Knicks frustrated by turnovers, poor defense in loss to Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY — Through an arduous schedule the Knicks have managed to represent themselves well and even when they lose, the fight has been as impressive as anything, refusing to give in.

But for a night, the defining mood at Paycom Center was frustration. Even as they fought to stay in the game, the night was marred by too many arguments with the officials, slumped shoulders after missed opportunities and maybe a little anger at themselves.

The Knicks trailed by as many as 17 points early and came all the way back in the third quarter, but then reverted to chasing and trying to catch up while hearing celebratory MVP chants for an assortment of star turns for the Thunder in a 129-120 loss.

Julius Randle spent too many trips sulking in the backcourt shaking his head after not getting a call. There were 18 turnovers and defensive lapses.

"I mean, I shot 13 free throws," Randle said. "It’s tough to get every call. Did I think a few were missed? Yes. As far as consistency, like I had a respectful conversation with [referee] James [Capers]. In the first half, they were talking about extension, driving and extending your arm. He said once I drove and I extended and I stepped through. He didn’t call the offensive foul. I got fouled and he didn’t call it because of the extension. Later on in the first half Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] did the same thing, extended and stepped through. He got the bump and one, they called the foul.

"It was just a little frustration with the consistency with the calls. But like I said, I got 13 free throws, so it’s hard to really complain. They’re not going to get every one right. They’re not perfect. You know, those are little things that happen in the game and you’ve just got to move on and keep playing. They’ll get more right than they get wrong."

Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Wiliams each put up 36 points for the Thunder while rookie Chet Holmgren had 22 points and four blocked shots.

For the Knicks Randle had 25 points, Jalen Brunson added 24 and Immanuel Quickley added 22 off the bench while RJ Barrett struggled through a 5-for-14, 14-points, five-foul evening.

"We turned the ball over," Brunson said of the Knicks 18 turnovers, "I turned the ball over way too much. They capitalized on our turnovers, and so, if we have our average turnovers, it's a different game. But we just coughed it up too much."

After trailing nearly the entire game the Knicks finally pulled even with 5:28 left in the third quarter on a coast-to-coast drive by Josh Hart, capping a 7-0 run and prompting an Oklahoma City timeout. Trailing by nine at halftime the Knicks were led in the comeback by Randle, who had nine of the 21 points in the quarter to that point.

Randle and Brunson played the entire third quarter, combining for 21 points and the Knicks hung tight. Brunson drove to the rim with six seconds left in the period, but his layup was rejected by Chet Holmgren, and the Knicks went to the fourth quarter trailing 93-89.

The Knicks kept coming at the Thunder, but every push was answered — usually by Gilgeous-Alexander.

With the Knicks within four, Holmgren buried a three-point field goal and then Williams converted a layup, drawing a foul on Quentin Grimes and completing the three-point play for a 106-96 lead with 8:18 left.

The Knicks were down by seven when Randle tried to bank in a short shot from the left block. But Holmgren rose up and swatted it off the backboard. And while Randle remained in the backcourt, arguing the no-call, Wiliams buried a wide-open three-pointer and the lead was back to 10 with 3:18 remaining.

After a bucket by Brunson, Williams hit another three and then Brunson was called for a charge. Holmgren drained a baseline jumper and the celebration was on.

The Thunder were on the second night of a back-to-back set, having beaten the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night. But it was the Knicks who started the three-game, four-night road trip seeming as if they were already exhausted.

While coach Tom Thibodeau preaches a next game focus, it’s hard not to think about what the Knicks have faced this month — just three home games and a stretch in which they have had to face a string of playoff-positioned teams.

“A little bit, but at the end of the day, if you do that, you'll kind of be exhausted before you even get into it,” Isaiah Hartenstein said. “Like, our motto is always take it day by day. I think if you look too far at the schedule, you're going to automatically get exhausted, as a mental part of it. So you really have to take it game by game. I think we did a good job in December, especially with Mitch [Mitchell Robinson] being out, I think it was like 5-3, so I think played against good teams in that stretch, too, so it was a good step forward.”

The Knicks seemed fortunate to be trailing just 69-60 at the half because there was little they did right most of the half. Gilgeous-Alexander had 19 points as an assortment of Knicks defenders tried and failed to slow him down and Jalen Williams added 14 in the half.

OKC shot 8-of-16 from beyond the arc and turned the ball over just once while the Knicks had 10 turnovers — three by Randle, who was frustrated by no-calls for much of the opening 24 minutes. Randle had 11 points and 6 rebounds, but it was hardly one of his better efforts.

The Knicks trailed by as many as 17 points in the half, closing the gap to 50-45 with a 16-4 run — with Barrett and Quickley combining for 13 of the points in the burst.

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.