Without Carmelo, Knicks are pushed in OT and defeated
Without Carmelo Anthony, ruled out two hours before the start of the game, the Knicks had a hard time containing Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder duo combined 74 points and pushed Oklahoma City to their 34th win of the season.
Relying more on role players and on the bench, New York built an 11 point lead early in the fourth quarter but the Thunder wiped it off in just 5 minutes.
Arron Afflalo had the chance of closing the game but his buzzer beater went in and out, and for the third time in 10 days, the Knicks were in over time.
The Knicks never led in the decisive period but managed to stay behind until the last minute. However, Durant, who scored 44 points, closed the game after he made a couple of free throws with 15 seconds remaining to put his team up by four.
Final score Knicks 122 – Thunder 128.
“My take tonight is that we’re a playoff team, period. We belong in the playoffs.”
– Arron Afflalo
Langston Galloway led the Knicks with 21 points off the bench while Derrick Williams added 19 and 10 rebounds.
Kristaps Porzingis who received kind words from Durant two days ago finished with 15 points. Afflalo had 17 and Lance Thomas who replaced Anthony in the lineup scored 16.
The Knicks lost their third game in a row, fell to 22-25 and are now 0-5 without Carmelo.
| # | TEAM | W | L | % | GB |
| 1 |  | 60 | 22 | 0.732 | 0.000 |
| 2 |  | 56 | 26 | 0.683 | 4.000 |
| 3 |  | 53 | 29 | 0.646 | 7.000 |
| 4 |  | 52 | 30 | 0.634 | 8.000 |
| 5 |  | 46 | 36 | 0.561 | 14.000 |
| Standings | |||||
| Jun 13: | 90 - 94 | W | @ |  |
| Jun 10: | 107 - 106 | W | vs | |
| Jun 08: | 111 - 115 | L | vs | |
| Jun 05: | 104 - 105 | W | @ | |
| Jun 03: | 95 - 105 | W | @ | |
| May 25: | 93 - 130 | W | @ | |
| May 23: | 108 - 121 | W | @ | |
| May 21: | 109 - 93 | W | vs | |
| May 19: | 115 - 104 (OT) | W | vs | |
| May 10: | 114 - 144 | W | @ |  |
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