Knicks' defense steals win from T-Wolves
Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire reacts after being fouled during the second half against Minnesota. Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
As the Knicks continue this momentum-building plow through the soft part of their schedule, Amar'e Stoudemire often has pointed to defense as a key. He also said it is something they must continue to improve.
It was defense that produced the Knicks' fifth straight win and 10th in the last 11 as they beat the Timberwolves, 121-114, last night at the Garden.
"Defensively is where you win ballgames,'' said Stoudemire, who recorded his fifth straight 30-point effort with 34 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals on the day he was named Eastern Conference player of the week for a second time this season. "You can score the ball every time you go down, but if you don't get stops, it's going to be hard to win.''
They won mainly because an aggressive defensive effort forced eight turnovers on seven steals in a pivotal third quarter in which they snuffed out a red-hot Timberwolves team that had scored 68 points and shot 62.8 percent in the first half. Raymond Felton led the way with four steals along with his 18 points and 11 assists.
The Knicks (13-9), four games over .500 for the first time since the 2000-01 season ended at 48-34, face the Raptors (8-13) Wednesday night and the Wizards (6-13) Friday. The schedule gets significantly tougher next week against the Nuggets (13-6), Celtics (16-4) and Heat (14-8).
Wilson Chandler had 21 points and Danilo Gallinari added 17, including a three-pointer just before the shot-clock buzzer with 49.6 seconds left to give the Knicks a 114-107 lead.
Kevin Love followed up his 31-point, 31-rebound outing against the Knicks Nov. 12 with 33 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota (5-16). Michael Beasley had 25 points, but he and Luke Ridnour totaled five of the Wolves' 11 second-half turnovers.
The pinnacle was when the Knicks forced six straight turnovers and turned them into 10 unanswered points in the midst of a 17-2 run that produced an 82-77 lead with 5:16 left in the third.
"We had a lot of energy,'' Stoudemire said. "We applied some ball pressure and a few traps. We denied the ball a few times and made it hard for them out there. When they feel that pressure, it makes it tough for them to get into their offense.''
Felton and Chandler each had two steals in the run, along with one by Stoudemire and a drawn charge by Gallinari. The quarter ended on a big defensive play as Ronny Turiaf, back after sitting out four games with a sore knee, spiked a layup try by Wayne Ellington into the fifth row.
The Knicks brought a 92-86 lead into the fourth quarter. Stoudemire then scored 10 points to help put the game away.
The Timberwolves, who entered the game as the second-worst-shooting team in the NBA, made their first nine shots and took a 20-8 lead en route to hitting 14 of their first 15 shots. Love hit his first seven shots and scored 21 first-half points. Former Knick-for-a-minute Darko Milicic had 10 points (4-for-4 shooting) but left the game in the first quarter with a right quadriceps contusion.
But the Knicks shot 8- for-17 from downtown in the first half, with Felton going 3-for-4, and trailed 68-61 at the break.
"They came out with a lot of energy, but we kept it close,'' Felton said. "We never let the game get blown out and in that third quarter we just took control.''
