The Knicks lost to the top-seeded Pistons again on Thursday, dropping a home game by 15 points after being blown out in their two visits to Detroit. The Pistons were down their starting and backup centers (All-Star Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart) due to suspensions, but Karl-Anthony Towns only managed two points on three field goal attempts in the first half, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
“I mean, our offense is our offense. It’s been that way all year,” said Towns, who finished with 21 points (on 7-of-14 shooting), 11 rebounds and four assists. “So we have our system and we’re gonna — regardless of who’s in the game or not in the game — we run the system that we have implemented for our team to the best of our abilities.”
Head coach Mike Brown reiterated after the game that the six-time All-Star big man is “comfortable” in New York’s offensive system, Begley notes, despite persistent questions about Towns’ role on that end of the court.
“We’re continuing to try to do different things to help free him up,” Brown said. “And we’ll continue to search to try to do different things to free him up throughout the course of the year.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- OG Anunoby‘s return to the court on Thursday was a forgettable one, per Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Anunoby, who previously said he’s still in pain after having his toenail removed, finished with eight points (on 3-of-13 shooting), zero rebounds and zero assists in 32 minutes. He also struggled to slow down Cade Cunningham, who torched the Knicks (42 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds) in an MVP-level performance, Schwartz writes.
- Starting wing Mikal Bridges was benched for the final nine-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter in favor of Landry Shamet, according to Stefan Bondy and Schwartz of The New York Post. Bridges recorded eight points (on 4-of-9 shooting), three rebounds and no assists in 25 minutes. “Landry had hit a couple shots. We needed to score,” Brown said. “They’re both really good defenders. And so I just stayed with Landry. But it wasn’t anything where, ‘Oh, I’m going to sit Mikal because he’s not doing this, or he’s not doing that.’ We were looking to score points and Landry was the only one to make a shot from behind the arc.”
- Rookie forward Mohamed Diawara tells Schwartz he’s not concerned about potentially losing playing time after the Knicks signed Jeremy Sochan. “I’m just gonna continue what I was doing,” Diawara told The Post prior to Thursday’s loss. “Keep working and being ready for each opportunity that I’m gonna get. I’m not worried about that. I know the coaching staff and the team is gonna do whatever is good for the team, and that’s what I’m trying to do.” For what it’s worth, Diawara played nine minutes on Thursday, while Sochan received 10.
- Jalen Brunson signed a team-friendly extension in the 2024 offseason, locking in $156.5MM over four years when he could have earned an additional $113MM if he had waited a year for free agency. The star point guard told Tom Kludt of Vanity Fair (subscription required) that he hopes the Knicks “do right” by him down the line after he took less money to help the team, as Andrew Battifarano of The New York Post relays. “If I’m thinking about playing well to make sure I get paid, that could mess with me,” Brunson told Vanity Fair. “I play best when I have a free mind, and that did that for me. A lot of people say I sacrificed for the team. One hundred percent I sacrificed for the team. But most importantly, I made sure my family and I are taken care of. … Obviously we’d love for them to do right by me. I think anyone would. I feel like I sacrificed.” As Bondy notes in a subscriber-only story, Brunson won’t be extension-eligible until 2027 and the earliest he could hit free agency would be 2028.
I caught the second half. The Knicks need to get KAT and Bridges to be more productive. I think this group can contend, if they can get those two guys more good looks. Bridges D was good, not great. You want him to be great on D and get those high percentage looks he was so good at getting not that long ago. I don’t know how you maximize KAT. I don’t like his game, but he can be effective. Also, they obviously don’t match up with Detroit very well. Detroit’s cast of underdogs plus Cunningham played with max confidence, as they have all season. They have a great group of role players.
Can someone please remind me why the Knicks traded Duran after drafting him? That definitely looks like a Leon Rose mistake. Rose has been good but some trades have been horrible including OB1 and Grimes trades for nothing back of significance. I can understand the KAT and OG but the other ones were horrible.
Money they got a future pick for him. They were working out their cap situation. And with Mitch here. They passed. I was saying draft Duren and trade Mitch lol.
At the rate the Knicks are going they won’t even make the ECF since as a 4 seed they will face Detroit in round 2
Terrible look against Pistons. Especially when they are missing their bigs. And coach doesn’t go to Towns down low. Bridges is too much of a follower. He needs to be more an alpha. Coaching again is responsible for that. I am not sold on Brown yet. Imo he isn’t managing the players well. Thibs had more respect. He didn’t take shhh. Imo he got fired cause he was not a Towns guy. Towns has played better under Thibs. Dude its almost like Towns sulks now. Instead of taking over. We get the drama and losing focus of game. He’s never going to change.
@Knick
To a large extent I think Brunson and Brown are partially the problem. Two way bigs need to he fed. Make a point of getting KAT going early, like QBs do for their #1 WR. Let KAT touch it below the 3pt line 5 or 6x in the 1st quarter. Let him see the ball go in the hoop a few times and maybe get to the FT. I bet you need hustle more on defense. Right or wrong big bet tired of working on defense, running the floor but not getting the ball on the other end. Feed the beast and put some logs on the fire. I noticed that when Brunson had the ball everyone flags the for and just become observers. So frustrating.
Yeah thats coaching. The coach can run plays for Towns. Knicks are to use to playing off of Brunson. A real team can’t be about one player. Others have to be more assertive. And Brunson should know that.
I this particular game. With Pistons missing their bigs. It was just an amateur move by Knicks. You don’t help the other team. You punish them. Just a weak and dumb offense by Knicks.
“ Particularly puzzling was that the Pistons were playing without their top two centers in Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, both serving suspensions.
If anything, it was a game Towns should have been featured in the offensive game plan and aggressive from the outset.”
link to nypost.com
No reason why Towns didn’t take over this game. The coach, the team, and Towns himself all blew this. Towns came to Knicks as a soft big and weak minded competitor. We all know who he is. It’s up the team and coach to make it work. Imo Thibs was not a Towns guy. So he’s gone.
Both Towns and Bridges are having down years. Knicks two biggest acquisitions last year. Why is this coach here. If not to help them.
I dont think the loss should be of concern,we have 26 games to get our chemistry and rotations in place,we know what it takes experience is on our side. The main issue is staying healthy,if everyone is healthy in post season i love our chances of winning the championship this year. Our team probably the deepest in the league,everyone will see we never give up next man up.
Fire Brown. He doesn’t defend his players. If I’m Bridges, I’d rather be told “I sat you because you weren’t scoring”, than say “Shamet was just scoring more and defending better”, in an edulcorated way.
A player has passion, and competitive fire, especially playing for a championship. He has to be instilled confidence, and feel important: that includes being played a lot, and be given trust, and, sometimes, has to be called out by his coach: but it’s part of feeling important. And while I support Shamet, it’s clear that Bridges is a player that’s higher in the order in the team, and the coach has to take that into account and support each player in their role.
I think players might be at odds with Brown, I think he tries to impose a way of playing first, and that players have to mold to, and it won’t work that way. Hell no.
To win a championship, players need to be trusted upon, feel confident, and feel united, feel motivated to give their heart out for the team, to put the body on the line for the team, to rise to the occasion if needed to make the team win, because they want to win, and because there’s trust in each other. The coach is really important. And I’m not seeing that. Starting with Towns’. You need to assess what your players strengths and weaknesses are, and maximize them.
Players were willing to dive for a loose ball for Thibs’ Knicks, were willing to give their all, and, while Thibs’ was criticized for not using the bench enough, and that might have been true, his way of trusting the starters was putting them on the court, simple as that. “And players gave everything they had. And bench players also gave everything they had; for ex. Deuce McBride wouldn’t have broke out like ge did last year (in the playoffs too).
Fire Brown before the playoffs start, it’s still time enough. I bet you that if Thibs’ comes back, players wouldn’t lose to the Pistons like that
Inside the NBA —-
You hear Barkley ….. now that he said it. Will you now believe me. Shaq and Barkley just repeated what I been saying….. when will Knicks say do something lolz