Knicks take a look at the bench to beat the Mavericks 93-77

Without Deron Williams and Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs seemed like an easy prey.

A photo posted by New York Knicks 🏀 (@nyknicks) on Nov 14, 2016 at 6:59pm PST

But in the first half the Knicks struggled to score just 36 points while allowing the Mavericks to lead by 10 in the first quarter.

At halftime, Joakim Noah was benched as Jeff Hornacek decided to go with a smaller group, including Justin Holiday at the SF position. Carmelo Anthony switched to power forward and that gave the Knicks a different dynamic.

This move proved to be a winner, as Holiday scored a season high 16 points, to which he added 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, with a team high efficiency of +30. Noah, on the other hand was scoreless again and had a -4 rating and 6 rebounds.

“They wanted me to come in and bring energy, especially defensively. I feel like I showed I bring it every night as far as effort goes … the whole team picks it up and feels the energy also.”

– Justin Holiday

Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t able to play against his childhood idol, but he torched the Mavs with 24 points, and registered his first double-double of the season with 11 rebounds. Anthony on the other hand, scored 19 of his 24 points in the third quarter, and helped the Knicks go on a 19-2 run that put the game in the books.

Knicks improve 4-6 and will host the Pistons on Wednesday night.