The Knicks notched their third straight home victory last night with an impressive win over the Thunder. Although playing without Kevin Durant (sprained left foot big toe), New York had to contend with Russell Westbrook, who torched the Knicks earlier this year. This time around, Westbrook went for 40 points (13-30 shooting), but couldn’t overcome the Knicks three-pronged attack of Carmelo Anthony (31 points, 10 rebounds), Langston Galloway (18 points) and Lance Thomas (17 points).
The game was tightly contested the entire way and came down for the fourth quarter, where New York’s season has been mired by heart-breaking collapses. Tim Hardaway Jr. (14 points) was pivotal in keeping the Knicks in front with three 3-pointers in the period. New York had an 11-point lead with under three minutes to go, but saw that sliced to five in the final minute due to porous defense. Lance Thomas, on his second 10-day contract, hit a short turnaround jumper to ice the game with 45 seconds left.
Two unheralded contributors last night were Jason Smith (11 points, 11 rebounds) and Lou Amundson (5 points, 10 rebounds).
The Knicks are back in action tonight on the road against Indiana.
NEW YORK KNICKS LOYALIST 