In a contest against the short-handed Charlotte Hornets, the Knicks needed the final minutes to knock them off in a 99-98 nail-biter of a final score Saturday afternoon with the help of 31 points from Jalen Brunson and 19 from Karl-Anthony Towns .

Despite the Charlotte Hornets missing five of their top six scorers, the New York Knicks found themselves in a dogfight with them Friday afternoon and

They outscored New York by 8 points in the first quarter, holding the Knicks to only 15 points and forcing two shot clock violations in the first three minutes. The Hornets strong first half play with Salaun,