00:00The Knicks, they won their third straight game, a big win at Madison Square Garden, 103-87.
00:05The Knicks are starting to turn things around.
00:10As I mentioned, their third win in a row, this one coming after their big victory in Philadelphia.
00:15On Saturday, when you look at this game for the Knicks, it really was interesting.
00:20Because they were sloppy with the basketball throughout this one.
00:25There were two turnovers in the contest, 16 of them through three quarters.
00:28But this game really wasn't.
00:30About the fourth quarter, where the Knicks were dominant, they outscored the Kings 31-5.
00:35They took care of the ball.
00:36Only two turnovers in this quarter.
00:38Jalen Brunson.
00:40Really did his thing offensively with 28 points here in this contest.
00:44But it really comes.
00:45We've been talking about this with the Knicks in their last couple of games.
00:48It comes down to the defense.
00:50If they show this kind of defensive intensity, they can really put other teams away because
00:54we know.
00:55We know how good they can be offensively.
00:57We saw that on Saturday in Philly.
00:58We saw that last week.
01:00In their dominant 54-point win against Brooklyn, right here at Madison Square Garden.
01:04And they did it today.
01:05Did they play the greatest defense throughout this game?
01:07No.
01:07DeMar DeRozan gave it to them for a...
01:10They bit in the most of three quarters, but they clamped down in the fourth quarter, and
01:13that was really impressive.
01:15Along with them taking care of the ball, and that's how they were able to get this win.
01:18It was a dominant...
01:20Performance in the fourth quarter, something you'd like to see about the Knicks and them
01:24being able to do...
01:25In a situation where it matters the most, you can go with, you didn't like how they look
01:29through most...
01:30But when it mattered the most, they were able to clamp down and play high-level defense.
01:35And that helped them get the win, something that head coach Mike Brown liked.
01:38I thought they were self-
01:40self-inflicted, and that's not taking anything away from Sacramento.
01:45I thought, you know, we didn't do a great job playing off of two feet.
01:49You know, whenever...
01:50If you play off of one foot, you know, you're going to get yourself in trouble.
01:54So if you leave your...
01:55With no place to go, you think somebody's open.
02:00Well, there's a good chance that the defense is going to rotate and take that away.
02:05And now you're in trouble when they do.
02:07So we just have to do a better job of playing...
02:10Playing off of two feet.
02:10I also thought, you know, when we moved...
02:13When we did move the basketballs and we...
02:15We held on to it a little too long.
02:17And, you know, that's not...
02:20It's not who we are.
02:20It's not like us.
02:21You know, we want to make quick decisions with the basketballs.
02:25And we didn't do a great job with that tonight.
02:28But, like I said, our guys found...
02:30So you hear Mike Brown talking about the turnovers and I'm going to focus a little bit on...
02:35On Mike Brown here because I thought there was a very...
02:37I won't call it interesting, but a very noticeable...
02:40Coaching decision in this game.
02:41And this has to do with his closing lineup.
02:43With a little bit over six...
02:45Six minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
02:47Mike Brown reinserted Jalen Brunson into this game and he...
02:50Closed the ball game with Jalen Brunson and Deuce McBride in the backcourt.
02:53OG Ananobi and Mikkel Bridges.
02:55At the Wings and you also saw Mitchell Robinson at center.
02:58So, not a lot of minutes.
03:00For Carl Anthony Towns in this game who struggled a bit with his shot.
03:03But, Coach Brown...
03:05Went with a strong defensive closing lineup.
03:07We saw this in Philadelphia on...
03:10Saturday the willingness of Coach Brown to switch to different lineups to play better defense.
03:15To get stops.
03:15To get what he needs to win the game.
03:17You have to like that as a Knicks fan.
03:19But I thought it was very...
03:20Very interesting with who he went here.
03:22More of his better defenders.
03:24And obviously...
03:25We'll see an elite rebounder in Mitchell Robinson who did his thing on the glass once again in double-digit rebounding.
03:30But I thought it was very interesting to see that he went with this lineup.
03:33I know it's the front end of...
03:35Back-to-back as the Knicks will play the Toronto Raptors tomorrow.
03:37But going with this lineup to ensure...
03:40That he got the win.
03:41And the team could get stops they needed down the stretch.
03:44Speaks volumes.
03:45You're seeing this a lot from Mike Brown lately.
03:47He's going to go with the guys that he thinks can get...
03:50I know at the end of the game, you know, we had a group out on the floor and it was...
03:55Playing well and, you know, it was a tight ball game and so I just rode that group.
04:00To the end of the game, which I've done before.
04:04But, you know...
04:05I think we had Deuce out there who wasn't a starter and Mitch out there who's not a starter.
04:09So...
04:10Again, we need to get the win.
04:11And the biggest thing was, you know...
04:15McHale, you know, was at 37.
04:17But other than McHale, everybody was...
04:20We had decent minutes, especially knowing we got a game tomorrow.
04:22Okay, we know everything that's happened with the Knicks...
04:25This month and a lot of it hasn't been good.
04:26We saw that 2-9 stretch.
04:28We even saw a recent stretch where they...
04:30They had lost four games in a row.
04:31But now, they've won three games in a row.
04:33And the question of...
04:35Among the fan base and among the media and the whole NBA community is...
04:38Okay, are the Knicks...
04:40Have they bounced back?
04:41Are you willing to say that they have righted the ship with this...
04:45Three-game winning streak?
04:46I'm not sure.
04:46But I think the least you can say is you like how they've responded to...
04:50The adversity here.
04:51They didn't get down.
04:52They had some soul-searching that they talked about doing.
04:55Last week, after they had lost the four games in a row,
04:57you saw the bounce-back win against Brooklyn.
05:00And I pumped the brakes and said, okay, that's Brooklyn.
05:02Then you saw a gutty win in Philadelphia.
05:04And then I'll say another...
05:05Another gutty win here at the Garden in how they were able to claw this one out
05:08and shut the kings down.
05:10In the fourth quarter here.
05:11So at the least, you have to like that the Knicks are responding to adversity.
05:15Maybe you don't want to say they're back.
05:16And we'll see what they do on the back end of a back-to-back tomorrow.
05:20But Mike Brown has talked about responding to adversity all season long.
05:24And he talked about his...
05:25I told our guys this even before the game.
05:30You know, Golden State, we were okay.
05:32But I thought the Phoenix game...
05:35Since before, we played well.
05:36The one half that we didn't play well, in my opinion...
05:40was Dallas.
05:41And I think it was the first half.
05:43And other than that...
05:45The guys have tried to give it to us, especially defensively.
05:48And, you know, when you...
05:50You can bring it on that end of the floor.
05:52You're going to be able to survive some of the mistakes that you're making.
05:55Offensively, until you can get that corrected.
05:57So we talked about that second leg of the back-to-back...
06:00That'll go down tomorrow on Wednesday night.
06:02Knicks facing the Raptors for the third time this season.
06:05The first time since they knocked them out of the NBA Cup.
06:08So it'll be interesting to see how the Knicks...
06:10can they continue the winning vibes?
06:12Three in a row?
06:13Can they make it four in a row?
06:15This is a very interesting stretch that they started tonight.
06:18The first of ten games...
06:20in 16 days before the All-Star break.
06:22And that has three back-to-backs.
06:25Within those ten games.
06:26So a nice test for the Knicks...
06:27before they get to the All-Star break.
06:30As they want to continue the good vibes...
06:31and winning ways to see if they can respond to adversity.
06:34But...
06:35For now, tonight, they got their third straight win...
06:37103-87 over the Sacramento Kings.
06:40At Madison Square Garden.
06:41I'm Dexter Henry.
06:42We'll always have more for you with the Knicks...
06:44on NewYork.Gam.
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06:47In the Mecca of basketball, we only care about one team.
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06:55host of NewYork.Gam, where we break down the biggest Knicks moments.
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