Knicks' offense goes cold in loss to Rockets
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson loses the ball in front of Rockets forward Amen Thompson, left, during the second half of an NBA game Monday in Houston. Credit: AP/Michael Wyke
HOUSTON — Some nights in the NBA you can game plan, study film and then on the court find a simple truth — nothing is working.
And for much of the night Monday that is where the Knicks found themselves. The revamped offense which had begun to flow so smoothly in recent games was missing one key ingredient — the ability to make a shot. Layups clanked off the backboard. Midrange shots rattled off the rim. The Knicks repeatedly falling into double-digit deficits as the athletic Rockets squad bullied them around and blew by them on the other end.
But if you want to be the contending team the Knicks believe they can be, you find a way. And through foul trouble and frustration they managed to pull within reach. They fought off a nightmarish shooting performance (23-for-62 inside the arc) to have chances to tie the score in the final minutes. Instead, they found themselves stuck in the clutch, same as they had been much of the night.
The Knicks fell, 109-97, to drop to 3-3 on the season with one more stop on their four-game road trip. Only OG Anunoby seemed to be on his game, shooting 7-for-14 for 21 points. He ws 5-for-6 on three-pointers. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 29 points, but shot just 9-for-24 from the floor. Deuce McBride endured an 0-for-9 performance — 0-for-5 from three. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds despite being saddled with foul trouble much of the night. Towns' foul trouble made defending Alperin Sengun nearly impossible as the Rockets center scored an efficient 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting.
The key thought for the Rockets wasn’t the scoring as much as it was the defense of Dillon Brooks, who frustrated nearly every Knicks player as he switched from Towns to Brunson and nearly everyone in-between.
The Knicks knew that was coming. Josh Hart had warned a day earlier. “I think he’s a good defender. Going to try to be physical, we have to make sure we set good screens.”
A pair of free throws by Brunson with 5:28 remaining cut the deficit to one, as close as the Knicks had been since the first quarter. But Sengun scored in the paint as he had much of the night. This time it was Josh Hart answering back with a layup. Sengun upped it to three again and Towns misfired from three. Jalen Green then beat the 24-second clock with a three to push the lead to six.
“It’s difficult. He’s so crafty,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of defending Sengun. “Multiple fakes, great touch and can play away from the basket. [He's] deceptive, changes speeds and knows how to create space to get a shot off. So you have to be disciplined, stay down, be the second jumper and then we have to be active with our reads in terms of our help.
"We have to guard him with our team as well. He can put the ball in the basket but he’s also a very good passer. So if you lose vision away from the play, he can make you pay with his passing, especially on the baseline. So [you have]to have an awareness as to what’s going on the floor and stay disciplined with him.”
The Knicks kept fighting back, Mikal Bridges hitting a corner three with 3:03 to play and the gap was just 98-95. Anunoby smothered a Tari Eason drive and the Rockets were called for a 24-second violation. Again, the Knicks could not take advantage with Brunson misfiring on a jumper and Eason finishing a break on the other end to up the lead to five.
Hart cut the lead to three with a layup on a pretty feed from Brunson, but Amen Thompson grabbed a pass in the air, faking a pass and in the same motion slammed in an uncontested dunk with 1:34 left. Brunson missed a three and Green delivered the dagger, a three-point with 58.1 seconds left for a 105-97 Rockets lead.
The Rockets threw a wrench into the Knicks offense, placing defensive stopper Brooks, their 6-foot-6 wing, on Towns to start the game. And when he was done bumping, grabbing and frustrating Towns, he shifted over to defend Brunson. While the Knicks got angered at the officiating — Josh Hart getting hit with a technical and a number of other players seeming to walk the tightrope and barely avoiding one — Houston built up leads of as many as 15 points.
But the Knicks managed to remain in the game, trailing just 61-56 at halftime, thanks to 16 points from OG Anunoby on 4-of-4 shooting from three.
Towns was called for his fourth foul just 94 seconds into the second half, but Thibodeau opted to keep him on the floor and he grabbed 10 rebounds in the period, getting untracked. But the Knicks still feel behind by 13 points again and were fighting out of a hole as they struggled to find their offense.
Notes & quotes: Cam Payne was held out with a hamstring injury. … The Knicks have not made it official, but sources confirmed that the team is converting rookie Ariel Hukporti from a two-way to a standard contract and signing free agent Matt Ryan. The team is required to have 14 players on the roster by Tuesday, but by waiting they have the ability to prorate the contracts, keeping them below the second apron of the salary cap. The 6-7 Westchester native shot 45.1% last season from three for New Orleans and has shot 41.1% in his three seasons.
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.
