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When you lose the way, the Westchester Knicks (12-4) did on Saturday night, there’s only one thing that has to be said. These kinds of games will happen, whether you like it or not. Despite leading for the entire game and heading towards their eight consecutive victory, the W-Knicks suddenly collapsed in the fourth quarter and watched the Oklahoma City Blue pull away with a 107-102 victory.
As we look closely at why the W-Knicks lost in surprising fashion, it really comes down to two things. First of all, Oklahoma City produced an incredible fourth quarter performance, that will be remembered for the rest of this season. After being down 90-73, Oklahoma City outscored the W-Knicks 36-12 and created stretches of great offense and defense. In fact, when it came to their defense, Oklahaoma City held the W-Knicks scoreless for the game’s final four minutes until two seconds were remaining.
And last but not least, Scotty Hopsin led the way for a Oklahoma City offense that found a great rhythm in the fourth quarter. Hopsin would finish with 28 points and had four other teammates who scored in the double digits too (McDaniels, Solomon, Gaddy, and Leon). But as we shift our focus to the W-Knicks, it’s a matter of them dealing with a harsh reality that all offenses fear. An extremely bad shooting night.
Although Billy Garrett and Kadeem Allen would score 24 points and 23 points respectively, and three other players reached double digits, the W-Knicks saw their shooting totals drop to 48% from the field and 29% from three after producing a hot start. And to make things worse, they also lost the turnover battle, as Oklahoma City took the ball away 18 times.
In case you didn’t know this, Saturday night’s performance was highlighted by the return of John Jenkins, who was recently away playing for Team USA. Jenkins would end up scoring 10 points on 5-13 shooting. Up next for the Westchester Knicks is the start of their 10 day road trip, which begins on Tuesday when they face the Lakeland Magic.