Rockets 109, Knicks 97: Scenes from the kids running circles around tired Knicks

The depleted Knicks manage only 41-second-half points against a springy, young Rockets club.

The New York Knicks (3-3) were hoping to extend their first win-streak of the season when they arrived in Houston tonight to face the Rockets (4-3). These young Texans are no Pistons, however.

Despite atrocious three-point shooting, the Rockets led the Knicks 31-26 after the first quarter, fueled by Fred VanVleet and Alperen Şengün’s near perfect accuracy, a rebounding edge, and zero turnovers. Houston’s paint dominance and Dillon Brooks’ tough defense extended their lead to 16 in the second, though a 10-0 Knicks run cut it to 61-56 at halftime. New York managed only 19 points in the third, but Karl-Anthony Towns fought hard on the boards, helping to narrow the gap to one late in the game. Knickerbocker bricks, two unlikely threes by Jalen Green, and a 9-0 run sealed a physical 109-97 Rockets win.

Towns logged a 17-point, 19-board double-double tonight. He had four fouls at the start of the second half but managed to play tough after that without another infraction. Shot 7-of-17, too. His point guard, Jalen Brunson, assembled a fine statline of 29 points, eight assists, one steal, and just one turnover, but his legs looked rubbery after playing the entire second half. He shot 9-of-24 from the floor.

OG Anunoby recorded 39 minutes, 21 points, six rebounds, two assists and blocks, and a steal while shooting 5-of-6 from deep. Josh Hart finished with 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds, a steal, and 38 minutes. Mikal Bridges tallied 15 points, three rebounds, and a steal in his 40 minutes.

Miles McBride was a +10, but he left his forgot his shot in Detroit. He missed all nine of his shots tonight, and the Knicks bench managed just three points (a Tyler Kolek three) to Houston’s 30. Precious Achiuwa can’t come back soon enough.

Şengün was terrific tonight with 25 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks while making 11-of-15 from the field. VanVleet finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. On to the next one.

First Half

Through the first six-and-a-half minutes, the Rockets pulled ahead of the Knicks by five points thanks to perfect shooting by VanVleet and Şengün (both hit their first four shots). Turnovers hurt the Knicks in the first, coughing up the rock four times to Houston’s none. And even though the Rockets had shot 1-of-7 from deep, outrebounding New York 13-9 kept them ahead of our heroes.

Here Jalen Brunson works his magic in the lane.

Over the previous two games, Fred VanVleet had shot 1-of-15 from 3-point range. He must have found some gypsy to lift the hex before gametime; he hit 6-of-8 from the field for 14-first-quarter points. Go figure. The Rockets were more aggressive, and the Knicks were down at close of Q1, 31-26.

Rookie Tyler Kolek subbed in for Jalen Brunson to start Q2. He made his first shot of the night, a triple, and treated us to his trademark passing in his five minutes of play. It’s a shame that he only played because Cam Payne has a sore hamstring.

The Knicks, perhaps feeling the effects of their first extended road trip, had zero fast break points through a quarter and a half. Houston clearly had more pep. One of the Knicks who drank his V-8 this morning was Miles McBride—but for all his verve, he couldn’t hit a shot, missing his first six attempts.

Alperen Şengün, averaging a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double so far this season, fueled a 14-6 Rockets run in the second quarter. The lead inflated to 16 as Houston beat New York in the paint 34-20, but a 10-0 Knicks run down the stretch kept the game close. Josh Hart and OG Anunoby did their best to lift their cohorts, and if not for the latter making all four of this three-pointers—and scoring a team-high 16 points—the halftime score would have been worse than 61-56.

Dillon Brooks is a pest, to Houston’s benefit. The cantankerous canuck came into the game with a team-best +36 plus/minus rating and was a terrier on Jalen Brunson’s ankle. Defenders hammered New York’s intrepid point guard, but somehow Jalen shot just three free-throws before intermission.

New York had outshot the home team 54% to 24% but had been cooked on the glass, 27-18, and committed seven turnovers. Gnarly half. A better one to come?

Second Half

An unpropitious start: Anunoby tossed two bricks, Karl-Anthony Towns logged his fourth foul, and New York blanked their first eight shots. Despite his foul-trouble, KAT maintained his intensity, which wasn’t always graceful but was a necessity if the Knicks intended to turn the score around.

The Knicks began to claw back, but Brooks and VanVleet drained back-to-back three-pointers to cool a mid-quarter surge. Shooting just 38% from the field, New York lost another bruising quarter, 20-19.

McBride was death on offense, but his defense was a killer. Doesn’t get much better than this.

In the final frame, the newest Knickerbockers fought back, with scores by Mikal Bridges, Anunoby, and Towns. Bricks rained from both sides, but KAT hit another gear on the glass, flying in from all directions to hoover up the boards, finishing with 19 of ‘em.

New York cut the lead to one with two freebies from Brunson. Sengun hit back-to-backs in the paint, and Jalen Green, who shot 5-of-16 overall, finally hit a three-pointer to put the Knicks back on their heels late in the game. But hark! Mikal had an answer!

A huge block by Anunoby followed, yet New York still trailed by five one-and-a-half minutes left. Two misses by Jalen Brunson were collected by Houston and converted into points on the other end. The Rockets scored nine straight to wrap this one up.

Up Next

The road trip concludes with a stop in Atlanta on Wednesday to face the Hawks. Ice up, Knickerbockers.

Box Score