National Basketball Association
New York 106, Orlando 95
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, December 22, 2016
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: #37 Eric Dalen, #46 Ben Taylor, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance: 19812

NEW YORK -- With their top big man forced to leave Thursday's game against the Orlando Magic with a contused knee early in the fourth quarter, the New York Knicks turned to three role players to provide a spark.

Willy Hernangomez scored 15 points, 12 in the fourth quarter after power forward Kristaps Porzingis hobbled off with 11:38 to play, in New York's 106-95 win over Orlando at Madison Square Garden.

Kyle O'Quinn, who replaced Porzingis, contributed 14 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, 10 of them in the fourth quarter. He also blocked four shots. Reserve guard Brandon Jennings dished out a season-best 12 assists. It was the third time this season Jennings has posted double-digit assists off the bench.

Like Hernangomez and O'Quinn, Jennings four assists led the way in the fourth.

A Knicks (16-13) team official said Porzingis was available to return, but with Hernangomez lighting it up from the outside, O'Quinn providing muscle and Jennings as the facilitator, the Knicks didn't need Porzingis down the stretch.

Derrick Rose tossed in 19 points to top New York, who plays Boston at the Garden on Christmas Day.

Serge Ibaka led the Magic (13-18) with 23 points and 10 rebounds and Evan Fournier added 21 points.

Hernangomez took over the scoring responsibility once Porzingis left after tumbling onto the floor after a missed shot. Hernangomez contributed 10 straight points to provide the Knicks with a 92-78 lead with 8:15 to play.

Orlando made just 7 of its 22 shots in the fourth quarter.

"Those guys (Hernangomez, O'Quinn and Jennings) work on their game," said Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek. "Billy (Hernangomez) has confidence in his shooting ability. He is great at rolling to the basket, so if he can make that 15-foot jumper that makes him that double threat.

"Kyle (O'Quinn) was great on the boards and got blocked shots. With Brandon (Jennings) and Derrick (Rose) we have two ball-handlers. Whenever you have a second team you need someone to lead the team. You need one guy out there to control it.

"They all look at Brandon as the leader of that group."

Porzingis finished with 12 points and two blocked shots in 26 minutes.

"I wanted to come back in the game but they wanted to be cautious," he said. "Let's see how it feels tomorrow and we will go from there."

Carmelo Anthony scored 15 points, but made just 5 of his 17 shots. The bench picked up the slack on Anthony's off night, scoring 43 points.

"They (the bench) are huge for us," Rose noted. "Our bench is finding ways to hold the lead and get the lead. They are playing aggressive."

A layup from Ibaka brought Orlando to within 59-54, but the Knicks responded with a 14-2 burst to roll ahead 73-56 with 4:51 left in the third.

Porzingis led the charge with five points. The Knicks were tenacious on the boards in the first half, outrebounding the Magic 28-14. New York was particularly effective on the offensive glass, getting 15 second chance points to help it to a 57-47 edge.

"We didn't get a lot of shots and we missed a lot of shots," said Magic coach Frank Vogel of the first half when the Magic shot 40 percent. "Credit the Knicks, they had everything going in the first half and they outplayed us."

The Knicks led 27-19 after the first quarter, then extended the lead to 44-28 by outscoring the Magic 17-9 in the first six minutes of the second quarter.

NOTES: G Brandon Jennings' 12 assists were the most by a Knick this season. ... New York recorded 26 assists on 41 made baskets. ... New York outrebounded Orlando 52-41, scoring 23 second-chance points. ... In his last seven games, Orlando G Evan Fournier is averaging 22.2 points and shooting 52.0 percent from the field. He was 9 of 17 on Thursday. ... Magic G Elfrid Payton committed six turnovers. ... Knicks F Carmelo Anthony (23,127) needs 23 points to pass Elgin Baylor (23,149) for 28th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. ... The Westchester Knicks, New York's NBA Development League team, traded F Cleanthony Early, the Knicks' 2014 second-round draft pick, to Santa Cruz, the D-League team of the Golden State Warriors, for G Courtney Fells in a three-team deal that involved the D-League's Texas Legends. Early averaged 4.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game in 56 games with the Knicks spanning two seasons. ... Orlando was without G Jodie Meeks, who was attending his grandmother's funeral.
Top Game Performances
 
Orlando   New York
Serge Ibaka 23 Scoring Derrick Rose 19
Nikola Vucevic 6 Assists Brandon Jennings 12
Serge Ibaka 10 Rebounds Kyle O'Quinn 16
Jeff Green 4 Free Throws Made Carmelo Anthony 5
Jeff Green 3 Steals Courtney Lee 2
Bismack Biyombo 5 Blocks Kyle O'Quinn 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Orlando 95 43.3 5-27 12-16 21 41 7 7 16
New York 106 42.7 9-20 15-17 26 52 9 9 15
Upcoming Games
  • New York will play their next game at home against Boston. The Knicks have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .615 after a loss.
  • Orlando will play their next game at home against L.A. Lakers. The Magic have a W/L % of .357 after a win and .471 after a loss.