Thunderstruck

The Knicks fight hard but lose their second straight, no thanks to the refs.

Good morning. Prayers up for Deuce.

Thunder 111, Knicks 100

48027 (L2); 21-18 on the road

Before we get to the game, I want to start by sending any and all good karma in my possession directly to Deuce McBride. Playing in his first game in two months, McBride dove on the floor for a loose ball (because of course he did - this is Deuce we’re talking about here) and appeared to injure the same area he had sports hernia surgery on back in early February. He left the game immediately and went to the locker room shortly thereafter.

For a guy who works harder than anyone both on and off the court, I can’t imagine the level of disappointment for something like this to occur. My hope is that it looked worse than it was and maybe McBride can return to the court before too long. Either way, for a team that already has plenty of obstacles to overcome down the stretch of this season, their journey just got even harder.

In that sense, the result of the game added insult to injury in more ways than one.

Not only did the Knicks lose their second straight to fall 2.5 games behind the Celtics for second place in the East, but they did so with the indignity of watching OKC parade to the line for 38 free throw attempts. That’s tied for the second highest total allowed by New York this season while also tying the Thunder’s third most. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly attempted as many free throws (16) as the Knicks did as a team (17).

Mike Brown clearly wasn’t thrilled in the moment, getting his second technical foul as New York’s coach, with the first also coming against the Thunder earlier this month. Afterwards he seemed to change his tune a bit, praising OKC’s gamesmanship while saying “you can’t waste your energy against the officials, and we did that tonight--and it still didn’t change.” Either way, against a team that already requires near perfection to achieve victory, the officiating made the uphill climb that much steeper.

Not that the Knicks were perfect. Facing the second best turnover-generating defense in the NBA, New York gave it away 19 times to OKC’s 15, giving the Thunder a slightly larger advantage in the turnover department than the Knicks had on the offensive glass (15-12). The Knicks have to have a net advantage in those categories if they want a realistic chance of winning this matchup.

(As an aside, turnovers matter far more for the Knicks than we’ve given credence to. They’re now 7-14 when they turn it over 16 or more times. On the flip side, they’re 19-6 when their opponent commits at least that many. They’re also now 0-7 against Detroit, Oklahoma City and Phoenix; aka, the top three defenses in the league by turnover rate. Probably not a coincidence.)

In addition to the failure to take care of the ball, New York also wasn’t very good inside the 3-point line, shooting just 21-of-47 on twos. The Thunder aim to make life miserable anytime you dare to dribble inside the arc, and between the turnovers and the 2-point percentage, they certainly succeeded.

Not that it was all or even mostly bad for the Knicks. They did a great job capitalizing on the 3-point opportunities they were afforded, hitting 15 of their 43 attempts. More impressively, New York defended as well as they have in a while considering the competition (both the ones wearing OKC jerseys and the ones with the whistles). They fought, they got around screens, they closed out hard and smart, and for the most part, they were connected. It was the sort of defensive effort that made you believe their lofty rating isn’t some sort of mirage.

The one exception to that was Karl-Anthony Towns, who the Thunder seemed to target early and often and who didn’t hold up his end of the bargain nearly as well as he has for much of this season. Adding to the frustration is the fact that KAT had two (2) field goal attempts over the first three quarters. Save for getting fouled on a drive on the opening possession and one quick flurry in the third when he made a point to get post position on Alex Caruso, Towns was a non-entity. That changed in the fourth, when he muscled up for some offensive rebounds and put-backs, getting the Knicks as close as 92-91 midway through the period.

But after three consecutive field goals, Mike Brown subbed KAT out for 29 seconds, likely to give his big man a breather. When he re-entered the game, all that momentum dissipated and he only attempted one more shot - a missed three with under two minutes remaining and the Knicks down 11.

Going back and re-watching the relevant possessions as the game got away from them, it’s hard to blame any one person. Jalen took three shots, making one. He missed a tough runner over I-Hart and then a wide open middy that almost always goes down. Other than that, there was a bad turnover by Mitch, a missed open corner three from Mikal, and a poor possession out of a timeout that resulted in a late clock OG three from above the break.

As usual, we’re left with the same questions, not only about that stretch but about the first three quarters of the game. Why wasn’t KAT more involved? Whose fault was it? Did he need to work harder to get post position? Was it incumbent upon his teammates to find him? How much is Mike Brown to blame?

As I said on the postgame, the whole thing is utterly exhausting to talk about, so I can only imagine how it must feel within the locker room. At this point, expecting a big impact from KAT against the most physical teams in the NBA just seems like too much to ask for. I’d rather wait for Godot.

Not that all hope should be lost. The Knicks played well enough to win this one, and might have emerged with the W had a few things gone differently. This level of effort and execution would have probably been good enough against 29 other teams.

Will we be having the same lament two months from now?

Wouldn’t that be a fantastic problem to have.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫

⭐️ Jalen Brunson: Was it Brunson’s best game? No. But if you get 32 points on 22 shots against that defense, you’re getting a star, especially when you hold up as well as Brunson did on defense.

Drew his league-leading 30th charge, 10 more than Marcus Smart in second place.

⭐️ ⭐️ Josh Hart: There are few things in the NBA more dangerous than a confident Josh Hart.

Hart had zero hesitation behind the arc last night, firing away seven threes and making five. On top of that, his activity level on both ends was palpable. Got the SGA assignment on more than a few occasions and held up pretty well, or at least as well as anyone can.

Incredible to say, but he’s now made 16 of his last 20 attempts from long range. Say hello to the leading 3-point shooter on the Knicks, at least by percentage.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Mikal Bridges: Hart’s five threes got more attention, but Mikal’s four steals were slightly more impressive to me. He was everywhere on defense, making a massive impact both on and off the ball. His 15 points all felt timely, especially a few on busted possessions where he rescued them at the end of the clock. This is the version of Mikal Bridges the Knicks need if they’re going to be playing basketball in June.

Final Thought

I feel like Lou Brown in Major League after yet another loss to the Yankees:

Some day we'll figure out how to beat those guys.

🏀

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”