorers, falling to the Magic, 105-100, for their fourth loss in the past five games.
The Knicks (11-11), who are now 0-3 without Porzingis this season — which included a 13-point loss to Orlando (10-14) on Nov. 8 — will play without him and Hardaway again Monday in Indianapolis, hoping they can sustain their promising start to the season until the pair returns.
“We’ve got to have everyone contribute a little bit more,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Without those two guys it’s tough, but nobody’s gonna feel sorry for you when they come in to play you and you’re missing those two guys. Other guys will keep playing and we’ll keep scrapping and clawing and see if we get some wins.”
Without Porzingis for nearly all of Wednesday’s blowout win over the Heat, the Knicks put on one of their best performances of the season. But unexpectedly missing Hardaway on Sunday left the team lacking any energy in the building where they’d amassed a 10-4 record.
The Knicks didn’t look like a team which had lost its top two scorers, just a team that lost any memory of how to defend. Led by Nikola Vucevic (34 points), the Magic hit 13 of their first 18 shots to take a 36-19 lead in the first quarter.
“I thought we played lax, on our heels for the first couple quarters, and allowed them to establish the identity of the game,” Jarrett Jack said.
Led by Michael Beasley’s teamhigh 21 points, the Knicks closed the deficit to 54-51 at halftime, and secured their first lead in the third quarter.
But the Knicks suffered from a massive free throw disparity, which angered Hornacek. Orlando made 25-of-29 attempts, while the Knicks hit nine of 10 free throws.
“We were taking the ball to the basket,” Hornacek said. “Enes [Kanter] is in there getting shots. Michael Beasley’s driving to the basket. Guys were taking it in there.
“We’re the home team, and they had 11 fouls and we had 24. That’s the difference in the game.”
Orlando took control of the suddenly back-and-forth affair in the fourth quarter, with Vucevic sparking a 10-0 run to extend the Magic’s lead to double-digits. Courtney Lee scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth to bring the Knicks within three with 3.6 seconds left, but Vucevic sealed the game with two free throws.
What was supposed to be the start of one of the softer stretches of the season began with the realization it may not get any easier.
“It’s tough because KP and Tim are two of our best players,” said Kanter, who had 18 points and 16 rebounds. “I don’t want to make an excuse and say, ‘Oh we didn’t have them tonight’, but that’s two pieces that are really important for our family and when you lose those two important pieces I think we need to step up more. We cannot make more mistakes. We need to make less mistakes and play with more energy and more effort out there.
“I think we just played real soft. We cannot just let teams come in here and beat us like that.”