This time, the Knicks measured up.
Facing the NBA’s hottest team, with a top 5 record, the Knicks not only toppled the Grizzlies on Monday night at MSG, they battered them into early submission behind a balanced attack and two-way domination from Mikal Bridges.
The Knicks got what they wanted offensively in the 143-106 annihilation, while the Grizzlies devolved into a turnover mess when they had the rock.
The result was a 26-point lead in the third quarter, a mass concession substitution from the Grizzlies with about five minutes remaining in the fourth, and an overall Knicks performance ranking near their best of the season.
Bridges dropped 28 points and, as the primary defender, stifled Ja Morant. Bridges was also a ridiculous plus-43 for the Knicks (31-16), who’ve won four consecutive and five of their past six.
Such a blowout wasn’t anticipated against the Grizzlies (31-16), who entered with an NBA-best six-game winning streak.
But the Knicks landed the first blow, and the Grizzlies, who trailed for the final 46 minutes, never countered.
They were run out of MSG. The final minutes became a Knicks highlight show with Bridges leaping for an alley-oop and Miles McBride throwing down a tomahawk jam that had the Garden fans in a frenzy.
Jalen Brunson scored 20 points in just 25 minutes. Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points with 11 rebounds in 33 minutes. Josh Hart played just 26 minutes — his lowest total since opening night in Boston.
Tom Thibodeau was able to keep his starters’ minutes low because of the blowout, and also because New York’s bench impressed behind McBride (14 points) and Precious Achiuwa (14).
The Grizzlies committed 26 turnovers, failing to recreate their familiar high-octane offense from much of this season. Morant, playing at MSG for the first time since 2022, was bottled up and lacked aggression, scoring just 10 points on 13 shots in 27 minutes.
Jaren Jackson Jr., an All-Star candidate, led Memphis with 21 points. He was their only threat, but also committed four turnovers.
The Knicks are no longer winless against the top 3 teams in each conference.
They’re 0-1 against the Celtics, 0-1 against the Cavs, 0-2 against the Thunder, 0-1 against the Rockets — and now 1-0 against the Grizzlies.