– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
WASHINGTON — Belying the happenings for most of Friday night’s contest, which mostly was one-way traffic for the New York Knicks, the game was in the balance during the final five minutes of the contest after a couple of furious rallies. New York righted itself one last time and put on one more dominant stretch, allowing it to continue its best form of the season.
Jalen Brunson scored 32 points while fellow guard Immanuel Quickley chipped in with 27 off the bench as the Knicks defeated the Washington Wizards 120-99 inside Capital One Arena, a match-up that was part of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament group stage.
“In season, out of season, any season, I love winning,” New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That’s all that matters. Get the win. They’re keeping score. Try to win the game.”
At one point, the score read: Knicks 60, Wizards 39. New York continued to maintain of the game until the Wizards made one final push, cutting the Knicks’ lead to 95-90 early in the fourth quarter. Brunson then put his final imprint on the game, scoring or assisting on the Knicks’ next 10 points, with his three-pointer from the top of the key giving New York a 105-92 lead with 4:44 remaining.
New York held the Wizards to two points over the next seven minutes during that span that the Knicks took control once more.
“I like how we kind of responded from their run when they cut it to five,” Brunson said. “That team can score the ball. Despite their record, they got a lot of talent over there.”
New York improved to 1-1 in the In-Season Tournament, in which each team plays four group games. Overall, New York has won five of their last six games.
Washington, which has lost five consecutive games, dropped to 0-3 in the tournament, and officially is eliminated from contention to move to the knockout round.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s event, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Yusuf Abdullah. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 11 pictures in total.
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