Miles McBride and Jordan Clarkson have taken extra pictures than the Knicks’ two highest-paid gamers.
It’s halftime of New York’s Monday evening matchup in opposition to the Detroit Pistons, a possibility for the Knicks to stave off what might be a season-worst four-game shedding streak, and Jalen Brunson has taken 13 pictures. Mikal Bridges has gotten eight appears to be like. However Karl-Anthony Cities and OG Anunoby mustered simply two shot makes an attempt apiece, spending their time watching idly because the Knicks offense incessantly grinds right into a standstill.
They’d go on to mix for 11 factors on two-of-seven taking pictures from the sector because the Knicks fell behind by as many as 33 factors in a 121-90 defeat, their fourth in a row, and by far the crew’s worst efficiency beneath new head coach Mike Brown.
Brown hoped his crew would rise to the problem after their 130-119 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. That didn’t occur. Fairly the other.
“It’s the first time all year we’ve lost three in a row, so we’re in an area that we’re not used to. We’ve hit a little bit of adversity,” he stated after the loss to Philadelphia on Saturday. “I’ve by no means been a part of a crew that has not gone by means of adversity all through the course of a yr whether or not we’ve gained it on the finish of the season or we had been within the Finals or we had a midway first rate season.
“Every team’s gonna hit [adversity], and now for us, it’s about how do we respond? How do we come out of it? And this is a great opportunity for us to see what we’re made of while we’re coming out of this stretch.”
Seems the Knicks are made from turnstiles, however neglect for a second they’ve been abominable on protection (the Knicks had been twenty fifth in defensive ranking earlier than surrendering 121 factors to the Pistons on Monday).
This crew’s offense is out of whack. It has fully reversed course from the free-flowing system predicated on ball and participant motion Brown put in when he took the teaching job in late August.
And as a substitute of paint sprays resulting in spray threes, as a substitute of read-and-react basketball enjoying off of ball reversals and fast selections, it’s extra of the same-old Knicks offense the crew wished to put off when it made the stunning determination to alter head coaches following the primary Jap Convention Finals look in 25 years.
It’s iso-ball. It’s standing round and watching. It’s one or two passes earlier than the ball goes to the rim, again and again, the very antithesis of all the things that helped the Knicks on their Cinderella run to the NBA Cup Closing.
And now for the protection, as a result of the second forgetting how dangerous it was has come and gone: For the third recreation in a row, an opposing crew’s greatest participant has had their method with the Knicks defensive stoppers.
Jalen Johnson (18 factors, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) posted a triple-double within the Knicks’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Tyrese Maxey put up 36 factors on solely eight missed pictures on Saturday. And Cade Cunningham scored 29 factors in 29 minutes, taking pictures 11-of-17 from the sector and three-of-four from downtown to go together with 13 assists on the evening.
The Pistons’ bench outscored the Knicks’, 58-42.
In the meantime Brunson scored 25 factors on 10-of-21 taking pictures from the sector. He had six turnovers and no assists. Mikal Bridges scored 10 factors on 11 pictures, and McBride was the one reprieve: 17 factors off the bench in 25 minutes.
The Knicks miss Josh Hart, however Hart’s absence shouldn’t have despatched this crew down a darkish spiral.
New York is now 2-4 in video games Hart has missed with an ankle sprain–and their offense appears to be like fully out of kinds.
It appears to be like so dangerous, it’s made the poor protection an afterthought.
