Knicks: Good news and bad news from thrilling 117-114 victory over Spurs

The New York Knicks showcased their resilience and grit in a Christmas Day thriller at Madison Square Garden, as they defeated the San Antonio Spurs 117-114 behind Mikal Bridges’ best game as a Knick. New York has won five straight games as they improve to 20-10, while San Antonio falls to .500 at 15-15.

Mikal Bridges exploded for a huge game on Christmas

Bridges stole the show from Spurs’ big man Victor Wembanyama (42 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks), who the Knicks had no answer for all night.

Bridges saved the day and scored a season-high 41 points on 17-for-25 shooting from the floor, and 6-for-9 from three. He also added two steals and two blocks in one of the best individual games of his career.

He is now just the third player in Knicks history to score 40 or more points on Christmas Day, joining Bernard King (60 points) and Richie Guerin (40 points).

He took over the game, as the Knicks went down by eight in the fourth quarter. Bridges scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, including two threes to propel the Knicks over the top.

The Knicks as a team struggled shooting the ball (33% from three), but Bridges had the hot hand and went on a rampage to lead the Knicks to another victory.

The Knicks dominated the offensive rebounds

Despite the Knicks’ poor shooting, they were able to stay within striking distance of the Spurs thanks to their offensive rebounding prowess. New York won the overall rebound battle 47-45 and dominated on the offensive boards 17-8.

The Knicks were also able to turn those offensive rebounds into second-chance opportunities, as they scored 19 second-chance points compared to San Antonio’s 13. Five of Josh Hart’s 12 rebounds were offensive, including two massive ones in the final seconds of the game to maintain possession as the clock was winding down, which ultimately secured the win.

Precious Achiuwa also contributed 10 total rebounds (four offensive) in 20 minutes off the bench. He provided quality closing minutes for Tom Thibodeau after Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points, nine rebounds) found himself in foul trouble down the stretch.

The Knicks took great care of the ball

The Knicks have been solid at limiting turnovers all season thus far, but they took fantastic control of the ball on Christmas against the Spurs, which helped them avoid going down big throughout the day.

New York recorded just five turnovers as a team, and they forced San Antonio to turn it over 15 times. They also had 26 assists on the day, with Jalen Brunson leading the way in that category with nine.

Additionally, New York used those forced turnovers as a means to score, as they scored 21 points off of turnovers compared to the Spurs’ seven points.

Overview

The Knicks clawed their way to a win in a highly-contested battle. The game included 28 lead changes, with no team holding a double-digit lead at any point in the game. New York will now prepare to go back on the road to close out the calendar year, with the Orlando Magic up next on Friday.