New York Knicks Bench Leads The Way vs Minnesota Timberwolves
The New York Knicks bench played a big role in their victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night.
The New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwovles began their home-and-home series last night. The Knicks were able to come away with a 106-104 victory thanks to a Carmelo Anthony jump shot with under three seconds left. New York had built a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter that was squandered the last half of the fourth quarter.
Surprisingly, it was the starters that were the ones blowing the lead. The Knicks bench, and Kristaps Porzingis, carried the team throughout the second half.
Jeff Hornacek said the Knicks lacked toughness in their loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier in the week. The Knicks got outworked on the glass as the allowed 17 offensive rebounds in the game. The Knicks, especially the bench, made sure that didn’t happen for a second consecutive game.
Without Joakim Noah, who injured his ankle against the Thunder, the Knicks went deep into their bench and gave Marshall Plumlee his first real minutes of his NBA career. He responded and played the same way he did at Duke and in the summer and training camp; with intensity and energy.
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Plumlee worked hard in his 19 minutes and the Knicks benefited from it. The Knicks were +11 in his 19 minutes, as he provided four points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal, and plenty of hustle. He drew some loose ball fouls as his motor never stopped as he provided the Knicks a much-needed boost.
He was not alone producing with the second unit. Fellow rookie Mindaugas Kuzminskas had a career-high 14 points, knocking down four three-pointers. He provided an offensive spark along with Brandon Jennings.
Jennings has been an energizer for the Knicks off the bench and that continued against the Timberwolves. Hornacek has been urging Jennings to be more aggressive offensively looking for his shot. Last night he heeded that advice, scoring 12 points on 5-of-14 with two three-pointers. He added seven assists and played the whole fourth quarter, with Derrick Rose getting only three minutes.
We could see Jennings and Rose in the backcourt more going forward. It has been a combination Hornacek has been using more recently, but Courtney Lee sprained his ankle tonight. If he is sidelined, Justin Holiday could slide into the starting lineup but Jennings could absorb more minutes as well.
It was encouraging to see the Knicks bench respond this way against a talented, albeit young, Timberwolves squad. Karl-Anthony Towns had a career game and dominated from all over. He scored 47 points on 15-of-22 from the field and 17-of-20 from the foul line. He added 18 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and three blocks.
It was a special night for Towns, but the Timberwolves got no help from their second unit. The Timberwolves bench scored only five points, compared to 43 from the Knicks bench. Four players, Kuzminskas, Jennings, Sasha Vujacic, and Willy Hernangomez, all scored at least five points by themselves.
Hopefully this is a trend that we will continue to see from the Knicks bench. The second unit was a huge question mark coming into the season with so much inexperience. Add in the injury to Lance Thomas and the question marks mounted even more. But, at least for one night, they quieted some doubters with an outstanding performance agains the Timberwolves.
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They will have a shot to do it again against Minnesota on Friday when they finish the home-and-home. You can guarantee that Tom Thibodeau will have his team ready to play that time to match the intensity and energy the Knicks bench brought last night.