NEW YORK — To secure a win against the Charlotte Hornets, you’ve got to beat them at their own game.
The Hornets own a top-15 NBA defense and are jockeying for playoff position in the Eastern Conference, just three games behind the sixth-place Knicks. But any defense that doesn’t rank in the top five has visibly exploitable holes.
The Knicks identified those holes and exploited them early and often. Yes, the Hornets play an aggressive brand of defense, but they give up more 3-point takes and makes than any other team. The Knicks rained 3s, then rained in some more in an all-out barrage for their seventh straight win in a 109-97 victory over the Hornets on Tuesday.