Knicks outlast Pelicans in New Orleans

The New York Knicks made it four straight wins on Wednesday night as Julius Randle had another huge game against a former team after dropping 34 against the Lakers on Monday.

The Pelicans win streak comes to an end at three, having previously beaten Sacramento, Cleveland & Philadelphia.

Both teams were butter to begin the game but both subsequently went cold midway through the opening quarter. Zion Williamson hit back to back buckets to put the Pels ahead but RJ Barrett answered back with and one play to tie things up.

Knicks led early in the second and when Immanuel Quickley pulled up from 30 feet the lead was extended to nine points. The Pelicans remained resilient however and by the half they had reduced the deficit back to one. HT: Knicks 53-52 Pelicans.

Pelicans started hot in the second half and were able to re-take the lead early but could not pull away as the teams began to exchange buckets.

The teams exchanged leads for the final seven minutes of the third quarter, the Knicks being led by 14 points from former Pelican, Julius Randle.

After falling behind by five points, New York went on a 11-2 run to finish the quarter, to lead by four heading into the final period.

The Knicks threatened to pull away in the fourth but just like in the second quarter the Pelicans refused to crumble.

Alec Burks was once again crucial for New York down the stretch as he notched 14 fourth quarter points to lead the team. This was too much for New Orleans to overcome as they failed to get closer than six points down. Julius Randle added a further seven points to his tally in the final quarter, as the Knicks finished with a comfortable 10 point margin of victory.

The Knicks have struggled from three in the past few games but they appeared to but that behind them in New Orleans, shooting 51.5% as a team. Julius Randle was 5 of 8 from three as he finished with 32 pts 8 rebs & 5 assists.

With this win the Knicks leapfrog Miami into sixth place in the East while the Pelicans remain in eleventh place in the West, two games back on tenth place San Antonio.