Blowout By Numbers: Six Fun Facts About Knicks Win in Denver

The New York Knicks found statistical gold when they faced the Denver Nuggets this week.

The Mile High City’s altitude had nothing to do with how high the Knicks got on Monday, as New York put forth one of the most dominant efforts in NBA history. The 145-118 triumph at Ball Arena was packed to the brim with historical nuggets that are set to stand the test of hardwood time.

Karl-Anthony Towns put up 30 points and 15 rebounds–and yet such efforts failed to grab headlines.

“I didn’t realize until after the game I got on Twitter,” Josh Hart quipped (h/t New York Basketball on X).

It’s still very early to determine whether the Knicks truly won the trade that acquired Towns’ services, but it’s no hyperbole to say that his Manhattan tenure is off to a historic start: after Monday’s showing, Towns ranks second in both points (421) and rebounds (202) earned over a New Yorker’s first 16 games, trailing only Dick Barnett and Walt Bellamy by one and nine in the respective spans and categories.

Jalen Brunson dished out 17 assists on Monday, breaking the mark on a dish on a driving double for Karl-Anthony Towns toward the end of the third quarter. Towns was also in attendance for Brunson’s previous passing masterpiece, as he had 14 helpers during a Knicks blowout over the Minnesota Timberwolves back on New Year’s Day.

True to form, close friend Josh Hart declared that he hoped fans took in the sight, as he remarked “you’ll probably never see [that] again.” (h/t New York Basketball on X) Per Steve Popper of Newsday, Brunson humorously struck back by referencing Hart’s perfect, if not quiet, shooting night.

“Josh is funny,” Brunson said. “I would have had more if I didn’t pass him the ball.”

Leading the way in New York scoring was Anunoby, who needed less than three periods to set his new personal best. He reached the magic 38-point plateau in style, hitting five consecutive shots from the field (plus a free throw earned via a success and-one) over the final 3:48 of the third. He then reached a fourth decade with a slam dunk in the fourth, one of the finishing touches of the metropolitan triumph.

“It’s cool to score 40 points, but it’s better to win,” Anunoby in the aftermath, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. “What did we win by, 20 something? I’m happier about that.”

Anunoby was never brought in for his offensive prowess, but he has picked up career-bests in scoring on this road trip as if they were rest stop trinkets: standing as one of the few silver lingings in Saturday’s loss to the Utah Jazz, Anunoby scored 27 points to set his new record in a Knicks uniform–one that stood for just over 48 hours.

In this age of expanded NBA offenses, it feels like teams set new single-game franchise records on a nightly basis, particularly from three-point range.

Monday, however, saw the Knicks reach new levels of distribution: with Brunson’s personal best leading the way, New York dished out 45 assists in Denver, reaching that magic mark for the first time since 1979. Each of the Knicks’ five starters had at least four helpers each while Cameron Payne posted five off the bench.

Ironically enough, it was one day past the original happening’s 45th anniversary: on the prior occasion, Michael Ray Richardson and Ray Williams united for 29 to pace the Knicks’ 113-113 triumph over Cleveland.

Personal scoring history wasn’t the only landmark Anunoby reached on Monday.

Even the most casual observer of the Knicks’ affairs over the last calendar year knows of Anunoby’s impact, such as the sterling record the team posted amidst his debuts last season. This latest mark further cements Anunoby’s tremendous value: after he posted a team-best plus-21 on Monday (tied with Payne and Towns), the Knicks have been a plus-465 on the scoreboard when he is on the floor, setting an NBA record for the best such stat within a player’s first 40 games with a franchise (since Basketball Reference began tracking the stat in 1973-74).

His closest competitors are downright legendary: Anunoby passed Kevin Garnett from the start his championship tenure with the Boston Celtics in 2007-08 and Kevin Durant’s first steps with the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors are now in third.

While the 145 points earned by the Knicks was the 13th occasion where they reached that landmark, it’s the most any team in the NBA has scored in this young season. Over the past four games, that added tally has created an accumulation of 523 points, the second most put up in any consecutive quartet in franchise history.

Monday’s game rendered a no-show in Utah over the weekend forgotten both literally and figuratively: the 121-106 defeat in Salt Lake City is the only thing standing between the Knicks and a four-game streak of game with at least 130 points, which would’ve been just the third in the NBA’s new century affairs.

While that’s two points short of the quartet record, that mark of 525 was previously earned in February 1970–mere months before they earned Manhattan’s first NBA title.

Make sure you bookmark Knicks on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!