Thunder recover, pummel Knicks

NEW YORK – The Oklahoma City Thunder vented their ire on the hapless New York Knicks after their 15-game winning streak was snapped two nights ago in Cleveland. 

Isaiah Joe fired a career-high 31 points off the bench while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander outdueled Jalen Brunson as the Thunder rolled to a 126-101 rout of the Knicks Friday night (Saturday Manila time) at the Madison Square Garden to get back on the winning track. 

The sold-out crowd at the Garden booed the home team multiple times as the Knicks lost to the Western Conference’s top team for the second time in a week. 

Unlike in their first meeting in Oklahoma City where it was close until the fourth quarter, the Thunder pulled away early this time. 

Alexander played like an MVP, dropping 39 points in just 29 minutes. He had 13 points in the first quarter, which set the tone for the rout. 

A 3-pointer by Joe capped a 12-0 run by the Thunder to end the first quarter with a 14-point lead. Joe did not stop from there. He continued to catch fire in the second quarter with 17 points. 

Boos started to rain on the Knicks toward the end of the first half after they could only cough up 43 points, their second-lowest scoring first half this season, against the Thunder’s suffocating defense. 

The Knicks stared at a 70-43 deficit at the half. 

Oklahoma City extended it to as many as 30 in the second half to cruise to a West-best 31st victory in 37 games. 

The Knicks, who lost for the fourth time in their last five games, were booed again at the end of the jarring loss. 

“We got into a big hole right away,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau said after the beatdown. We started flat. Our defense wasn’t very good.”

It was an understatement. The Knicks defense was atrocious. 

They allowed the Thunder to shoot 53.9% from the field and 14-of-27 3-pointers, eight of them came from Joe. 

Thibodeau owned the Knicks’ lackluster performance. 

“We have to be a lot better defensively, and it requires a lot more than what we did today,” Thibodeau said. “That's my responsibility. I gotta make sure we're ready to go.”

Brunson led the Knicks with 27 points, but even he could not keep up with Alexander and the Thunder. 

Alexander blocked Brunson in one sequence in the second half, which epitomized the kind of rough night the Knicks had at the hands of the Thunder, who own the best defense in the NBA this season. 

SGA just blocked JB. pic.twitter.com/QNfutCoUfg

— alder almo (@alderalmo) January 11, 2025

New York’s highly-touted pair of wings – OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges – were a flop in the rematch. 

Anunoby scored just four points on 2-of-8 shooting. Bridges was worse with a big fat egg in the scoring column, missing all of his nine attempts. 

Former Knicks backup center Isaiah Hartenstein, who left them in the offseason to sign a three-year, $87 million deal with the Thunder, which they could not outbid or even match because of a quirk in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, returned to the Garden to a loud ovation and a video tribute. 

Knicks gave Isaiah Hartenstein a well-received video tribute. pic.twitter.com/jfgg0xArmN

— alder almo (@alderalmo) January 11, 2025

Hartenstein helped Oklahoma City with six points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks in his first game back in New York since he left. 

On the other end, Karl-Anthony Towns saw his 32nd double-double (23 points and 10 rebounds) of the season go down the drain with the Knicks’ 14th loss in 39 games. 

The good thing is the Knicks remained third in the Eastern Conference despite the loss. However, the marquee game presented them an opportunity to make a statement against one of the title favorites. They failed the test with the Thunder’s swarming defense and depth overwhelming them. 

The Knicks have more firepower now after their couple of big trades in the offseason to land Towns and Bridges. But it cost them their depth and the Thibodeau signature defense. 

Entering the midway point of the season, their defense currently ranks 15th, six rungs below where they finished last season with less talent. 

“I always have the belief that we can do better no matter what we do,” Thibodeau said. “And so, when you fall short, you have to take a look and start with yourself, and we ask yourself, ‘What you could do better?’ And then you go from there. 

“And so, as a coach, that's what I have to do. As a player, that's what they have to do. And then we have to do it collectively. It's ‘We got into this together, we got to get out of it together.’”

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks will provide another litmus test for the Knicks on Sunday (Monday Manila time). 

--

Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for US-based publication Heavy.com.