A small but vociferous group of Knicks fans arrived at the Garden armed with boos and derisive chants to direct at Kristaps Porzingis, but what they wanted more than anything Friday night was a victory over their former All-Star and his current team.
Even with Porzingis mostly mired in a rocky shooting night, the Knicks followed Wednesday’s crushing loss at Minnesota by flushing a double-digit lead for the second consecutive game in a 99-86 loss to the Mavericks.
“The reaction was what I expected, of course,” said Porzingis, who punctuated Dallas’ win with a late baseline dunk. “They are a tough team and they played really good defense on me and on us, in general. Just overall a tough game, a grinding game, and it’s good to come up with a win against a tough team like the Knicks.”
Porzingis heard throaty boos and “KP sucks” chants throughout the game. The 7-foot-3 forward finished with 14 points on 6-for-17 shooting from the floor.
Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, the Knicks’ two leading scorers, also endured rough games offensively, combining for just 22 points on 8-for-31 shooting as the Knicks lost for the third straight game and dipped back below .500 at 24-25.
Alec Burks had a team-high 20 points for the Knicks, who shot just 36 percent from the field, including a 1-for-10 showing by Derrick Rose.
Barrett and Rose had been questionable for the game with ankle injuries, after Randle missed last Saturday’s game with a thigh contusion.
“I think early we’re playing together the right way and then as the game goes on, shots aren’t falling or whatever the case may be, and maybe we’re just trying to will it a little too much,” Randle said. “Just have to trust in ourselves. It’s tough. It’s a tough balance for all of us, but we’ll figure it out.”
Luka Doncic registered a game-high 26 points, and another former Knick, Tim Hardaway Jr., added 14 for the Mavericks (26-21). They were coached by assistant Jamahl Mosley after head coach Rick Carlisle revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19 before the game.
Randle was signed with some of the cap space the Knicks cleared through the blockbuster trade of Porzingis, Hardaway and others to the Mavericks in February 2019, while Porzingis still was recovering from ACL surgery. The Knicks also control Dallas’ first-round picks in the 2021 and 2023 drafts, with this year’s projected to be the 21st overall selection entering Friday’s action.
The fans kept the KP-directed derision going throughout the first quarter, and he missed eight of his first nine shots from the field in the first half, including six straight from 3-point range.
In the second quarter, Burks nailed two 3s and Obi Toppin provided a spark with nine points off the bench — including a high-flying, one-handed slam on an offensive rebound — as the Knicks expanded their lead to 44-31 with 7:02 remaining before halftime.
But coach Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks went nearly six minutes without scoring and Dallas grabbed a 49-46 advantage at the intermission on 3-pointers in the final minute of the half by Hardaway and Doncic to cap an 18-2 closeout run.
Porzingis finally connected from beyond the arc for a 55-54 Dallas lead, and his pull-up jumper a few minutes later extended the cushion to six en route to a 72-69 Knicks hole entering the final period.
The Knicks then missed 11 of their first 12 shots in the fourth quarter, before consecutive 3-pointers by Jalen Brunson and Doncic helped put Dallas up by 15 with barely three minutes remaining.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re getting quality shots,” Thibodeau said. “It was a hard-fought game up to that point. … We have to make sure that we’re doing everything collectively. That’s been the strength of the club all year and I believe we’ll get back to that.”