“I think we just came out with a different type of energy,” Knox said of the huge momentum shift in the fourth. “We locked in on the defensive end and we just made the right plays down the stretch. We hit shots, got stops, ran in transition, but I think the biggest thing in that fourth quarter was just the energy and the effort.”

Knox entered the final frame just 1-of-4 from the floor with two points, but he was a perfect 4-of-4 in the fourth, including a trio of three-pointers, the last of which gave the Knicks a 95-93 lead late in the game.

Knox said after the game that his shooting came alive thanks to the energy he was bringing on both sides of the floor.

“I just think I’ve got to stay confident and just keep shooting, keep making plays for other people on the team. Defensively, I locked in [during] the second half,” Knox said. “I was way better [playing with] energy, making the right reads, making the right passes, knocking down shots. I’ve just got to continue playing with confidence, continue playing with energy on both sides of the basketball court and I’ll be fine.

“I was getting a lot of good looks in the first couple of games, I just wasn’t knocking them down. Tonight, I got the same looks and I just kept shooting, kept making the right plays, getting to the free-throw line, running down in transition, so all of those of are good shots. I’ve just got to continue to take great shot, continue to make the players around me better and make the right reads, and if I continue to do that and everyone continues to play the right way, we’ll be good.”

Defense has always been the name of the game for Tom Thibodeau-coached clubs, and on Wednesday the Knicks’ head coach was pleased to see his young players turn their defensive intensity into offensive success.

“The big thing for us – sometimes when you have younger players, they view everything offensively, so if it’s not going well offensively, it saps their defensive energy,” Thibodeau said. “As a young player, you have to understand that you can play well sometimes if you’re not shooting well, just do other things. I thought we started to do that and then we found a rhythm and it was good for us.”

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