THE Knicks were in a back-and-forth battle against the Magic on Saturday until the start of the fourth quarter.
New York entered the final quarter with just five points and cut it to three in the opening minutes of the fourth when the Magic ended the comeback with an offensive explosion. Orlando picked apart the Knicks defense, cutting to the basket for easy buckets and hitting their threes. At the same time, the Knicks’ offense became stagnant, allowing the Magic to build a lead of up to 18 points.
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Even if Jalen Brunson tried to come back by cutting the deficit to 12, it was too little, too late as the Knicks raised the white flag and suffered a 133-121 loss.
Digging deeper into the numbers from the game, the Knicks defense allowed 64 points in the paint as the Magic shot 55 percent from the field and 39 percent from three for the game. And the Magic made it easy.
“We have to do a better job taking care of the paint,” head coach said Mike Brown said after the defeat. “We didn’t do a great job taking care of the paint tonight, 64 points in the paint, that’s what they do. Thirty free throw attempts. That’s what they do, so we’ve got to do a better job in that area while trying to take care of the ball, but give those guys a lot of credit for stepping up and creating some separation late in the game.”
The Magic are known for their physical style on offense and defense. It was that physicality that dominated the Knicks the first time they faced each other this season, that time at MSG. Brown made his disappointment with his players known after the loss, saying that Magic “kicked our…”but this time it was different for the Knicks’ first-year coach.
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Brown pointed out it was only a one-possession game in the fourth quarter when he pulled Jordan Clarkson and Magic forward Franz Wagner went on a radiator.
“As a group we were a little deflated and, like I said, credit to Orlando, they jumped on us,” Brown said. “We needed to do a better job of playing through their route during that time.”
Wagner scored a game-high 37 points, which was also his season high. On Saturday, the Magic scored a season high in points while three players achieved their individual season highs. Wagner is 37 years old to accompany Desmond Banehe is 27 years old and Jalen Suggs“26 points.
“For us, we have to be better,” Brunson said of the run that put the game out of reach. “They were getting offensive rebounds, getting threes. We didn’t close out that third quarter well. They just kept running, and then it was too late until we adjusted to it. We need to start the quarters better, we need to finish the quarters better. But it’s not a good performance for us in the second half.”
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Although the teams were even in rebounding totals, the Magic had a slight edge on the offensive glass, 11-9, but the players kept coming back to the paint point disparity.
“It’s just poor work on our part,” Josh Hart said. “Obviously, there’s some guys that we probably could have played a little bit on, but we didn’t and we let guys go through the paint…We’ve got to watch the film and get better.”
Brunson said the team needs to do a better job of keeping the ball in front of them on defense, and that starts with him. However, he says the Knicks need to help each other better on defense.
Despite the poor defensive performance, the Knicks remain 9-6 but fall to 1-5 on the road. Brown was asked if he’s convinced the Knicks’ defense can be better, and the coach thinks it’s possible.
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“I’m confident we can be where we need to be defensively,” Brown said. “We played well in some cases, and we didn’t play well, and that’s what you kind of go through, especially during this part of the year. So, I think we can be a really good defensive team. But again, no matter who we throw out there, we have to have a feel and understand what we’re trying to do on that side of the floor to make things happen.”
What makes him so confident? Brown said he saw the defense they wanted in the previous two games.
In Wednesday’s win over the Mavericks, the Knicks held Dallas to 41 percent shooting and 111 points. Against the Heat – a loss – Miami shot 45 percent and scored 113 points.
“It’s going to be OK in the end because our guys want it to be, and they’ve been better,” Brown said.
The Knicks will look to improve their defense and get back in the win column when they travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets on Monday.
