If healthy, this Knicks team should have no problem scoring points. It’s the defense that will dictate how many games they win.
And on Saturday, the Knick defense was as bad as it's been all year. Disjointed against the pick-and-roll. Steps slow in transition. The result? Cade Cunningham and the Pistons dominated the Knicks, 120-111, at the Garden.
New York had no answer for Cunningham (29 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds). The Pistons hit 50 percent of their threes (18-for-36) and dominated the glass as the Knicks struggled without Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) and Cam Payne (elbow).
“I think communication was the biggest thing,” Mikal Bridges said late Saturday night. “A lot (of poor communication) in transition… And it’s not like a thing that we don’t like each other or anything. It’s just that sense of urgency… We’ve got to understand that when we don’t talk to each other, it’s going to hurt us.”
Bridges sees a correlation between the Knicks’ execution on offense and the effort on defense.
“When things don’t go well offensively we tend to not talk (on defense),” he said. “It’s just something we always fail to do when we struggle on one end of offense. When we get back (on defense), we’re not communicating.”
OG Anunoby also said the Knicks had communication issues in transition against Detroit. Both Bridges and Anunoby think that these errors are correctable.
Still, the Knicks rank 18th in defensive rating after Saturday’s loss. They are 22nd in opponent three-point field goal percentage.
Bridges was asked for an assessment of New York’s defense at this point in the season. He gave an honest appraisal.
“Not good, not good. I think we pick and choose when. We ain’t that good to be able to just pick when we want to play defense. I don’t think any team is that good when they just pick when they want to play defense,” Bridges said. “I think it starts with me as well. Just gotta be more vocal and lead by example as well. But it’s all of us.”
Tom Thibodeau expects the Knicks to bounce back on Monday when they play at Toronto.
“I want us to learn, I want us to get better. We have to respond the right way to this,” the head coach said.
(As an aside: I agree with @KayoBlack here. It doesn’t make sense to me to single out Bridges for the Knicks defense against Detroit.)
Hart questions second tech
Josh Hart was whistled for a second technical with 1:10 left in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
The eight-year veteran didn’t agree with the call. He felt the referee wasn’t being consistent.
“I didn’t understand it. I got my (first) tech for basically saying someone (to) get in the game. I think I was 10 feet away from the ref (and) going into the huddle (when I said it). Didn’t curse or speak disrespectfully to the ref,” Hart said.