Knicks taught a hard lesson with loss to Rockets
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, left, drives into Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Houston. Credit: AP/Michael Wyke
HOUSTON — In the early days of the season as the Knicks learn and grow together they will have their moments, good and bad. And after Monday’s loss in Houston, they saw that defeat as another hard-learned lesson.
The Knicks had started their road trip with an impressive win in Miami and then flowed smoothly through an easy win in Detroit. But Monday, the Rockets put 6-6 Dillon Brooks on Karl-Anthony Towns, tried to hide Alperen Sengun defensively and as the Knicks tried to adjust to these schemes they found themselves stuck in mud.
“Yeah, felt like games like this we can’t just try to consistently chase the mismatch,” Josh Hart said. “We’ve got to get more movement into it. Even when we got the mismatch we wanted it was very stagnant. And then we’re just going against a loaded defense. Then it’s tough to offensive rebound, tough to do stuff like that. I think we were decent. We probably complained a little bit too much, let that take us out of the game. We’ve just got to learn from it and build off of it.”
Hart rarely stands still, moving in search of an opening whether it is cutting to the basket for himself or finding an angle for the next pass. And the Knicks seemed to do that as a team Friday. But Monday it was mostly reverting to standing around watching as they tried to find the matchup they wanted. Hart repeatedly used the word “stagnant” and it was hard to disagree.
“We need to be better with our switching offense,” Jalen Brunson said. “That’s just plain and simple. We need to be better.”
“I think sometimes we have like Brooks is on KAT and we’re trying to find that,” Hart said. “We’re trying to get Sengun into the action. We’re doing that so much, KAT’s catching the ball 12 feet but he turns and they have everybody in the paint converging and it’s not as much of a mismatch as we would like.
“But when we’re able to kind of get the ball moving, forcing them to make reads and get into their weak side of the court and think defensively, that’s when you open up the slips, the mistakes and you’re able to capitalize on it. I think we scored like 97 points. Offensively, we have to be more decisive, more in tune with the game. Teams see that they’re going to think that’s the blueprint.”
It’s hard to imagine this is a suitable blueprint though. Some of the flaws Monday may have just been a night where the shots don’t fall. Deuce McBride had shot better than 50% from the field in the first five games and struggled though an 0-for-9 night, something you believe is an anomaly. Brunson was just 9-for-24 shooting. As a team the Knicks shot worse from inside the arc (23-for-60) than beyond it (11-for-28).
“I mean there’s always something to learn every game,” Towns said. “I don’t think there’s a time we aren’t learning, especially in the playoffs. Obviously we’ve got to get there. We’re a team that’s growing and we’re going to continue to grow until the last horn. Good film to watch early in the season.”
Notes & quotes: The Knicks completed the necessary roster work Tuesday to reach the 14-standard contract figure, converting Ariel Hukporti from a two-way contract to a standard rookie deal, signing Matt Ryan to a non-guaranteed standard deal and adding guard Boo Buie on a two-way deal.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
