Game Preview: Knicks vs Wizards, November 18, 2024

Tonight, the New York Knicks (7-6) end a four-game homestand with a game against Washington Wizards (2-10).

The New York Knicks are riding a two-game winning streak after posting twice Brooklyn Nets. In Sunday’s win, Karl-Anthony Towns led the team with an impressive 26 points and 15 rebounds to secure a 114-104 win.

The Zards would be the absolute floor of the Eastern Conference if not for Toronto. Washington ranks 30th in offensive, defensive and net ratings. The trifecta! Nevertheless, this is an NBA team with some talent. They rate third in pace and seventh in field goal attempts, so expect plenty of running and shooting, especially from leading scorer Jordan Poole. In his sixth season, the point guard has averaged 22.2 points and 4.6 assists while shooting a career-best 46% from the field and 45% from deep.

Second-in-command of this tank operation is forward Kyle Kuzma, a key contributor for Washington, who is leading the team in scoring (17.9 points) and rebounding (6.6 rebounds).

The team is young with three starters under the age of 21. Taken as the second overall pick in 2024 NBA DraftAlexandre Sarr, the 7-foot center from France, has averaged 10.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. battle so far. Another French talent, forward Bilal Coulibaly was the seventh overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He has shown promise as a versatile wing player, averaging 14.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists this season. Carlton “Bub” Carrington rounds out the top five. Selected 14th overall in this year’s draft, the Wizards’ 19-year-old guard has averaged 9.8 points, 5.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds in his first campaign.

Off the bench, look for veteran Jonas Valanciunas to fill in behind Sarr, and Corey Kispert to sub for the guards. The sharp-shooting Kispert recently agreed to a four-year, $54 million contract extension with the club and is shooting 33% from beyond the arc.

Forecast

ESPN.com favoring the Knicks by 81%. Fatigue could be a factor as the Knicks starters played big minutes in last night’s game, but . . . these wizards are very bad. The Knicks will either come out strong but give the visitors a glimmer of hope in the second half; or they play with their food all night. Either way, New York wins by +12 and heads into the five-game road trip with some momentum.

Game details

Date: Monday 18 November 2024
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York City
TV: MSG Network, NBA League Pass
Follow: @ptknicksblog