Knicks stoop to 60th loss of season for 2nd time in history
NEW YORK >> Danilo Gallinari scored 26 points to extend the best scoring streak of his career, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Knicks 124-113 on Sunday for their fifth straight victory.
Lou Williams had 29 points and fellow reserve Montrezl Harrell added 24 to provide their usual potent play off the bench for the Clippers, who began play tied with Oklahoma City and Utah for fifth place in the Western Conference.
Gallinari made a goahead 3-pointer with 4:12 remaining to make it 106-104, then hit a pair of free throws before Williams made another 3 to push it to 111104 with 3:01 to go. The Clippers then pulled away from there to win for the 10th time in 11 games.
Gallinari, the Knicks’ first-round pick in 2008, has scored 20 or more in his past nine games.
Emmanuel Mudiay had 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Knicks (1460), who dropped their fourth straight to secure the second 60-loss season in franchise history. Former Clippers center DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Already without a couple of injured starters, the Knicks lost their past two lottery picks during the game. Kevin Knox sat out the second half with a sprained right ankle and Frank Ntilikina missed it because of a sore groin. Ntilikina had just returned Friday from a groin injury that had sidelined him nearly two months.
Still, the Knicks battled back from doubledigit deficits in both halves before the Clippers’ finishing surge.
Knicks coach David Fizdale said the focus for the Knicks was getting off to better starts than they had recently, and it appeared they were on their way to failing that mission when the Clippers bolted to an 8-0 lead. But they cut it to 29-24 after one quarter, and after Los Angeles pushed the lead to 14 in the second on Harrell’s follow shot, surged into the lead before the Clippers took a 60-59 edge into the half.