Thunder hand Knicks worst home Christmas loss in NBA history, win 123-94
The New York Knicks have been a major disappointment this season, following 2012-13's impressive second-place regular-season finish in the East with a 9-19 start full of injuries, embarrassing moments, and their usual portion of poor explanations and bad public relations. Yet, after all those negatives, it's possible that the Knicks' season hit a new low during their Christmas game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Madison Square Garden.
Facing one of the top teams in the West without the sidelined Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks suffered a brutal 123-194 loss that ranks as the worst home loss in the history of the NBA's Christmas games, as noted in this ESPN graphic:
Somehow, the score does not communicate the full degree of the Thunder's evisceration of the Knicks. The stats help some: OKC shot 53.6 percent from the field and 54.2 percent from beyond the arc, assisted on 32 of 45 field goals, held the Knicks to 42.2 percent shooting, and had the game well in hand by the beginning of the fourth quarter. Russell Westbrook posted an easy tripled-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in only 29 minutes; Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka combined for 53 points on 20-of-30 FG; and all 12 Thunder players finished with a positive plus-minus.
The video tells even more. In addition to Beno Udrih's three-pointer off the side of the backboard and subsequent sleeve-pulling, Reggie Jackson served up a vicious posterization to Amar'e Stoudemire, a player who once did this sort of thing to opponents regularly (via Beyond the Buzzer):
To put a delightful bow on the festivities, attending fans booed J.R. Smith (20 points on 8-of-22 shooting with a -32 in 38 minutes) as he left the court with 4:04 left in the game (via Ben Golliver).
It was but one of many boo choruses throughout these 48 deplorable minutes. This game was truly the coal in the stocking of every Knicks fan.
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is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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