Burke works Magic in win
ORLANDO – Emmanuel Mudiay started, but Trey Burke closed…spectacularly.
Burke, the former lottery bust turned G-League prospect turned Knicks sparkplug, scored 26 points off the bench as Jeff Hornacek’s team snapped an eight-game losing streak by defeating the hapless Orlando Magic, 120-113.
For those keeping an eye on ping pong balls for the NBA Draft Lottery, the Knicks improved to 24-36 while the Magic fell to 18-40.
Burke, promoted from the Westchester Knicks in January, made 12 of 22 shots and played the last 16 minutes, scoring eight points in the fourth.
“That’s definitely a boost,” Burke said. “When you’re in the game at the end you’re obviously doing something because you’re helping produce, you’re helping this team win. That’s my mindset going forward, continuing to build off of games like this.”
It was an impressive performance and timely as well, considering the Knicks are essentially holding open auditions for next season. Burke and Frank Ntilikina both played 30 minutes with the rookie scoring seven points on 2-for-6 shooting.
Mudiay sat the fourth quarter for all but the last 16.7 seconds. In 23 minutes, Mudiay scored eight points with five rebounds and four assists. Mudiay, acquired from Denver three weeks ago, started in place of Jarrett Jack, who had started 56 games but recorded a DNP on Thursday.
“All three of us have different strengths that we bring to the table,” Burke said of the three-guard rotation. “I definitely think it could work.”
Mudiay caught a bit of a break, matching up against D.J. Augustin, who is a solid veteran but one who is undersized and better suited for a backup role. The competition for Mudiay will improve significantly now with the Knicks facing Boston (Kyrie Irving) on Saturday and Golden State (Stephen Curry) on Monday.
The Knicks trailed by as many as 11 but entered the fourth quarter leading 93-90. After giving up 41 first quarter points, the Knicks limited Orlando to 44 second half points.
Tim Hardaway Jr. put up 23 while Kyle O’Quinn scored 14, and Enes Kanter added 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Knicks recorded 28 assists with just eight turnovers. Evan Fournier led Orlando with 25 points.