Thunder at Knicks
The Oklahoma City Thunder seemingly snapped out of a funk with a dramatic victory at Philadelphia on Saturday and will try to make it two straight on the road when they visit the New York Knicks on Monday for the traditional Martin Luther King Day matinee at Madison Square Garden. Paul George's four-point play with 5.1 seconds left lifted the Thunder past the 76ers 117-115, a big boost for a Western Conference contender that had dropped five of its previous six.
"We lost the last two games, so it was pretty tough," center Steven Adams told reporters. "It was just good. It's obviously good to get a win under our belt, just against this team, obviously they had a lot of really good sets." George scored 31 points and Russell Westbrook had 21 and 10 rebounds as Oklahoma City improved to 11-4 against the East. The Knicks are near the bottom of that conference and have lost five in a row, the last coming on a last-second goaltending call in the annual London game Thursday. The 101-100 loss to Washington was New York's 18th setback in the last 20 games overall, and the club is 0-8 at Madison Square Garden in that stretch.
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, FS Oklahoma, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (27-18): George's four-point play gave him 14 fourth-quarter points in a tense environment against a quality opponent, and the magnitude of the moment was not lost on the star forward. "This is a big win," George told reporters. "Big road win. Especially, we've been dropping close games, so it's good to not only beat a good team but pick up a close game." George needed only 29 minutes to score 35 points in a 128-103 rout of the Knicks at home earlier this season.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (10-34): The return to New York will allow for the return to the court for center Enes Kanter, who avoided the trip to London, citing personal safety in the midst of his criticism of the government in his native Turkey. "It's sad. I could be there with them," Kanter told ESPN. "But it's just, sometimes there are bigger things." He watched from afar as Emmanuel Mudiay scored 25 points for the Knicks, who managed only 11 points in the final quarter against Washington.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. SG Tim Hardaway Jr. leads the Knicks in scoring (19.5) but is averaging only 9.5 on 35 percent shooting over his last four games.
2. Westbrook made 1-of-6 3-pointers Saturday and is shooting 21.4 percent from long range on the road.
3. New York leads the series against Oklahoma City/Seattle 66-65.