On Thursday night, Josh Hart's absence depleted the Knicks' bench anyway, but Tom Thibodeau replaced four of the Knicks' five starters (all but OG Anunoby) in the final minutes of back-to-back games against the Knicks. He continued to use him throughout the third quarter. The Knicks are behind one of the worst teams in the NBA.
In the end, Thibodeau briefly rested his starters early in the fourth, Jalen Brunson took over and bailed the Knicks out, and the Knicks ultimately defeated the lowly Wizards at the Garden by a narrow 113-109 margin in Game 2. It marked the opening of the. Half of the 82-game schedule.
Brunson scored 20 of his game-high 41 points in the final quarter, and Julius Randle finished with 21 points for the Knicks (25-17).
Brunson, who had eight assists and eight rebounds, quipped in an on-court interview after the game, billed as “Villanova's Night” at MSG, “I guess this is about Villanova.”
Anunoby and Donte DiVincenzo each scored 19 points, and the Knicks improved to 18-0 on the season against a team that lost its opening game on Thursday.
(The Knicks lost against Utah earlier in the season, but the Jazz have won six straight games since then and are over .500.)
With Hart (knee sore) sidelined for the first time this season, Thibodeau added Evan Fournier to the nine-man rotation, making his third appearance this season.
But the 31-year-old Fournier, who the Knicks couldn't trade despite his expiring $18.9 million contract, went 0-for-4 shooting in six minutes.
For the Wizards, Jordan Poole scored 24 points and Marvin Bagley III scored 20 points, but they dropped eight of their nine points, resulting in a total of 7 wins and 33 losses.
Randle scored 10 points in the opening half, including two 3-pointers, as the Knicks doubled the visitors to 20-10 in the first eight minutes of the game.
Still, the Wizards ended the quarter on a 12-2 spurt, resulting in an even draw at 22-22, with Deni Avdija finishing the session with a team-high eight points.
The Knicks' second unit, Minus Hart, missed 9 of 10 field goals in the first half. That includes Fournier going 0-for-4 and recently-rumored trade chip Quentin Grimes going 0-for-3.
In fact, Washington held a six-point advantage with five minutes left until halftime, but Brunson sank a 3-point shot and managed a traditional 3-point play to help the Knicks regain the lead.
Brunson finished the first half with 16 points and Randle with 12, but the Knicks missed 17 of 21 3-pointers in the second quarter and held a 56-55 lead going into the break.
Anunoby and DiVincenzo hit treys in the first two minutes of the third to help the Knicks extend their cushion to five points.
Anunoby's triple extended the lead to nine points again midway through the quarter, but the Knicks allowed the Wizards to score 13 of their next 16 points to take a 69-68 lead.
But Hartenstein's late bucket in the paint (17 rebounds) gave the Knicks a one-point lead, sparking an 11-3 spurt that spanned the final two quarters to lead 82-75 with 10 minutes left. .
Brunson, Randle, Hartenstein and DiVincenzo finished in third place.
Brunson scored his 11th straight point against the Knicks in a four-minute overtime period late in the fourth inning, giving the Knicks their eighth win in 10 games since acquiring Anunoby from Toronto on Dec. 30.
