Friday was a turnoff to the rebuilding Thunder at the Garden. Sunday was just an old-fashioned beatdown at home against the title-defying Nuggets.
The Knicks big start loses its shine when Tom Thibodeau’s team was battered, 114-89. After winning five of the six games, the Knicks lost two to fall back to .500 at 5-5. They have scored 89 points in each of the past two outings.
“We didn’t play well in general,” said Thibodeau. ‘Some evenings you will photograph him better than others. If you don’t defend and don’t shoot well, there is virtually no chance of winning. So we have to count on our intensity, our defense. There is nothing we are doing right at this point, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change it. “
Only Julius Randle showed up – a one-man show in defeat when he scored 29 runs and hit 11 of 16 shots. Otherwise, Knicks’ attack was a mess, as they shot 40 percent in the first half when the game was decided.
“We need to regain our confidence and our swagger,” Randle said. “We have to put up our struggle and energy to give us a chance to win.”
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic didn’t sweat, scoring 22 points on 9 of 15 shootings with 10 rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes.
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, who rarely gives credit to opponents, felt he was doing as well as he could against the colossal Serb who averaged a triple-double. Robinson scored 11 points on 5 out of 5 shooting. In 34 minutes, he committed no foul.
“I feel like I did a great job,” said Robinson. He took hard shots. It wasn’t like walking through the park. He made hard shots. It happens. I feel like I did a great job. I have not made any mistakes. ”
Asked how difficult it is to guard Jokic, Mitchell said, “Not difficult at all.”
Ahead of the game, Thibodeau said the Knicks were not “coming with a big advantage” against Oklahoma City and that the club “dropped our guard”.
The Knicks coach was still unhappy with the crowds, but the talent gap was also noticeable when the Nuggets, who have a deceptive 5-5 record, pushed in 15 of the 35 3-pointers. The Knicks were also unable to shoot free throws, namely 19 of 25.
It was a second rough performance in a row by RJ Barrett, who was 4 of 13 for nine points and three turnovers.
“As long as it’s the right pictures and he gets it right, that’s all you look at,” Thibodeau said. “Before you look at the result, look at mechanics and whether he photographs it properly where it is a good follow-up. Is it his chance? ”
The Knicks will play in Charlotte on Monday and will face rookie point guard stud LaMelo Ball, who is off his first triple-double of his career.
As Thibodeau noted, the Knicks got outworked. Early in the third quarter, Gary Harris beat the Knicks for an offensive rebound to take him amid three Knicks.
Early in the first quarter, Harris broke loose down the left wing and jumped for a right-handed tomahawk jam. The Nuggets couch erupted so loud you could hear their screeching noises from the Chase Bridge, where select media is stationed near the Garden ceiling.
With 2:07 left in the half, during a timeout, a Knicks PR staffer walked across the field to hand out box scores to team Brass who sat 10 feet behind the sidelines where the celebrity row was.
President Leon Rose, senior vice president William Wesley, GM Scott Perry and assistant GM Allan Houston looked at the depressing sheet of paper that followed the Knicks 52-34 and the team 38.9 percent.
Take out Randle’s 7 out of 10 shootings, the rest of his Knicks were just 7 out of 26 at the time.
“Some nights there will be tough nights, but you can still win if you don’t shoot well,” said Thibodeau. “Being mentally strong when going through setbacks is one of the most important things ever. Not just in basketball, in life. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t. If they aren’t, you have to have the toughness and the ability to get through those things. “
For the second game in a row, rookie point guard Immanuel Quickley failed to spark a spark as teams have adapted to his electric game. In one run, Jokic was sent to double-team him and the rookie attempted to scramble away and push off for an offensive foul.
After a time-out, Thibodeau made it a point to talk to Quickley before joining the group. Quickley was 0 for 4 in 13 minutes, finishing with four points.
During the longer dropout period, Thibodeau Dennis Smith Jr., back from injuries, played over Quickley in the closing minutes.