ORLANDO, Fla. — The Knicks showed they can win ugly.
After the shorthanded Magic mucked up the game and the refs obliged with a stream of whistles, the Knicks flexed their talent advantage by pummeling the Magic on Friday night, 108-85, for their sixth straight win.
It was a snoozefest with free throws galore, challenge reviews, missed shots and zero flow.
Magic on Dec. 27. NBAE via Getty Images
But after the Magic managed to stay competitive for 2 ½ quarters, the Knicks finally created separation behind Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson and ran away in the final quarter.
Brunson dropped 26 points with nine assists, the second time this season he played well in Orlando.
His podcast partner, Hart, added a season-high 23 points with 13 rebounds in arguably his best performance of the campaign.
Hart thrives in the dirt and Orlando made it messy while committing 23 personal fouls.
The Knicks (21-10), who’ve won 16 of their past 20, took 34 free throws, 14 above their average.
Hart had 10 by himself.
And New York won handily despite hitting just four 3-pointers on 15 attempts, an anomaly in today’s NBA.
For the Magic (19-14), the strategy was understandable.
They were playing on the second night of a back-to-back without three of their best players — Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Moe Wagner — who are all out with injuries.
Jalen Suggs, the feisty Magic guard, tried to overcome that disadvantage with 27 points.
But he was also part of the foul-fest, picking up five personals quickly, and only managed 26 minutes.
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The Magic didn’t have anybody else to score reliably.
With the momentum swinging toward New York in the third quarter, the visiting fans took over the Kia Center, chanting loudly and abundantly, “Let’s Go Knicks.”
It was MSG South for much of the second half.
This was the third time in December the Knicks faced the Magic, and the third time they beat them.
But the notion of a Knicks cakewalk was extinguished quickly as Suggs knocked down 18 points in the opening half as the teams went into the break tied at 54.
It was physical and drawn out by an avalanche of whistles, including a flagrant foul on Suggs for elbowing Towns in the mouth.
The Knicks, unlike the Magic, have avoided major injury and started the same lineup for the 28th time.
That certainly helped as New York overcame a dud from Karl-Anthony Towns, who was again in foul trouble — a recurring theme for the last couple weeks — and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in 33 minutes.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, meanwhile, expanded his rotation to nine.
Landry Shamet, fully recovered from a dislocated shoulder he suffered in preseason, logged meaningful minutes for the first time this season and acquitted himself well.
He dropped seven points with a steal on 3-for-4 shooting.