New York’s Julius Randle scored seven of his 21 points in the final 93 seconds on Monday and the Knicks held off Orlando 91-84 to open the NBA holiday slate. Randle shot 5 of 19 from the floor but added 17 rebounds while RJ Barrett had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Knicks, who tore through Boston on Sunday, won back-to-back days for the first time in 41 tries in more than three years. “Back to back is always tough for us,” Randle said. “The whole game we had the lead, played well. They made runs. Stayed together.
“I couldn’t throw a rock into the ocean but we did it. It’s a great win for us.”
Later games in the US holiday honoring civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. include Milwaukee in Brooklyn, NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo against former MVP James Harden and Kevin Durant, and reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers against Golden State.
“The NBA always has a few games throughout the schedule that you want to be a part of, and this is definitely one of them,” Randle said. “So to get a home win on this day and honor his legacy was great.”
In a sloppy contest at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks led 19-13 after the first quarter, extending the margin to as high as 14 points early in the fourth quarter, only to erode the edge as the Magic made a late charge to suffer only their sixth loss.
Orlando made 12 3-pointers, half of them in the fourth quarter and the biggest came when Terrence Ross sank a heavy 3-pointer with 1:41 left as the shot clock was winding down for an 81-80 Magic lead, their first since midway through the first quarter.
But the Knicks closed with an 11-3 run to win, with Randle sinking five free throws in the decisive span.
“Down the stretch I’m always going to get the confidence to make plays,” Randle said. “And that’s what I tried to do.”
New York (7-8) sank just 31-of-87 shots (35.6%) from the floor while the Magic (6-8) made just 29-of-86 (33.7%).
Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 24 points and 14 rebounds while Ross added 19 off the bench and Aaron Gordon had 18 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists.
The Falcons wear the King’s jersey
In King’s hometown, the Atlanta Hawks debuted special black jerseys with the initials MLK on the front in a 108-97 win over visiting Minnesota.
The Hawks, who had lost six of their previous seven games, improved to 6-7 despite 24 turnovers while the Timberwolves fell to 3-9 with their ninth loss in 10 games.
De’Andre Russell scored 25 points to lead the Hawks and Clint Capela added 23 points and 15 rebounds and Trae Young contributed 20 points and 13 assists for Atlanta.
De’Andre Hunter scored a game-high 31 points for the T-Wolves.
San Antonio rolled to a 125-104 victory in Portland behind 22 points from LaMarcus Aldridge, 20 points and 11 assists from DeMar DeRozan and 21 points off the bench from Patty Mills and Rudy Gay.
Portland’s Damian Lillard scored a game-high 35 points.
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