New York Knicks beat San Antonio Spurs 104-100; keep the winning streak alive: NBA Recap
New York Knicks improved their best ever start to the season as they defeated the San Antonio Spurs 104-100, going 6-0 up here at the AT&T Center on Thursday night. The Knicks remain the only unbeaten team in NBA this season as
they beat the red hot Spurs, who came into this game with a three game winning streak on the road.
On a night when Carmelo Anthony was reduced to 9 points only, Raymond Felton scored 25 points and dished out 7 assists, Tyson Chandler scored a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while JR Smith came off the bench to add
17 points for the Knicks.
Tony Parker had another day at the double-double office as he led the Spurs with 19 points 12 assists and 6 rebounds. He was supported well by Tim Duncan who had 14 points and an equal number of rebounds. Kawhi Leonard had 16 points
and 9 rebounds while Stephan Jackson came off the bench to score 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Spurs.
It was a pretty close game throughout as the lead switched hands 17 times. Jason Kidd dropped a three pointer in the early goings of the first period that put the Knicks up 8-4.The Spurs immediately tied the score at 8. A Leonard
jumper later in the period put the Spurs up 24-20. The second years man scored 10 of his 16 points in the first period, but the Knicks immediately replied with a 9-0 run that put them up 29-24. The Spurs cut the deficit down to 2 by the end of period.
Spurs started the second period sharply; and tied the score at 35 early in the quarter. The Knicks however started pulling ahead and were leading the Spurs 45-38 after a three pointer by Rasheed Wallace. Moments later, he fired
another one from the three point land as the Knicks went up 48-40, six minutes from halftime. But the Spurs started cutting the deficit and a Parker free throw made it a 2 point game at 49-51. The Knicks were up 55-51 one minute from halftime but the Spurs
ended the period with a 6-0 run as they went into the locker room leading the Knicks by two.
The Knicks were up 69-66 early in the third period before the Spurs sprung into action with an 8 nil burst to go up 74-69. Both teams were a bit sluggish in this period, as this quarter saw the lowest scoring of the game. The Spurs
went into the final period leading 76-72.
The start to the final period was also cold as no one scored a bucket in the first 2 minutes. The Spurs were enjoying a comfortable 11 point advantage at 88-77 with just seven minutes on the regulation before the charged Knicks
kicked off a rally that saw them made it a one point game at 92-93. Before the Spurs could react to this late onslaught, the Knicks went for an 8-0 run to go up 102-95 with just 36.9 seconds on the regulation. Knicks fended off a last ditch effort by the Spurs
to win the game 104-100 in the end.