Knick beat Magic, win their first home game since January 29th

A photo posted by New York Knicks 🏀 (@nyknicks) on Feb 26, 2016 at 5:37pm PST

It’s been almost a month since the Knicks won their last home game. On January 29th, New York snapped a 4 game losing streak to beat the Suns 102-84, in what seemed to be an exercise before the long awaited matchup against the Golden State Warriors.

The Knicks however went 1-9 since, and from a playoff contender team they became a lottery team in a span of just 28 days. Last night however, things looked good again.

Fueled by the much criticized Jose Calderon, New York made a terrific first half which propelled them all the way till the end to a 108-95 win over the Orlando Magic. Calderon scored 10 of his total 14 points in the first quarter and was flawless from the field, shooting 5-5.

Seven players finished in double figures including all starters. Carmelo Anthony led New York with 19 points on top of which he added 11 rebounds and 6 assists.

“Defensively, I thought we did a good job coming out the gate, sticking to the plan, protecting our paint. Offensively it seemed like we had some flow.”

– Carmelo Anthony

Kyle O’Quinn, after a solid game against the Pacers went quiet last night. He hesitated to stop Elfrid Payton on a dunk in the first quarter and was quickly benched by Rambis at timeout. He wasn’t used at all after that.

“I kept writing on the board, ‘Paint and paint’ — protect the paint at the defensive end, attack the paint at the offensive end.”

– Kurt Rambis

Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 points, including a highlight-reel dunk in a moment when the 24 point lead dropped to 11. He missed however all three of his long distance attempts.

Alongside Calderon, Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo scored each 14 points while off the bench, Derrick Williams and Langston Galloway combined 22.

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Jimmer Fredette doesn’t seem to get much love from Rambis as he marked his second DNP since he signed the 10-day contract.

Knicks improve to 25-35 and will host the Miami Heat on Sunday night.