Knicks, Magic historically bad in 15-point quarter
The Knicks and Magic entered Saturday night’s game with two of the six worst scoring offenses in the NBA this season, so a shootout was unlikely in Orlando, Florida.
But the two teams combined for historic offensive ineptitude, scoring a combined 15 points in the second quarter — on fan appreciation night at Amway Center.
It was the fewest points in a quarter in the shot clock era (since 1954-55), which spans 209,888 quarters played, including Saturday’s action. It was also only the third time that both teams scored fewer than 10 points each.
Orlando was 3-for-19 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range in the second quarter. New York did the Magic one better (or worse), going 3-for-20 in the period and 0-for-5 from 3. There were nine combined turnovers, with seven by the Magic.
It was the fewest points from two teams in a non-overtime period this season, eclipsing the previous mark of 24 achieved three times.
“It was 8-7 in the second quarter so our defense did a great job of withstanding that quarter,” Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said. “Even though we didn’t score, they didn’t score as well so we just had an all-around great game.”
Eighteen players played in the second quarter and are combining to make $31.7 million this season. So, prorated, these players earned $96,708 over the 12-minute period, with Victor Oladipo ($15,177, 1-for-4) clearing the most and Langston Galloway ($718, 0-for-2) taking home the smallest amount for his 10 minutes, 11 seconds on the floor.
Toronto Raptors guard Louis Williams outperformed them in his game against the Miami Heat on Saturday. Williams put up 17 points in the second period, the most in a quarter in his career, by going 5-for-6 from the field. Trevor Booker had 19 points in the first quarter for the Utah Jazz, and Stephen Curry put up a season-high 15 points in the first quarter of his game.
In all, 150 players have scored at least 16 points in a quarter this season.
New York and Orlando each managed to score at least 19 points in the other three quarters. The Knicks prevailed 80-79 to move to 16-64 on the season, a half-game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the worst record in the league.
ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
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