Knicks Display Improved Physicality and Defense in Magic Win

Karl-Anthony Towns said it best during media availability before the New York Knicks’ win 100-91 win over the Orlando Magic: “They say offense wins games, defense wins championships.”

That has been a big problem with the Knicks this season. For a team that boasts a top-three offensive rating in the NBA, New York has been mediocre on the other end, ranking 16th in defensive rating.

In Sunday’s win in Orlando, the Knicks gave fans a glimmer of hope that the defense can improve. The Magic were without their two best players, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, however, they are still sitting in a playoff spot. The Knicks overtook them for the third seed in the Eastern Conference after the win.

New York kept almost all of Orlando’s players in check. The only players to hit double-digit scoring were Tristan da Silva (20 points) and Moritz Wagner (32 points), while the Knicks boasted four players. Their leading scoring was Jalen Brunson with 31 points.

The biggest defensive bright spot for New York was Josh Hart. On top of his 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists, the guard had four steals and a block. All of the Knicks’ starters recorded either a steal or a block, as the team totaled eight steals and three blocks.

What the Knicks especially limited was the three-point shooting. While they shot 41.7% from three, the Magic shot 30.0%, hitting on just nine of 30 attempts.

This is New York’s second-straight win against Orlando, going up 2-0 on the season series. The Knicks will take on the Magic in two more games this season, once on the road on Dec. 27 and another at home on Jan. 6.

The win gives Knicks fans hope that the defense will get more consistent as the season progresses. New York started the season as a bottom-10 team in terms of defensive rating but has seen significant improvement since then, giving up 102.1 points in the last eight games. In that stretch, the Knicks gave up more than 110 points just once, against the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 7. They lost that game, 120-111.

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