There was no Hollywood ending in store for the New York Knicks in the latter half of their SoCal doubleheader.
Though All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns lived up to their respective billings in their return to Intuit Dome, the Knicks fell to the Los Angeles Clippers by a 126-118 final on Monday night. Uniting for 59 points, Towns (33) and Brunson (26) shot over 65 percent from the field but it was not match for 28 from Kawhi Leonard and 26 more in relief from recurring Knicks playoff foe Bennedict Mathurin.
Combined with Sunday’s loss to the Clippers purple-and-yellow counterparts, the Knicks (41-25) have dropped consecutive games for the first time since a four-game drought in mid-January. The Knicks flubbed their latest primetime audition to the tune of 20 turnovers, which proved to be the difference after LA turned them into 24 points.
Save for an 11-second run early in Monday’s second quarter, New York never led during its annual SoCal showcase. Unfortunate deja vu quickly surfaced as a Los Angeles team took an early lead on the Knicks, with threes from Leonard, Derrick Jones Jr., and Darius Garland giving the hosts the first nine points of the game. Towns took two early fouls but early outbursts from Brunson and OG Anunoby kept things fairly close.
Things nearly went from bad to worse for the Knicks when Towns spent most of the second half holding his right knee after several physical drives under the baskets. His work, however, kept the Knicks in the game, as he scored 17 points in the second period. All other Knicks, however, struggled to score, as they were fruitless on eight three-point attempts. Steady shooting from LA created a nine-point halftime lead as Towns, Brunson, and Anunoby were the only ones to score more than two points for the Knicks.
A dozen period points for the ex-Indiana Pacer Mathurin inflated the Clippers lead to consistent double-figures but the Knicks found some hope once Landry Shamet got one to fall. Shamet’s first sink from deep on his ninth attempt, as well as a slamming Mohamad Diawara invasion gave the Knicks an 11-3 run over the final 3:21 of the third, narrowing the gap to seven by the time the final period tipped.
But Los Angeles had an answer for every Knick rally, even as their lead shrank to as little as five over the final stanzas thanks to continue outside prowess from Anunoby and Shamet.
Another three-pointer, this one of the old-fashioned variety from Josh Hart (the capper of a 13-rebound, 12-point double-double), inched the Knicks closer but the Clippers responded in turn with Mathurin’s own and-one followed by one last Jones deep toss that re-established the double-figure lead. The Knicks did slice it back to five again, but by then it was too late. Thus wasted in defeat was Towns’ best scoring effort in the calendar year, as well as his best shooting night with a minimum of 10 attempts.
Monday provided a monumental win for the Clippers (32-32), who made it back to .500 for the first time since early November with their fifth win over the last six games. The two sides split their annual interconference set with LA, each side successfully defending its home court.
The penultimate segment of this five-game road trip lands on Wednesday night, when the Knicks face another late start against the Utah Jazz (9 p.m. ET, MSG).
