The Knicks scored their 100th point with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter. The Washington Wizards crossed the 100-point mark with 16 seconds left of garbage time before a strong Knicks road contingent serenaded their team with cheers in enemy territory.
Call it a scheduled victory for the surging New York Knicks, who wiped the Capital One Arena floors with the home team in a 132-101 victory on Tuesday. Their only loss came via a pair of ill-timed injuries: Mohamed Diawara turned his ankle in the second quarter, and Josh Hart turned his ankle in the third. Both left the game and did not return, joining Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson, who are also each out with their ankles being monitored.
“We had to start off strong and just play hard,” said Mikal Bridges. “They’re young and they can get out strong and fast and we just had to play our way.”
The Knicks have now won seven games in a row and have a chance to make it eight on Wednesday in the second leg of a back-to-back against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets lost to the Detroit Pistons — who the Knicks will face on Friday — on Tuesday in the first leg of their own back-to-back, as well.
And the Nuggets, a championship contender in the crowded Western Conference title hunt, will pose a far steeper challenge than the Wizards, who are in a four-way race to the bottom of the NBA standings.
It’s safe to say the Knicks won’t be getting that conditional first-round pick from the Wizards after all. The Knicks own a top-eight protected pick from the Wizards in the 2026 NBA Draft, but if Washington ends up drafting anywhere between one and eight in June, the pick will instead convey as a pair of second-round picks in 2026 and 2027.
Things project to change in D.C. when Trae Young takes the floor for the Wizards after Washington sent CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks for the All-Star point guard.
Young watched idly as his Wizards fell behind by 15 in the first quarter and 25 in the second before the Knicks made it a comically unserious game in the second half.
Every Knicks starter played well below their season minutes average as Bridges led the way with 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and two steals on 7-of-16 shooting from the field. Jalen Brunson shot 7-of-16 for 21 points and OG Anunoby finished with 19 points, a steal and a block.
Meanwhile, the Knicks defense held all Wizards scorers to less than 15 points. Former top-three pick Alex Sarr finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds on 11 shot attempts, and the Wizards made 11 threes on a miserable shooting night.
The Knicks have now held six of their last seven opponents to 100 points or less. They entered Tuesday’s matchup against the Wizards as the only team allowing less than 100 points per 100 possessions over their winning streak (95.1), a mark that improved with a complete defensive performance against an incomplete Washington team.
“I think just everybody is on the same page being together, being on one string and stepping up for each other is great to see,” Bridges said in his walk-off interview after the game. “Sometimes things happen so fast but when you go back and watch the film you see everyone trying to make the right play and help each other out.”
Head coach Mike Brown fully emptied his bench at the 9:29 mark of the fourth quarter. It might not be a feeling Brown can get used to given his team’s cake walk is over.
The Knicks are set to get a taste of their own medicine.
The Knicks’ opponents boast a combined record of 142-177 over the life of their seven-game winning streak. New York’s next four opponents leading into the All-Star break (Denver, Detroit, Boston, Indiana) are a combined 114-90 with the East-worst Pacers the only team below 30 wins on the docket.
