Mike Brown took something of a silver lining from the Knicks’ 0-3 road trip.
Although the consecutive losses in Miami, Milwaukee and Chicago served as a reality check for a team with championship aspirations, Brown believes his new-look Knicks delivered their two best halves of the season during that otherwise uninspiring stretch.
The next step, Brown says, is to play that way consistently.
“I said this to [Knicks president] Leon [Rose]. Even after our first two wins, I said, ‘Hey, we can play better.’ We got the win, but we’ve got to play much better,” Brown said Sunday, before beginning a season-long seven-game homestand by hosting the Chicago Bulls.
“After that second win, if you include preseason, we were 6-1, but we were learning and growing. We hadn’t played well. Our two best halves of basketball were the first half in Milwaukee and the second half in Chicago. Hopefully, we can string 48 minutes together, but it’s a process, and our guys are getting better.”
The Knicks led by 12 points at halftime before faltering defensively in Tuesday’s 121-111 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Three days later, the Knicks surrendered 72 first-half points before outscoring the Bulls by nine in the second half of that 135-125 defeat.
Sunday’s game was the Knicks’ sixth under Brown, who was hired as head coach in the offseason to replace Tom Thibodeau.
The Knicks were without center Mitchell Robinson (left ankle injury management) for the first four of those games, while guard Josh Hart missed last month’s season-opening win over the Cleveland Cavaliers with lumbar spasms and struggled upon returning.
Karl-Anthony Towns has not missed a game, despite dealing with what he described after the season opener as a Grade 2 quad strain.
Those injuries have complicated the Knicks’ progress under Brown, who is also trying to incorporate a revamped bench that added guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Guerschon Yabusele during the offseason and that’s had to navigate the sudden retirement of backup point guard Malcolm Brogdon.
“There’s a lot of newness, but if you’re out, you’re out, and there’s no reps there,” Brown said. “So we just have to keep learning on the fly, starting with me. I’ve got to keep trying to get better quicker, and everybody has to get better quicker.”
The Knicks began Sunday ranked 11th in the NBA by allowing 115.4 points per game, but they surrendered 123.7 points per game during the winless road trip.
Offensively, the Knicks entered Sunday ranked 25th in points per game (113.4) and 28th in field goal percentage (42.4%) on the season.
“The one thing that can be consistent for us is on the defensive side of the floor,” Brown said. “We need to make sure that we’re consistent on that end of the floor while we’re getting caught up to speed offensively, which will happen.”
ROBINSON ACTIVE
Robinson started Sunday’s game after coming in listed as questionable for injury management on his left ankle.
The 7-foot center made his season debut on Friday and scored four points with 11 rebounds in 20 minutes.
The Knicks continue to be cautious with Robinson, their defensive anchor, after he underwent surgeries on that left ankle in December of 2023 and May of 2024.
Robinson appeared in only 17 games last regular season before being a significant contributor during the Knicks’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Brown said it would be up to trainer Casey Smith and his team to determine whether Robinson would also be available for Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards, which is the second leg of the Knicks’ first back-to-back of the season.
“I’m just gonna follow their lead,” Brown said. “I know they told me they can play today, so I’m gonna take it.”
