Shorthanded Knicks Fall Short
For Knicks fans searching for a silver lining, Tyler Kolek stood out...
Final Score: Knicks 104 - Wolves 115
Record: 20-9
Resting Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby in the midst of a tough stretch of the schedule, the Knicks didn’t have enough firepower to hang with Anthony Edwards and the Wolves on Tuesday night.
Ant-Man poured in 38 points. Rudy Gobert dominated the paint all evening. Julius Randle, a former Knick, took over in the final frame, scoring 17 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter.
For Knicks fans searching for a silver lining, Tyler Kolek stood out. Making the first start of his NBA career, Kolek nearly posted a triple-double. He filled the stat sheet with 20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists (vs. just two turnovers), three steals, and two three-pointers in 31 minutes.
Knowing his team needed him to take the reins of the offense, TK was aggressive right from the opening tip. He looked to get downhill and attack when the opportunities presented themselves, while also looking to set up his teammates when the defense collapsed. On the season, Kolek is now shooting 58.8% on drives (that’s top-10 among all qualified guards in 2025-26, just behind SGA and Ant Edwards).
According to Basketball-Reference, Kolek became just the third player in Knicks franchise history to tally at least 20/10/8 with 3+ steals and 2+ treys in a single game, joining Latrell Sprewell and Michael Ray Richardson.
On the negative side of the ledger, Kolek shot just 9-of-22 from the floor and had some costly defensive lapses. At one point, coach Mike Brown called a timeout immediately after Kolek failed to get over a Gobert screen, leading to an open 3PT make by Mike Conley. New York was outscored by eight points with Kolek on the court.
“Tyler was good in spurts,” coach Brown said after the loss. “He tried, he struggled initially. I think he was 3-for-10 at halftime. But was 6-for-12 in the second half. We needed to get scoring from others, so he stepped up in that area. To get 11 rebounds at his size was fantastic too.”
“For a young guy, he tried to do what he could while he was out there,” Brown added. “But we needed more from him, probably more so defensively than offensively at the end of the day if we expect to get a win on the road.”
Karl-Anthony Towns also did all he could on the offensive end to keep the Knicks within striking distance. Making an emotional return to Minnesota, KAT amassed 40 points (14-of-24 FGs, 9-of-11 FTs), 13 rebounds, one assist, one steal and three three-pointers.
“I knew what the situation was. I knew that the ball would find me more today, and I wanted to be aggressive, impact winning,” Towns told reporters postgame. “I thought I just wanted to do whatever it took to come out of here with a win. Obviously, we didn’t do enough. I didn’t do enough. This is going to be a tough plane ride home.”
Coach Brown credited KAT for his offensive exploits, but also noted that the team needed its big man to make better decisions throughout the contest. “With KAT, obviously, he can score. He had 40 tonight. I said it before, he’s a walking double-double,” said Brown. “He just has to continue to try not to pick up cheap fouls. Now we have to sit him for an X amount of minutes when he needs to be on the floor. So, you know, the 40 and 13, it doesn’t surprise me at all because he’s more than capable. But if you’re gonna be a great player, we expect more from him. I’m sure he does too.”
New York will look to get back on track when they host the Cavs for a matinee on Christmas Day.
Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes:
🏀 I thought the decision to rest JB and OG made plenty of sense, considering the brutal stretch the Knicks are in the middle of. By sitting out Tuesday’s trip to Minnesota, Anunoby and Brunson were able to stay in New York and get ready for the early Christmas contest.
Remarkably, the Knicks don’t have more than one day off (they play either back-to-backs or a game every other day) until January 14th.
That’s 14 games over 24 days. In addition, eight of their next 12 games are on the road, including a West Coast trip in early January.
