Tuesday evening was special for New York fans, as they witnessed two of their players record franchise history in a 128-113 victory over Dallas. Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart became the first Knicks teammates to post triple-doubles in the same match.
While Hart recorded his team-high ninth triple-double of the season, ending the home match with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, Towns dropped 26 points, won 12 rebounds and handed out 11 dimes in his third career triple-double. Another Knicks player who excelled was OG Anunoby, who scored a team-high 35 points.
Both players became only the 17 set of teammates to ever deliver a triple-double in the same contest in NBA history, and the second time this 2024-25 campaign. Back on Dec. 30 and Jan. 10., Denver’s Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic each recorded triple-doubles those nights.
“For me, that’s an easy decision,” Hart said. “That record is cool and a blessing, but at the end of the day that record’s going to get broken at some point. Hopefully, later rather than sooner. But that’s going to get broken. Getting your first NBA points, nobody can take that away from you. It’s important that he had that, got the game ball for that. That’s an easy decision for me.”
Another interesting fact of the night, was how rookie Kevin McCullar Jr., finally scored his first points in his NBA career. The youngster had been sidelined for almost a year with a knee injury until he made his league debut during this Tuesday’s clash against the Mavericks.
Kevin, who was the 56th pick in last year’s draft, received the ball off Hart’s pass and delivered a shot into the rim. With his ninth triple-double of the season, Josh broke Clyde Frazier’s record for most triple-doubles in a. single season for a New York player.
“It’s been rough, but I kept my head on straight. Everybody has been supporting me here and I’m just glad that I’m back playing now,” McCullar shared postgame. “Adversity makes you who you are and everybody goes through it in different ways of life. Growing up, that’s all I’ve known is playing basketball.”
