Knicks dominate red-hot Magic to regain control of 4th seed in East

Knicks dominate red-hot Magic to regain control of 4th seed in East

The New York Knicks with a massive win over the Orlando Magic 9874 we’re here to talk to Brian fona from the New York Post about this Knicks game and this Nick’s win Brian how you doing man doing all right doing all right and uh I know Nicks fans are doing very well that

Jaylen brunson’s back and uh survived the scare so they’re they’re in good hands right now you’re not kidding man Jaylen Brunson coming back from what a lot of people held their breath a lot of Knicks fans held their breath when he went down against Cleveland Cavaliers

This is his first game back missed one game and he would just lights out tonight 26 points from him uh I I can you just describe to me when you see someone like Jaylen Brunson we’ve talked about so many times in previous times we’ve done these videos is that jaylen’s

A star he’s play he’s he’s one of the best players in the league but how impressive is that for him to come back you know to put all the doubts behind about the injury and just like I’m gonna go out there and ball and Lead this team

To a victory in a massively important game for the Eastern Conference standings yeah well he really set the tone for this team um he came out the gate he was firing offensively hit a three like immediately and it got them going I believe they were eight for n

From three at one point they were not missing and that really took the air out of the Orlando Magic who did not recover and scored 74 points in the game total um Jaylen Brunson uh really announced his return emphatically and he you know set the tone for this team who ended up

Getting an important win in the standings because I don’t know if people paying attention but the Orlando Magic got the four seed before this game uh and the Knicks you know losing a little bit of ground because well injuries you can’t really blame him and you know

They’ve had some tough losses as of late this was a meaningful win as we speak right now in the standings like you’re seeing Miami in a dog fight with Oklahoma City so like these are the things you’re going to have to pay attention to Philadelphia as well you

Know you got that’s another team you’re going to have to watch in the standing so ultimately I think like Jaylen Brunson is that dude we’ve seen it all year long and they feed off of his energy not just the team but so do garden and they had a real homecourt

Advantage tonight I think Orlando just sort of was out of it early and the Knicks put him out of their misery they really did and it was impressive defensive performance the best all season no team’s been held to this low amount of points all year long it’s the

Lowest amount of points the Knicks have held an opposing team for over 12 years it’s crazy how well they played considering all the pressure that’s been on this team and I think a lot of Nicks fans had anxiety heading into tonight because to your point Brian the injuries

They’ve been mounting and and a lot of Knicks fans I hear them on sports radio I hear them on social media and they’re all saying the same thing just get healthy just get healthy and get this team that they’ll really start rolling and we’ll get back to what they were

Before all these guys went down of a really competitive fight feisty hungry team that’s going to play really great defense and hold opposing teams in check and that’s what it seemed like was going on tonight yeah because people know that if this team is healthy they could just

Compete they could compete compete at a high level it’s not even to say like oh if they’re healthy they’re going to the finals they’re not at that level yet in terms of pressure and they don’t need to be they’re doing everything right I told you like functionally as an organization

This is as well of the Knicks have operated in my lifetime now I did not you know I wasn’t there for like the peak 90s version because I was born in the mid 90s but at the same time like this is as good as they’ve been operating they’re doing it smart I think

Progress for them is having another deep second round series potentially getting into the conf finals you want to see that the Eastern Conference is tough though so that’s not going to be a given they’re going to have to fight their way there but you want a chance to do it and

That’s ultimately what you’re fighting for you’re fighting for a chance to compete and in order to compete you want to be healthy you want to be healthy to be able to push these teams and I think that’s really what it is because you see this team when they’re firing on all the

Cylinders at their Peak oan newbie when he returns he’s somebody who’s you’re going to throw on defensively on a lot of the Premier guys that you’re going to have to see like both wings and Boston Jason Tatum jayen Brown you have Yannis s kmbo you have Damen Lillard you have

Jimmy Butler bab bio in Miami like you feel like you have the horses to at least push these teams if not beat a couple of them along the way and I think the Knicks the way they’ve been playing like yeah they have the right to believe

That as do their fans because this team has been really good at just playing this type of basketball the sort of junkyard style basketball that I love as a New Yorker um watching them win 9874 takes you back a little bit it does it does feel like the old Knicks there a

Little bit finally I just want to ask you about precious sucha tonight 15 points 14 rebounds I mean this is a guy that was a throw in if we’re being honest in that trade right so like can you just talk about like even having someone like that how much deeper this

Makes his team this team because when they do get anobi back and Rand back auu is obviously going to slide down and get less minutes but this is important this is a big game and him him coming through with a big performance tonight that that makes you feel better about this Knicks

Team how deep it really can get yeah he was throwin he was kind of a throwin in the trade to get Kyle Lowry also because remember he was first uh round pick by the heat an organization that drafts and develops very well um not to say it

Didn’t quite pan out there but you know there was a reason that they decided hey they wanted Kyle Lowry enough to part with their first round pick um and they don’t often sort of pivot that quickly and then and it’s to say like he was

Kind of in NBA no man’s land for a little bit in terms of his role and he was with the Raptors where he was with the heat initially so it’s not to say that he’s all of a sudden going to become a star in New York but he’s a

Good player he’s a serviceable player that can help you in these sort of moments he’s not going to average 15 and 14 but you know this is the type of these are the type of efforts that you’re going to ultimately need from role players in the playoffs because

Role players can win you championships like it starts with the Stars but you need other guys to make plays like how Kobe Bryant needed Derek fiser like how Michael Jordan needed Tony K coach and Steve Kerr and all these other guys like everyone needs role players we saw it

Last year in the NBA Finals when Nicole leic needing Christian Brown and Brown and guys like that it wasn’t always Jamal Murray it was sometimes Aaron Gordon like you need other guys to sort of make plays and if pre sucha can do that he’s somebody you could depend on

In the playoffs in the rotation of when this team is going to have to shorten to seven eight guys which we know Tom thibo is not going to have a problem doing that so you’re seeing encouraging things from pre sucha um as you’re trying to sort of shape up who’s going to make

Your playoff rotation in April yeah Brian I mean it’s it’s like we said this win the roal role players the star and Jaylen Brunson leading the way it’s an impressive impressive win considering how much this team was reeling before this uh and they’re grabbing that fourth

Spot and I think they want to stay out of that playing round they want to hold hold in a good solid position in the Eastern Conference stay in that four to five range if they can before the playoffs start and guys like an anobi and Rand they’re getting healthy they

Should be back hopefully in the next couple weeks and then hopefully this team can really start to roll off some wins and get in a rhythm before the playoffs start next up for the Knicks they got Sunday the 76ers they’re actually playing 76ers on Sunday and

Tuesday both at home it’s going to be fascinating to see how those games play out as well but Brian we appreciate you as always just giving us some time breaking down this Knicks win man those are big games against the Sixers and then obviously you know this win against

The Magic The Magic are a team that you could potentially see in the play else because even though they lost badly tonight they have a week schedule going the rest of the way so it’s probably going to be Philly or Orlando or Miami potentially Cleveland it’s going to be

One of these teams so the Knicks look like they’re going to be ready at the right time you’re the man Brian thank you so much again absolutely anytime

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Jalen Brunson returned and drove the steamroller over a surging team at MSG.

Brunson, who missed the previous contest with a knee contusion, dropped 26 points as the Knicks pummeled the Magic on Friday, 98-74, a cakewalk highlighted by their dominant defense.

It was the fewest points the Knicks’ allowed since 2012.

The Knicks (37-26), who are soon returning OG Anunoby from elbow surgery, took the fourth spot in the East from the Magic (37-27), which had its five-game winning streak snapped.

Brunson’s impact was immediate. He scored 10 points in the opening quarter, as the Knicks held a 21-9 advantage within seven minutes.

The lead hit 14 at halftime, then ballooned to 26 at the end of the third quarter.

The Magic, which was 3-0 against the Knicks this season, never led.
It shot just 34 percent overall and 23 percent from beyond the arc.

The Knicks’ heroes, other than Brunson, were clearly Precious Achiuwa (15 points, 14 rebounds, 39 minutes) and Josh Hart (19 points, seven rebounds, four assists in 42 minutes).

Miles McBride added 14 points off the bench in the wire-to-wire win.

Hart’s energy in the first half, equipped with enthusiastic yelling and celebrations, carried the Knicks through stretches.

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