Vogel’s early timeout helps
NEW YORK —
made his point, and the Orlando Magic responded.
The New York Knicks encountered minimal resistance from the Magic during the first 2 minutes, 45 seconds of Sunday afternoon’s game at Madison Square Garden.
New York made four of its first seven shots, capped by a putback dunk by following a missed layup by
Vogel called a timeout. In the huddle that followed, he recalled, he reminded his players that improving their defense is “the pathway to turning things around.”
“Let’s just say I threatened them,” Vogel said afterward. “That’s the simplest way to put it. You can only say that defense is our answer out of this so many times, in so many ways. So the first warning is a timeout. The second warning is a sub. They turned it around.”
The Magic limited the Knicks to 45.3 percent shooting the rest of the game and won 105-100.
“I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he did get on us, as he should,” center
said. “Our defense has been pretty bad the past 10 games, so I thought that we actually responded pretty well after that. Our defense, I thought, was up-anddown, but I thought we made some big plays that we needed at times.”
The Magic entered the game as the second-worst defensive-rebounding team in the NBA as measured by defensive-rebounding percentage. The Knicks ranked third in offensive-rebounding percentage. Yet the Knicks collected only 10 offensive boards.
One major caveat needs to be made about Sunday: The Knicks played without their two leading scorers, big man and swingman
who combine to average 43.6 points per game.
From Nov. 11 through Friday, the Magic allowed more points per possession than any team in the NBA, according to the league’s statistics database.
On Monday night, they’ll face the Charlotte Hornets, who beat them 120-113 on Oct. 29 and made 54.6 percent of their shots in the process.
“The simplest way to put it is we’ve got to start defending even better than we did tonight,” Vogel said. “We made some progress again tonight, but it’s got to be better.”
Actor and actor/comedian
attended Sunday’s game. So did U.S. men’s soccer team goalkeeper and former Knicks power forward
That star power helps make Madison Square Garden a fun venue.
“This is the mecca, man,” center
said. “Every time you come in here, you get that little nervous feeling, like you’re a little kid. The fans are great. You just walk on the court and play. It’s an honor to step on that court, and nobody should ever take it for granted.” forward missed his 11th consecutive game as he recovers from a sprained right ankle, but he put up some shots during early warm-ups.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” Isaac said. Magic rookie
“There’s still a little soreness each time I get ready to warm up,” he added. “But other than that, I’m OK.”
The toughest part for Isaac is having to watch from the sidelines and not be able to help his teammates.
Isaac grew up in The Bronx’s Hunts Point neighborhood. At 10 years old, he moved to Southwest Florida.