Douglas Does it Again as Knicks Beat Sixers

Toney Douglas ripped the ball from Willie Green at the top of the key, quickly drove his way down the court and finished with an acrobatic layup to give the Knicks a one-point lead late in the third quarter after trailing by 11 at halftime.  

The Knicks would not trail the rest of the way en route to a 94-84 victory over the Sixers in Philadelphia on Monday night in the fourth game of a five-game road trip.  

Douglas was once again the spark the Knicks had been searching for most of the season on both ends of the floor. Making his second straight start, the rookie guard scored 20 points, dished out seven assists and played infectious defense to guide New York to its fourth win in six games.  

“When he was on the floor, we were a lot better,” Coach Mike D’Antoni told MSG.    

It’s probably not a coincidence that Douglas has played a huge role for the Knicks in three of those victories.  After playing surprising fourth-quarter minutes in a win over Atlanta at home a week ago, Douglas played down the stretch in the following four games, earning a starting spot along the way.  

Douglas scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half as the Knicks outscored the Sixers 50-29 over the final two quarters. He also recorded two of his three steals after halftime to get the Knicks’ defense going despite being outrebounded by 16 in the game.  

“I just had to stay aggressive,” said Douglas, who went 7-for-13 from the field. “I missed some shots in the first half, but I'm always in the gym so you know repetition after repetition is going to help me. I just had that confidence that I could knock it down.”  

Douglas wasn’t the only player knocking down shots in another impressive shooting night for the Knicks, who went 11-for-25 from beyond the arc. While David Lee was held to a season-low eight points, Danilo Gallinari stepped up and scored a game-high 21 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:27 left to give the Knicks a 10-point lead and seal the game.  

“He’s just mixing it up a little bit, getting into it a little bit more,” D’Antoni said of Gallinari. “He’s defending well, and he’s just playing the game. He makes mistakes, but he knows it because he’s a smart player, and he’ll learn from it. But his overall game is getting better.”  

The Knicks are going to need Gallinari’s touch from three-point range if they want to continue their winning ways and close out the regular season on a good note. New York has made 49 of 93 3-pointers (52.7 percent) over its last four wins and improved to 17-5 when shooting over 40 percent from three-point range.  

“We do need to shoot the ball well,” D’Antoni said before the game. “When you’re undersized and get beat up on the boards a little bit in the inside, you do need to shoot the ball well from the outside. And we are very inconsistent there and it would be nice to get a little bit more consistent.”  

The Knicks will look to continue their hot shooting when they close out their five-game road trip against Nate Robinson and the Celtics. New York has the opportunity to close out the trip 3-2.  

“We’re going to have to go in there and play our best and try to sneak another one out on the road,” Lee said. “I think we can do it, but it’s going to take our best effort.”  

And effort will certainly be there with Douglas on the floor.