While a midseason losing streak from a championship contender is by no means indicative of how their season will end, the latest vibes surrounding the Knicks are nevertheless unnerving.
Just hours after Knicks owner James Dolan publicly reaffirmed sky-high expectations, his team stumbled in the national spotlight on Monday, dropping its fourth straight game in an ugly blowout road loss to the first-place Pistons.
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The Knicks’ woes stretch beyond their current four-game lull. Since their NBA Cup title win over the Spurs on Dec. 16, they’ve produced an uninspiring 5-6 record and lost four times by double-digits. They’ve also lacked physicality on both ends of the floor, causing their advanced metrics to slide.
But concerns outside the Knicks’ locker room aren’t bothering the players. Their leading scorer and catalyst, Jalen Brunson, isn’t lifting the lid on some panic button.
“The sky isn’t falling. We’ve lost four in a row,” the Knicks’ captain said following Tuesday’s practice. “Obviously, we don’t want to be in a position like that. We’ve got to be better, be positive. We’ve got to understand, we didn’t start the season great and then we played well after that. It’s just a stint we need to get out of.”
Brunson, the NBA Cup MVP who earned Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors by averaging 30.6 points and 7.1 assists over 14 games in December, hasn’t really missed a beat in the new year. He remains the Knicks’ reliable go-to option, only now his challenge is receiving ample support from teammates.
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In the midst of shooting slumps from three-point range and lingering injuries to key contributors, the Knicks are searching for a rhythm and swagger they once flaunted. When asked if the NBA’s in-season tournament win triggered some sort of hangover, Brunson didn’t agree with the label.
“I’m not calling it a hangover, I’m not calling it anything,” Brunson said. “It’s us not being where we need to be, so where do we go from here?… We just have to be better as a team. I could say it the same way a thousand different times. It’s that plain and simple.”
The Knicks sorely need Karl-Anthony Towns to deliver more consistent scoring, akin to the numbers posted last season as an All-Star alongside Brunson. The veteran center was ineffective against the Pistons, limited to just six points and responsible for a season-worst six turnovers.
What can’t be disputed is Towns’ far-from-seamless transition to head coach Mike Brown’s system. He’s already logged four games this season with single-digit points — last season, he finished below 10 points only once.
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“I lean on my experience, I’ve unfortunately had to adjust to a lot of head coaches and a lot of new teammates and situations,” Towns said on Tuesday. “We’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to move forward.”
Of course, the Knicks must demand more from Towns. But their most glaring issue over the past few weeks has been defensive vulnerability. In their 11-game stretch since the NBA Cup, they’ve been outscored by a whopping 5.6 points per 100 possessions.
The eventual return of Josh Hart from injury will be an energy boost, and Mitchell Robinson’s brief three-game absence made the Knicks’ lineup smaller and weaker in the paint. But toughness is a matter of will, and Towns blames the four-game skid on the defensive efforts.
“You’ve got to play defense to win games,” Towns said. “We can’t give up the amount of points we do and not score as much as them.”
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There was never any doubt of the Knicks’ bar being set above another Eastern Conference Finals appearance. Perhaps the combination of welcomed reinforcements and on-court adjustments can rejuvenate a team still positioned to reach greater heights.
The Knicks will try to snap their losing streak at home on Wednesday, against the Clippers, before embarking on a four-game road trip out west.
