The Knicks are coming off a one-point win over Charlotte

CHARLOTTE – On Black Friday, the Knicks were compared to a discount rack version of the Charlotte Hornets. And then they fought for survival.

Shortly after finishing the team Thanksgiving dinner, they took the floor at the Spectrum Center for a noon game and the Knicks trailed for much of the game before eventually grinding out a 99-98 victory.

The win gave them a 3-2 record on the five-game, 10-day trip and allowed them to take something positive from what was shaping up to be their worst defeat of the season.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 31 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Josh Hart contributed 13 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. But the Knicks once again struggled with the offensive production of Mikal Bridges, who shot 3-for-10, and OG Anunoby, who went 3-for-11 and scored 8 points.

For the second straight year, the Knicks scored just 15 points in the first quarter. But the previous one was against the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks. This was an injury-weakened Hornets squad that was missing LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Nick Richards, Mark Williams and Grant Williams – the 6-foot-1 Moussa Diabate in the middle and a backup team around him other than Brandon Miller.

The Knicks trailed 23-15 after one game and still trailed 49-46 at halftime, thanks to another example of being outplayed by the Hornets’ bench players being pushed into starring roles. Josh Green hit a jumper with 1.1 seconds left in the half to give the Hornets the lead, and Mikal Bridges’ lazy pass was deflected by Green, who fired a turnaround jumper as time expired.

“Ready to play,” emphasized Thibodeau before the game began. “It’s a different start time, so I think you almost have to have a different strategy to get ready to go. It’s part of the league. They all have different start times. Sometimes it’s early early, sometimes it’s mid-afternoon, sometimes it’s a late start. I think it’s huge from a preparation standpoint. If you look at the league, you realize how important the first quarter is. So game readiness is a big part of it.”

If a lesson was learned early on, it wasn’t reflected in the game, as the Knicks took the floor in the third quarter and still couldn’t shake off the Hornets. Josh Hart gave the Knicks the lead with 30.6 seconds left by hitting a three-point field goal. But KJ Simpson sank a three-pointer and the Knicks entered the fourth quarter trailing 72-71.

The Knicks never took the lead again until Brunson drained a jumper in the lane with 4:50 to play to take an 86-85 lead. Then Deuce McBride stole the ball and went for a dunk and a three-point lead.

Josh Hart gave the Knicks a six-point lead, 94-88, on a cutting layup off a pass from Towns, and the game seemed assured when Brunson hit 2 of 3 from the line with less than a minute left. But Diabate parried a dunk attempt and caused a foul on Brunson. He missed the free throw, but Cody Martin grabbed the rebound and was fouled, hitting one of two to bring Charlotte within 96-93 with 47 seconds to play.

The Hornets trailed by just two seconds after two free throws from Miller with 11.4 seconds left. But Brunson delivered again, hitting two free throws with 8.6 seconds left to take a four-point lead.

As time expired on the final margin, Green hit a three-pointer.

“I tell our guys that all the time,” Thibodeau said. “You can’t come here without being a great player. From one to 18 years old the players are very talented, you have to respect that and understand that everyone plays for something. The urgency and intensity must be great.”

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, as well as nearly every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.