How it Happened:
Michael Beasley opened up the scoring with two baskets on the first two possessions of the game and set the tone early. As a team, both the Knicks and Cavs struggled from the field in the first quarter and finished all tied-up at 20 after the first 12 minutes. The squad came out firing in the second quarter, led by Beasley and Luke Kornet, who scored 18 of the team’s 34 points during the period. A thunderous two-handed jam by Frank Ntilikina put the away squad up 18 with just over two minutes remaining in the half, and the Knicks took a 20-point lead into the locker room. Rookie Isaiah Hicks made an instant impact on the floor, finishing a +25 in the first half. With Lebron James sitting out the entire second half, the Cavs managed to cut the Knicks lead to 10 less than 5 minutes into the third. The Knicks were able to extend the lead back up to 16 with contributions from Trey Burke, Damyean Dotson, and Luke Kornet. Cleveland remained resilient and cut the lead to single digits with under 10 minutes to go, but the Knicks did not back down in the closing moments and won by a final score of 110-96.
Knick of the Night: Two-way player Luke Kornet scored a career-high 23 points on an extremely efficient 9-14 FG in the final game of his rookie campaign.
Notables: Isaiah Hicks was a team high +23 and finished with a career-high 15 points, four assists and three rebounds. Trey Burke poured in 19, dished out nine assists and grabbed five boards. Frank Ntilikina was one point off tying his career-high, which he set last night, scoring 16 points. Damyeon Dotson finished with 11 points.
Statistically Speaking: New York’s rookies combined for 65 points and all four scored in double figures for the first time this season.
Looking Ahead: New York closes out the season with a 29-53 record, finishing 11th in the Eastern Conference, and 9th in the standings for the Draft Lottery. The Lottery will be held on May 15 in Chicago for the first-time ever.