Incredulous Knick fans watch Randle and Quickley combine or 26 – 54 (48%), 11-25 (44%), 14 – 19 (74%). How can these two offensive machines be the only starters with negative +/- s? The crux of the problem with the current Knicks losing streak is that they are relying on offense to win games. Against the Raptors, RJ and Jules combined for 60 points. Against the Bulls, the pair had 73, and the big three went for 75 in the Sixers game. Last night’s loss continued the pattern with IQ and Jules going off for 77. Throw in the collapse in Dallas and we have lost five games in a row.
Offense is easier, more enjoyable and quantifiable. Julius Randle is on a rampage while the team is in free fall. Where and with whom does the problem lie? The healthy Sixers is just a better team. Nick Nurse sold out on stopping Jalen Brunson. Randle and Barrett went off but Toronto won the game. The Bulls followed Toronto’s lead and claimed the victory with Ayo Dosunmu handling Jalen.
In Dallas, with Brunson and Barrett out, Thibs’ lineup was gassed from over work. They faltered badly in the final few minutes. The Knicks won each of the first three quarters with solid team play. IQ had 15 assists. Fatigue and the nonpareil Luka Doncic’s record setting night resulted in a calamitous loss.
How did the New York Knicks lose to the struggling SanAntonio Spurs in light of the offensive fireworks of Julius Randle and Immanuel Quickley, and sustain their fifth straight defeat? The most obvious answer is that the defensive fervor of the eight game winning streak has cooled and been replaced by a fixation on scoring. The Knicks allowed 97.75 points during their 8 game run, 95 if we discount the OT game. The past 5 games, the opposition has scored at a 119.6 clip, without the OT loss, we are giving up 118 ppg.
A more subtle, but just as valid cause for four of these losses is the disintegration of team play on both sides of the ball. The taste for 30+ point games has caused Randle, IQ and Barrett to revert to ISO ball. The other capable shooters lose their rhythm while RJ and Jules hunt for points. Not the best foul shooter on the floor, Randle still stepped to the line to shoot a defensive 3 sec. tech. His calling for the ball in the waning minutes of the Mavs game, when he had no idea what to do when he received it, is another glaring example of selfish play.
Team play, ball movement, solid rotations raise the team’s spirit. Selfish play is disheartening. When we juxtapose the eight wins with the five losses, the deviation in the points allowed is obvious. The Knicks are no longer digging in on D, no longer anticipating timely rotations, no longer functioning on an elite level. They are no longer a group that is greater than the sum of its parts.
San Antonio and Houston are two of the four worst teams in the NBA. They are the dregs of the Western Conference. Have the Knicks hit bottom with the Spurs loss, or will a defeat by the lowly Rockets be the nadir of this road trip?
Box score: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468682