Knicks stun Clippers 106-100 as Rose scores 25

Derrick Rose scored a team high 25 points, dished 8 assists and collected 6 boards off the bench as the New York Knicks survived the LA Clippers 106-100 at the Staples Center and successfully avoided a three game losing streak, which they haven’t experienced since late March.

Reggie Bullock dropped 24 making 5 threes RJ Barrett added 18 points for the first Knicks win against the Clippers at Staples Center since November 20th, 2010.

The Clippers built a 9 point lead late in the second quarter but were unable to hold on as the Knicks cleared it fast and even went up 56-54 at halftime. The show continued in the third quarter when their lead increased to 10 points with just 2:19 on the clock.

In the last act, the Clippers tried to get back but the Knicks defense and Julius Randle were a tough case and gave them no chance at redemption.

Randle had one of his poorest games of the season but the All Star emerged in crunch time scoring 6 of his total 14 points in the final 3 minutes as the Clippers pushed in vain for a late comeback. Besides the 14 points, Randle also grabbed 14 boards and sent 5 assists.

“Everyone tends to measure people on points and shots and not the all-around game. The big thing is the perseverance, the way he rebounded the ball, the hustle plays he made. He played a great game without shooting the ball great. Then at the end of the game he made several big plays for us.”

– Tom Thibodeau

With Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks unavailable, Thibodeau decided to play mostly a 7 men rotation but fed some minutes to Frank Ntilikina and Obi Toppin too. Toppin scored 7 points in 10 minutes while Frank sank a 3 pointer in 6 minutes but missed the other 3 field goal attempts.

The Clippers were led by Kawhi Leonard who scored a game high 29 points. Paul George added 18 and Nicolas Batum followed with 13 buckets off the bench.

The Knicks won their 38th game of the season and with just 4 more games to go, chances are that they will finish fourth and own home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

Up-next:

The Knicks (38-30) will play the Lakers (38-30) – who are in desperate need of a win in order to avoid the play-in tournament – on Tuesday from 10 pm, before returning home for the final three games.