Smart Play Has Tom Thibodeau Pleased With Knicks Win

ORLANDO, Fla. — The New York Knicks are back in the win column after a 100-91 victory against the Orlando Magic on Sunday night inside Kia Center.

The win came after the team lost 108-100 to the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup at home.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau felt his team responded from the last game in the right way against the Magic.

“Yeah, I thought we adjusted,” Thibodeau said postgame. “We had some fouls early that sort of changed the tone of the game a little bit for us, but I thought we responded well after that. And it was physical.

“There was a lot of contact, but I thought we played smart. And I want the contact with intelligence. Body position and communication. I thought that was much better today. And again, just continue to focus on daily improvement. Hard fought road win. And we’ve got a chance to go back and get some more practice in. Work on things that we need to work on and focus on that daily improvement.”

The Knicks are now 16-10 on the season, one game behind the Magic for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Though the Knicks have made strides in the standings, they are more focused on the overall product getting better, and it certainly has done just that.

The Knicks are playing with a different kind of physicality and that was needed to play a hard-nosed defensive team like the Magic. They were able to extract that side of their own gameplay by facing the Magic, and the Knicks can now take that and run with it when they play other teams.

The Knicks‘ next opponent is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who host the team at 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday night at the Target Center.

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