Late blunder spoils Towns' career game with Knicks in close loss

NEW YORK – A Josh Hart foul with three seconds left spoiled what could have been a signature Karl-Anthony Towns game and a New York Knicks win. 

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau did not offer an answer when asked what he thought about Hart’s foul on White. 

@IanBegley asked Thibs about Josh Hart’s foul on Coby White and here’s what he said: … pic.twitter.com/p7wIRwGTEW

— alder almo (@alderalmo) November 14, 2024

His silence characterized the foul mood of the Knicks after their 22-point comeback in the second half fell short. 

Coby White calmly sank the game-winning three free throws as the Chicago Bulls survived with a 124-123 win Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) over a dejected and tired Knicks team. 

Towns scored a Knicks career-high 46 points, including 28 in the second half, with 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. 

He dragged the Knicks to the cusp of a historic comeback after staring at a 90-68 deficit with 3:53 left in the third quarter. 

A Towns dunk capped a 17-0 Knicks closing run as they came within 90-85 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Knicks’ massive 17-0 3rd qtr run capped by this thunderous KAT slam! 90-85. The Knicks are back! pic.twitter.com/TPAV8hRvug

— alder almo (@alderalmo) November 14, 2024

New York took the lead in the fourth quarter several times, but Chicago kept answering back. 

Had the Knicks completed the comeback, it would have been the second-biggest second-half comeback in franchise history since wiping out a 26-point deficit against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2004. 

The Knicks still had the chance to steal the win even after Hart’s consequential foul. However, Jalen Brunson, who finished with 24 points and eight assists, watched his game-winning attempt rim out as the time expired in disbelief. 

Jalen Brunson’s game-winning attempt went in & out. A heartbreaking loss for the Knicks, who fought back from 22-pt deficit. pic.twitter.com/aT6uEO2Glj

— alder almo (@alderalmo) November 14, 2024

Brunson scored the go-ahead basket for the Knicks with 4.6 seconds left in a strong drive against Bulls forward Patrick Williams. He just could not replicate it at the buzzer. 

Jalen Brunson is Captain Clutch! pic.twitter.com/v9xUS8ncQQ

— alder almo (@alderalmo) November 14, 2024

Towns took the loss hard. 

He stayed on the court after the game in full uniform and practiced his free throws after he missed half of his eight attempts, including back-to-back misses in the fourth quarter, in a game they lost by only one. 

But it was not only Towns’ missed free throws or Hart’s late-game foul that led to the Knicks’ sixth loss in 11 starts.  

They came out flat on the second night of a back-to-back schedule. 

Barely 24 hours after their emotional 111-99 win over Joel Embiid and his Philadelphia 76ers, the Knicks fell behind early against the Bulls, who lived up to their billing as the No. 1 team in pace. 

They ran the Knicks into the ground in the opening half with a 14-3 advantage in fastbreak points. 

A seven-point Bulls lead at the end of the first quarter ballooned to a dozen at halftime. 

Bulls guard Zach LaVine was unstoppable in the first half with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including four three-pointers. 

LaVine led the Bulls with 31 points, while White added 22. 

It quickly snowballed into a 20-point Chicago lead just two minutes into the third quarter. 

The Bulls were cruising to a safe victory until Cam Payne injected energy into the Knicks in the final 2:38 of the third quarter. 

Three-pointers from Payne, Towns and Mikal Bridges, plus Hart’s hustle plays, got the Knicks back into the game. 

“Cameron got in there,” Thibodeau said,” gave us a jolt. Karl got going. That group played really well. Mikal did a good job. Josh gave us good energy.”

Payne had 11 points off the bench. Bridges scored 20 points, while Hart supplied six points, eight rebounds and six assists. 

Despite the loss, Thibodeau found a silver lining in their defense, which he said is still a work in progress.

“I liked [our defense] in the second half,” Thibodeau said. “Once we realized we had to dig, I like the mental toughness that we showed to fight, to put ourselves in position to win the game in the end, and we fell short.”

--

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 US-based publications Heavy.com and Athlonsports.com.