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The New York Knicks rolled into Mile High City without a few key players to take on the Denver Nuggets. New York, which dominated in the first meeting 122-84 in January, looked to sweep the season series sans Julius Randle, O.G. Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson. Former Villanova stars Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo will carry the cudgels for the Knicks.
The in-form Nuggets started fast behind Nikola Jokic’s all-around game and Jamal Murray’s scoring binge. Denver went early to its bread and butter of Jokic and Murray picking the defense apart.
DiVincenzo’s scorching hot scoring from deep and Isaiah Hartenstein’s relentlessness kept the Knicks in the game. Denver led 32-30 after the first 12 minutes ended.
A 19-8 run by the Denver Nuggets in the last four minutes of the second quarter overhauled a brief New York Knicks lead. The late flurry allowed the home team to still own the advantage, leading 61-56 into the halftime break. Jokic filled up the stat sheet, falling a rebound shy of another triple-double.
Isaiah Hartenstein and Jalen Brunson combined for 27 points, nine assists and five rebounds to stubbornly keep Denver in sight. Alec Burks came off the bench to give the visitors a jolt on both ends of the floor.
The New York Knicks continued to drag the Denver Nuggets into a slugfest into the third quarter. Despite playing undermanned, they stubbornly stuck to the champs' grill. Only Nikola Jokic's all-around brilliance and buckets from Michael Porter Jr. contributed separation between the two teams.
Burks carried his second-quarter form to the next period and gave the Big Apple City team a lift off the bench. Miles McBride also had a few big baskets to keep Denver in sight 88-76.
The New York Knicks mounted several rallies in the final quarter but the Denver Nuggets had an answer to every one of them. Tom Thibodeau's strategy to make it a low-scoring defensive struggle nearly worked.
In the end, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter proved too much for the scrappy visitors to survive. Denver won 113-100 to tie the season series.
New York Knicks vs Denver Nuggets game player stats and box scores
New York Knicks game player stats
Denver Nuggets game player stats
Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic's 3-pointers tonight
Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo combined to hit 3-for-7 3-pointers in the first half tonight. Nobody else on the New York Knicks scored from deep.
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic were quite conservative launching from behind the arc. They had a 1-for-3 clip from that range for the Denver Nuggets.
Brunson and DiVincenzo couldn't get themselves going in the last 24 minutes and tallied 5-for-15 in 3-pointers for the game.
Jokic and Murray didn't hoist anything from deep in the last two quarters. Michael Porter Jr., though, carried them with a 3-for-6 clip from rainbow distance.
