NEW YORK One club, winners of 13 of their previous 16 games, entered Madison Square Garden on Friday on a five-game winning streak.
The opposing team, which was without three starters and had just one player recover from a knee injury, arrived at the arena beaten and battered.
Certain things aren’t always what they appear, as the Knicks proved on Friday when they defeated Orlando 98-74 at the Garden after the Magic had dropped their first three games against them this season.
After missing two games due to a knee strain, All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson made his way back into the starting lineup. The Knicks, who were shorthanded, won with a strong first quarter that propelled them back to the fourth seed in the East.
The No. 10 Atlanta Hawks defeated the Knicks 16 points to 1 in the first quarter, and the team was unable to purchase a 3-pointer.
And treys were on sale at the Garden for two for one during the first quarter of a crucial win on Friday over a team that was vying for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
And the fast start was encouraging considering they had dropped the first quarters of their previous two games, 68-34 overall, against the Hawks and Golden State Warriors.
In the first twelve minutes of the game, the Knicks made six of seven three-pointers from beyond the arc and eight of their first nine first-half treys to take a 16-point lead into halftime.
Having scored 17 of his 26 points over the first two quarters, Brunson led the assault. In the first half, he made 3 of 4 shots from downtown and finished 4 of 7 from behind the arc. With 7:49 left in the fourth quarter and his Knicks up 21, he went 3 of 5 in the opening three quarters.
