Kevin Knox was on pace for a memorable night Monday after a 13-point first quarter against the Suns at Madison Square Garden.
But the Knicks rookie, despite picking up his offense considerably over the last few games, fell apart as the game wore on, as the team lost 128-110.
Knox finished with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting, besting his 2018 first-round counterpart Mikal Bridges, who scored seven points for Phoenix.
That makes 13p for @KevKnox in Q1 🔥 pic.twitter.com/83VQgJYTvJ
- NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 18, 2018
The 19-year-old Knox is averaging a solid 19.4 points over the last five games, but he identified Monday's performance as the latest example of how he needs to spread out his scoring.
"I just came out aggressive, knocking down shots, getting to the basket and free-throw line, but in second half, I got away from it," Knox told Marc Berman of the New York Post. "I went to the corner a lot. I tried to be more involved. The last few games is a trending thing, playing really good in the first half and letting it slip away in the second half. I have to get better at that."
Knicks coach David Fizdale has also noticed the trend.
"The last two games in a row, it's happened," Fizdale said, per the Post. "I have to find a way to keep him aggressive. The second half he wasn't aggressive. He came out the first quarter and got the numbers. We'll get that straightened out. When I see the high double figures, I know the kid's coming along and putting together some consistent basketball."
With the exception of Emmanuel Mudiay, the rest of the Knicks also collapsed in the second half, giving up a whopping 41 points in the third quarter to the last-place Suns.
While aggressiveness remains an individual goal for Knox, the forward also recognized what went wrong around him.
"The ball kind of stopped moving. We weren't moving like we were in the first half," he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. "We weren't sharing the ball, playing together in the first half. Everything changes when we're not playing defense. That kind of affects the offense. Like I said, we just gotta be able to figure out a game where we can put together 48 minutes, defensively and offensively."