On February 13, the New York Knicks beat the Houston Rockets with an overall 22 point lead at Madison Square Garden. Following this game, Rockets have racked up their fifth straight loss in a row this season, after Knicks power forward Julius Randle and beginner shooting guard Immanuel Quickley both scored 22 points leading to their victory. Coming in afterwards Knicks point guard Derrick Rose contributed 16 points, a rebound, and three assists in 23 minutes. Both teams have lost 15 games this season however the performance from the Knicks reinspired the fans watching from home after they had to fill in for center Mitchell Robinson who broke his hand during a game against Washington Wizards on Friday. 

“I want to, you know, take it up a notch through these next–through whatever starts I get through this upcoming period of time,” center and fill in for Robinson, Nerlens Noel said.

As for the Rockets, point guard John Wall and shooting guard Eric Gordon claimed the most points of a collective 50 points. Final numbers from the previous five Rockets games have declined after center Christian Wood and shooting guard Victor Oladipo had severe injuries that caused them to miss the last few games. Overall the Rockets have had an average of 108.8 points per game this season which is a nine point decrease from last season in 2019 pushing them from number two in the country to 23.

“It’s a deflating thing when you have shots that you feel like you should make and there is a lot of pressure being put on you on the defensive end. You feel like you need to make those shots and having that tension going along with needing to make those, isn’t a good recipe for making shots. You have to be free, you have to be confident, and right now we’re not a very confident group as far as making 3’s,” Rocket’s coach Stephen Silas said. 

Despite the last few wins, during the 2020-2021 season the Knicks have ranked the lowest of all the teams in the NBA scoring 2.4 fewer points per game in comparison to last year.

“It’s not the individual statistics, there’s a lot of guys that can’t have these stats in this league, but its impact on winning. How does the group function together, and I think that group plays very well together, ” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.