Knicks open challenging stretch of games as Nuggets visit
Teams rarely look for style points during a seven-game winning streak -- especially the New York Knicks, whose season was on the verge of collapse before their current surge.
But the Knicks will start a more challenging stretch Wednesday night when they host the Denver Nuggets in a battle of NBA Finals contenders.
Both teams will complete a back-to-back set after playing on the road Tuesday night. The Knicks led wire-to-wire in a 132-101 rout of the Washington Wizards while the Nuggets' comeback from a 20-point deficit fell short in a 124-121 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
New York saw seven players score in double figures against the Knicks, led by Mikal Bridges, who scored 23 points in 26 minutes.
The Knicks' winning streak -- their longest since a nine-game run from Dec. 15, 2024, through Jan. 1, 2025 -- includes four routs by more than 25 points. New York's average margin of victory over the past seven games is 24.7 points.
The Wizards were the fourth sub-.500 victim of the streak for the Knicks, whose closest win was 112-109 on Jan. 24 over the Philadelphia 76ers, who occupy the sixth and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
New York also earned a 119-92 win over the Toronto Raptors, who are tied for fourth place in the East, on Jan. 28 before pulling away late in a 112-100 win Sunday over the Los Angeles Lakers, who stand fifth in the Western Conference.
The Knicks' winning streak was preceded by a stretch of nine losses in 11 games from Dec. 31 through Jan. 19 that included six double-digit defeats and left them just 1 1/2 games clear of sixth place.
New York enters the Wednesday contest three games ahead of the sixth-place 76ers and tied for second place in the East with the Boston Celtics, whom the Knicks are slated to visit Sunday -- two days after they visit the East-leading Detroit Pistons.
"We have a lot of guys who can shoot it, we have a lot of guys who can put it on the floor and make plays," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. "But guys are trying to play for one another with the correct spacing and making the correct decisions, so it's a lot of fun to see when guys get rolling."
The loss to the Pistons was the second straight against a likely top seed for the Nuggets, who are in third place in the Western Conference. Denver was defeated 121-111 Sunday by the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
The back-to-back defeats mark the fourth time the Nuggets have lost consecutive games in the last five-plus weeks, a span in which Denver has gone 11-10 overall while dealing with a spate of challenging roster issues.
Three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic missed 16 straight games from Dec. 31 through last Thursday with a left knee injury. It was the longest absence in 10 NBA seasons for Jokic, who had 24 points and 15 rebounds while playing just under 33 minutes Tuesday -- his most action since he played 38 minutes against the Orlando Magic on Dec. 27.
Denver got back starting guard Christian Braun, but he was limited to six points over 26 minutes in his return from a chronic left ankle injury that cost him the previous 12 games and has limited him to four games since Nov. 12.
The Nuggets also played Tuesday without Spencer Jones, who has established himself as a starting power forward over the last two-plus months but has just one game of eligibility left on his two-way deal.
"The challenge for us right now is with all the things that are happening -- people coming back, the minute restrictions -- we have to avoid paying attention to that and we just have to play and deal with it as we go," Nuggets coach David Adelman said. "We're going to have some clunky moments."