It’s not the end of the world for the Knicks, it was just one game.
Losing to the Orlando Magic, a team they should beat, doesn’t set the Knicks back. It won’t wipe away all the credibility they’ve worked to amass the last 20 months.
What Sunday night’s 110-104 loss to the Magic should do, however, is serve as a lesson learned.
No one needs to tell the Knicks how poorly they played in this game, specifically the fourth quarter. Head coach Tom Thibodeau likely already took care of that part.
“We’re disappointed but we have to learn from it,” Thibodeau said afterwards. “They played with great intensity, made great hustle plays and we didn’t.’’
The Knicks allowed Orlando to drop 36 points on them – in the fourth quarter. That’s winning time. Moreover, it was against a team clearly in a rebuild.
The intensity, the hustle and awareness — they were all missing from Madison Square Garden.
Correction, they were there, just not from the home team.
Orlando played like a team which couldn’t wait to punch back after the Knicks blew them out Friday night, on their home court.
“Oh yeah, most definitely,” said Cole Anthony, who nearly had a triple-double for Orlando, with 29 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists. “They came to our home and beat us in that game. So, we had to come back and retaliate. We’re not going to just keel over and let them do the same thing again.”
The 21-year-old Anthony, son of ex-Knick Greg Anthony, played ball for Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, New York.
Anthony dropped 21 of his 29 points in the first half. Terrance Ross, at 30 years old, is one of the older players on Orlando’s roster. Ross torched the Knicks for all 22 of his points in the fourth quarter.
What went wrong here?
For the Knicks, too much reliance on the 3-ball
The Knicks are averaging 49.0 three-point attempts per game, No. 1 in the league. They’re averaging 18.0 made three-pointers, also No. 1 in the league.
Thibodeau wants them shooting more this season and, with a 36.7% (No. 13 league ranking), they’re out there firing away.
As we saw in their first two games, it’s all good when the 3-ball is going down. However, as we also saw in the loss to Orlando, when you attempt 48 3-pointers — and only make 13 of them – the odds of winning that game decrease rapidly.
The Knicks were just 2 of 16 from the three-point line in the fourth quarter.
Too much reliance on the 3-ball? Absolutely.
But that’s not the lesson to take from this game.
We know the Knicks are still a team on the rise, there’s much more work ahead for them. However, for young and upcoming teams, the Knicks are now the hunted. Teams, like Orlando, are going to come into MSG looking to take their best shot.
Thibodeau won’t tolerate repeat performances like this one. The fan base can feel good about that part as peace of mind.
Furthermore, the veterans on this roster will make sure the message gets across to the younger players.
Expect a re-focused Knicks team for their next game, Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Image: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
