Daily Report – 1/7/26
Knicks
Something is awry in Knick Land. The Knicks have lost four straight games, most recently on Monday, when they fell 121-90 to the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons in Detroit. The Knicks blew an opportunity to gain traction in the Eastern Conference while Detroit avenged their first-round playoff loss from last season.
In football, they call January “Playoffuary.” In basketball and hockey, it’s probably the least relevant month of the season. For an NBA team like the Knicks, who are expected to reach the NBA Finals this year, this losing stretch can most easily be deemed a “slump.” Across the NBA, top teams are slumping. Just look at the defending champion Thunder, who lost to the bottom-feeding Hornets on Monday.
That’s one opinion. Now, consider this: The Knicks currently have the 17th-best defensive rating in the NBA. That’s an inexcusable statistic for a team that’s expected to win a championship, and it doesn’t bode well for head coach Mike Brown during his first year in New York.
Maybe this is more than just a slump.
I’ve written countless times about the pace-oriented style of play Brown has tried to implement this season. For most of this season, the Knicks have struggled to take early leads. They have relied on cinematic finishes to seal games, the scores of many of which were much closer than they should have been. That style of play is difficult to sustain long-term.
At the beginning of the season, the Knicks seemed to be buying into Brown’s tactics, even if their defense left much to be desired. The team was committed to learning and perfecting Brown’s style of play. Now, the fatigue the Knicks experienced from their NBA Cup journey has caught up with them. Unfortunately, they have chosen a very bad time to fall flat, because January isn’t going to get any kinder. After hosting the Clippers tonight, the Knicks will embark on a four-game West Coast road trip.
On Monday, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns combined – yes, combined – for just 11 points and a -58 rating. “We’ve got to get to the drawing board,” Towns said. “We’ve got to figure it out. Offensively, defensively, we’ve got to figure it out. It just hasn’t been good basketball from us recently.”
Miles McBride made five three-point shots and scored 17 points, which were the second-most on the Knicks behind Brunson’s 25. That isn’t nearly enough offensive production, and it was worsened by the Knicks’ 20 turnovers, including six from both Towns and Brunson.
“With me and the turnovers I had, the turnovers we had as a team, not a lot is going to happen offensively that’s going to be in our favor,” Brunson said. “So, we’ve got to do a better job of not turning the ball over.”
Maybe the Knicks are fatigued. Maybe they are ill. I couldn’t say. But clearly, they are not buying into Brown’s strategies anymore. Their effort level is down, and they aren’t competing as hard as they were earlier this season. Remember, these Knicks have had to learn a brand new style of play, and it needs to be perfected by the playoffs.
Towns is averaging 21.5 points per game this season, and he’s shooting 35.6 percent from three-point range. Last season, he shot 42 percent from downtown. He has been forced to play center more frequently this season, but he started as a forward on Monday.
Simply put, if the Knicks want to win a championship, they must fix their Karl-Anthony Towns problem. He is their most confusing player because he’s a big man with strong three-point shooting skills, but he runs into frequent foul trouble and is a liability defensively.
Brown was supposed to help Towns improve in the paint. Recently, he has become more of a liability for the Knicks than anything else. Without Josh Hart available, Towns has had to rebound more frequently, which has led to more fouls and turnovers.
“Different system. It’s just different,” Towns said of this year’s team. “The biggest adjustment is for me. Like Mike [Brown] said, I make the biggest sacrifice. We’re figuring it out.”
Tonight, the Knicks will face as much of a must-win matchup as they’ve experienced all season when they host the Los Angeles Clippers (7:30 PM – MSG, Gotham Sports). They must be resilient and put this losing streak behind them.
Schedule
7:30 PM: NYK vs. LAC; MSG, Gotham Sports
