Still Waiting
At some point, the Knicks will inspire us again, but it didn't happen last night.
Good morning. Thank goodness for the end of the West Coast trip.
Warriors 126, Knicks 113
25-16 (L2), 9-12 Away, 3rd in the East
For a little while, at least, last night gave us a glimpse of what we’ve been missing.
After their most dispiriting loss of the season, the Knicks looked like a different team in the early going. Facing off against a surging Warriors team, New York rushed out to a 31-14 lead behind inspired play on both sides of the ball. The offense was in rhythm, even without their captain. The defense finally looked like it meant business. It had been some time since they delivered a truly inspiring performance, but this looked like it had a chance to be exactly that.
A slim chance, as it turned out.
We soon learned that the hot offense was merely a result of hitting six of their first seven 3-pointers. They would go on to make just seven more in 31 attempts over the remainder of the game.
But as usual, the offense wasn’t the main issue. Considering they didn’t have Jalen Brunson to spearhead their attack or Mitchell Robinson to dispense second and third opportunities, 113 points was more than acceptable.
The defense, on the other hand, was not.
We now have a full month in the books since the NBA Cup final against the San Antonio Spurs. Over that time, only one team - the Utah Jazz - has a worse defensive rating than the Knicks.
Many of their issues have been blamed on Jalen Brunson, but last night was an unwelcome reminder that the problems run far deeper than that. The Warriors were the latest team to out-physical New York, leading to a postgame in which I heard several accusations that this group was soft.
The evidence, at this point, is not in their favor.
