Wednesday night’s loss to the Spurs was one thing, but to look lifeless against a 17-win Hornets team is another.
That’s what the Knicks have to come to terms with after their 115-98 loss to Charlotte on Thursday night. Sure, it was the second of a back-to-back on the road, and New York is trying to find wins without Jalen Brunson on the floor, but how the Knicks played in Charlotte was nothing fans have seen or expected from this team all season.
The Knicks were outworked and outplayed for most of Thursday’s game. And Josh Hart has one big concern for his team right now.
“Mental toughness. I think that’s my main concern right now,” Hart said after the game. “We can make all the excuses in the world, but there’s highs and lows in the season and no one’s 82-0. But the way that we’re losing games is embarrassing.
“So, we have to find a way to right the ship. We have to come out next game with more intensity, more desperation. Starts with myself. As someone who’s supposed to bring energy. I’ve been atrocious the last several weeks. So, we have to get our minds prepared for the end of the season.”
Hart, who came in averaging 9.7 rebounds a game, came down with just four against the Hornets. That’s indicative of how much more the Hornets wanted this game as they outrebounded the Knicks 52-38.
But it wasn’t just on the glass, the Knicks shot poorly too. They shot only 40 percent from the field and 10-of-39 from three (25 percent). The Knicks’ bench was also outscored 37-11.
The Knicks knew it would be difficult to generate offense without Brunson, and they are now just 3-4 without him, but they have to find ways to stay afloat and can’t get down on themselves when shots aren’t falling.
“Shots are gonna fall, not fall, whatever that is. In that case, we got to clean up on the defensive end,” Miles McBride said. “Make sure we’re doing everything we can for them to miss shots and us to rebound because we’re a talented team. We’re going to end up making shots. It’s just got to be on the other end.”
“The defense and the rebounding have to be the constant, so the nights that you’re not shooting well you still have a good chance to win,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said of his team’s performance. “I thought for the most part, there was a lot of unselfish play. We didn’t shoot well, but we had 26 assists. Right. And there was low turnover, but I think sometimes when you’re missing those types of shots it tends to … you can’t allow that to take away from your intensity, or your concentration. The frustration, you have to eliminate.”
The team talked about fatigue and how the Knicks’ recent brutal schedule has attributed to their slow starts of late, but this group would tell you that it’s not something they can accept.
“Like I said, we can make the excuses. We’ve had a terrible two, two and a half weeks of travel. But all teams go through terrible travel periods during the season. And it’s not an excuse,” Hart said of the schedule. “If we’re right mentally. We win some of these games but we’re not doing what it takes.
“We’re not doing the extra effort. We’re not giving energy, not giving the right output. We’re crying to refs. We got to pick it up.”
“It’s very uncharacteristic of us to come out the way we did,” McBride said. “And we just got to come together and find it. Whatever you have to do. We have to do it.”
For the Knicks, they have a few nights to rest in their own beds before their next game. They host the Washington Wizards on Saturday night, looking to put this embarrassing stretch behind them.
New York’s loss Thursday coupled with the Pacers’ win against the Nets has put the gap between them at only three games. If the Knicks want to hold onto their No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, they’ll need to figure things out and fast.
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