Warriors Serve Knicks First Loss of the Season

REUNION, FL – February 13, 2021 – The Westchester Knicks, the official NBA G League affiliate of the New York Knicks, fell to the Santa Cruz Warriors, 124-116, Saturday evening, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. Santa Cruz snaps a two-game win streak for Westchester.

Affiliate player, Myles Powell, led the Knicks in scoring for the second consecutive night pouring in 24 points on 40-percent coupled with a team-high seven dimes. Powell also came up with four thefts and six rebounds.

Returning rights player, Tyler Hall, followed up his game-high distance shooting display from two days ago (5-for-11) with a team-high six treys made on 60-percent, and registered 21 points. Hall also amassed the most amount of playing time (41:57) while committing just one turnover.

Returning rights player, Simi Shittu, corralled another double-double comprised of 20 points and 12 rebounds, which tied a game-high. The affiliate duo of James Young and Skal Labissiere added 16 and 15 points, respectively.

For the visitors, Jeremy Lin reached 29 points on 75-percent shooting and swished a game-best seven triples and nine assists. Jordan Poole and Nico Mannion ended with 26 and 22 respective points and Dwayne Sutton (12) and Kaleb Wesson (11) contributed on the glass.

The Knicks (2-1) entered this back-and-forth affair following a Thursday victory against Greensboro where they led wire-to-wire. Today, the Warriors (1-2) and Knicks endured 25 lead changes and eight deadlocked scores. Amid the constant switches in leads, Santa Cruz saw its largest at eight while Westchester credited a six-point control.

The eighth knot of the game took place with 1:40 to go in the fourth quarter. The second of two Mannion free throws pulled the Warriors ahead by one but a Powell layup pushed the Knicks ahead once more. A pair of made threes seconds after on ensuing Warriors possessions ultimately put the game at bay.

Monday, February 15, the Knicks and Rio Grande Valley meet for an 11:30 AM ET matinee.