New York Knicks star Cities of Karl-Anthony engaged in a sibling rivalry Tuesday night time at Madison Sq. Backyard.
Cities caught Wagner’s consideration on Tuesday when the Orlando Magic took on Manhattan. With Paolo Banchero injured, Franz Wagner allowed the Magic to proceed with a stellar season whereas his brother Moritz supplied depth antics off the bench.
However Cities took over Tuesday, posting a double-double of 23 factors and 15 rebounds. the Knicks received 121-106. The Wagners rallied for 50 factors, however a lot of their harm was completed after the Knicks established a large lead that peaked at 37 earlier than giving up.
Whereas the Knicks headlined loads of offensive headlines — like a 50.6 subject objective share, a triple-double for Josh Hart, 5 threes in reduction of Miles McBride — Cities supplied the undisputed spotlight of the night in direction of the top of the second interval.
Sizing up Mortiz one-on-one, Cities was bumped whereas driving to the basket. He appeared to pause, apparently to protest the shortage of fouling, earlier than instantly launching a profitable shot that despatched an already boisterous Backyard crowd right into a fever pitch.
“Oh, you’ve by no means seen that?” A bucket is a bucket,” Cities stated coyly after the sport, by Peter Botte of the New York Submit. “The protection gave me the baseline, I took the baseline. I’ve a fadeaway sweater. A bucket is a bucket.
Cities has already had a little bit of a checkered historical past in opposition to Wagner’s older brother, as the 2 engaged in extracurricular actions after the previous had a poster-worthy dunk when the Magic battled in opposition to the Timberwolves from Minnesota final season.
The duo wrote a sequel to their struggle on Tuesday: After Cities’ dramatic one-two punch, the 2 confronted one another and commenced clapping sarcastically, resulting in joint strategies. Even with that accusation, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau appeared to understand Cities’ aptitude within the midst of a blowout victory, one which not solely blew the league’s top-ranked protection to smithereens, but additionally secured victory in Jap Group A. Play the NBA Cup.
“Karl is a bodily man,” Thibodeau stated in Botte’s report. “So long as it is constant and it is the identical for each groups, I do not thoughts it in any respect. In actual fact, I prefer it.
Regardless that the Knicks and Magic do not face one another within the NBA Cup Spherical of 16 or its comfort recreation, they’re scheduled to face one another in Central Florida on December 27. In the meantime, Cities and the Knicks will face the Charlotte Hornets on December 27. Thursday night time at house (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).