National Basketball Association
New York 91, Orlando 84
When: 12:00 PM ET, Monday, January 18, 2021
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: #36 Brent Barnaky, #43 Matt Myers, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance: N/A

Julius Randle hit the tie-breaking layup with 56.8 seconds left Monday afternoon as the host New York Knicks posted a rare back-to-back sweep by beating the Orlando Magic 91-84.

The Knicks, who beat the Boston Celtics on Sunday, won on back-to-back days for the first time since Oct. 29-30, 2017, when they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets. New York played 40 back-to-back sets in between sweeps.

Randle (21 points, 17 rebounds) and RJ Barrett (22 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles for the second straight game. Reggie Bullock scored 13 points, Elfrid Payton added 12 points and Immanuel Quickley added 11 points off the bench.

Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 14 rebounds and Aaron Gordon (18 points, 17 rebounds, nine assists) just missed a triple-double for the Magic, which have lost six straight since Markelle Fultz suffered a season-ending knee injury. Terrence Ross had 19 points off the bench.

The Knicks led for almost 40 consecutive minutes but squandered a 14-point fourth quarter advantage before mounting their late run.

Ross, Vucevic and Gordon generated a 19-5 run to tie the game. Ross and Vucevic had 7 points apiece and Gordon scored 5 in a 19-5 run by the Magic that ended with Gordon sinking the 3-pointer that evened the score at 73-73 with 5:50 left.

Ross' 3-pointer tied the game again at 78-78 with 3:39 left. The Magic squandered two chances to take the lead before Khem Birch won a jump ball to set up a frantic sequence in which Ross drained an off-balance 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give Orlando an 81-80 lead -- its first lead since 9-6 -- with 1:41 left.

Randle hit one of two free throws on the Knicks' next trip down the floor. After Ross missed a 3-pointer, New York called timeout and Randle subsequently drove the lane, generated contact with Birch and hit the go-ahead layup as Birch fell to the ground.

Bullock stole a Gordon pass on the Magic's next possession and Barrett converted the layup on the other end to extend the Knicks lead to 85-81. Gordon then missed a pair of layups and New York iced the game by going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 27.1 seconds.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Orlando   New York
Nikola Vucevic 24 Scoring RJ Barrett 22
Aaron Gordon 10 Assists RJ Barrett 4
Aaron Gordon 17 Rebounds Julius Randle 17
Terrence Ross 5 Free Throws Made Julius Randle 9
Khem Birch 2 Steals Elfrid Payton 2
James Ennis III 2 Blocks Nerlens Noel 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Orlando 84 33.7 12-38 14-16 18 51 9 4 12
New York 91 35.6 5-27 24-34 15 53 4 6 8
Upcoming Games
  • New York will play their next game on the road against Golden State. The Knicks have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .375 after a loss.
  • Orlando will play their next game on the road against Minnesota. The Magic have a W/L % of .714 after a win and .143 after a loss.