The New York Knicks had a defensive game plan but failed to execute it.
The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Madison Square Garden as one of the hot starting teams in the league. They were averaging 30.3 points in the first quarter, tied for third-best in the league. They came out firing 42 points over the Knicks’ porous defense en route to a 140-134 win.
“They’re a big first quarter team we talked about that going into the game and they got everything,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau lamented after the game.
Well, they didn’t have everything as Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, their top two scorers, missed the game with injuries.