If there were any doubters about the Knicks being serious contenders for an NBA title this season, the Knicks silenced those critics with a 125-120 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was only the sixth time all season that the Thunder lost at home.
The matchup was also a duel between the top two scorers in the NBA, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant. Anthony outscored Durant 36-27 and in the process took over as the NBA’s leading scorer. But Anthony did more than score on Sunday as he grabbed 12 rebounds nine of them offensive. No matter what situation presented itself on Sunday, Anthony would not be denied. By scoring 36 points on Sunday Anthony has 167 points in the last four games.
The 125 points the Knicks scored was the highest of the season, and it was also the most points the Thunder had given up this season.
The Knicks bench came up big as they outscored the Thunder’s bench 55-30. Chris Copeland had perhaps his finest game of the season scoring 13 points in just 19 minutes. J.R. Smith continued to show why he may be the league’s Sixth Man of the Year as he scored 22 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Smith sealed the game with under a minute left in the 4th quarter by hitting a three pointer that put the Knicks upfront 120-113. It’s the type of play that Smith has been making all season.
“He makes plays like that. He makes tough shots. Sometimes I think he likes to take the tougher shot than the easier shot. They still go in,” Carmelo Anthony said of Smith after the game.
With the win the Knicks not only have a magic number of 1 to clinch the Atlantic division title, but it was also their 50th win of the season. The last time the Knicks won 50 games in a season was back in 2000.
The Knicks will next face the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night as they look to wrap up their first division title since 1994.