Knicks at Hornets
The New York Knicks put up a fight against two of the best teams in the league only to fall short but managed to break through against a crosstown rival on Sunday. The Knicks will try to make it back-to-back wins for the first time this month when they visit the struggling Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday.
New York suffered single-digit home losses to the Western Conference-best Los Angeles Lakers and defending champion Toronto Raptors to begin the three-game homestand but earned a 110-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday behind an emotional performance from Julius Randle. The veteran forward spent the first two seasons of his career as a teammate of Kobe Bryant's on the Lakers and learned of his former teammate's passing shortly before putting up 22 points and 15 rebounds in the victory. The Hornets are returning from Europe after falling 116-103 to the Milwaukee Bucks in Paris on Friday to push the latest slide to eight in a row. Charlotte shot 37.2 percent from the floor in Paris and is last in the NBA in scoring at an average of 103.3 points.
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: MSG, FS Southeast
ABOUT THE KNICKS (13-34): Randle posted double-doubles in each of the last two contests and forms a solid partnership up front with veteran forward Marcus Morris, who added 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting in Sunday's triumph. Morris scored 20 or more points in four of the last five games and is averaging 22.1 points in nine games this month. New York is also getting strong production out of the point guard spot from Elfrid Payton, who handed out at least nine assists in each of the last three games and is averaging 8.5 assists over the last six contests.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (15-31): One of the few bright spots of late for Charlotte is the play of third-year guard Malik Monk, who followed up a 20-point effort in a loss to the Orlando Magic last week with a career-high 31 points in Paris. "I thought Malik was fantastic tonight," Hornets coach James Borrego told reporters. "Very dynamic, got downhill, got to the rim, made plays for us. He's an incredible athlete. I thought he played great tonight. He made good decisions, but the pace he played with was what was special. He has the ability. His challenge now is to do it more consistently on a night-to-night basis. That's what we're looking for." Charlotte could use more from veteran guard Nicolas Batum, who is shooting 29.6 percent in six games since rejoining the rotation.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Knicks rookie SG RJ Barrett (ankle) sat out the last five games and is not expected to play Tuesday.
2. Hornets F P.J. Washington slumped to three points on 1-of-5 shooting in Paris after averaging 17.7 over the previous three contests.
3. Charlotte earned a 103-102 victory at New York on Nov. 16 when Devonte' Graham buried nine 3-pointers en route to 29 points.