LaMelo Ball went ahead and parted the Red Sea. Mike Brown immediately stormed the court.
Call it the Hornets star guard’s best Moses impression. The Knicks had blown an early 20-point lead and were clinging to a six-point cushion coming out of halftime. And 110 seconds into the third quarter, Ball brought the ball up the floor, shed Miles McBride on a high screen, sliced directly down the center of the Knicks’ defense — untouched — and placed the ball in the basket with two hands.
Brown had seen this movie before.
“It happened last night,” he said after Wednesday’s win — the second leg of a back-to-back following Tuesday’s loss in Boston. “Remember Jaylen Brown went downhill on our defense and dunked the ball without being touched. And it was basically the same play. And we talked about hey we want to defend the paint, we want to defend the paint.”
Ball’s layup cut the lead to 58–54. Brown immediately burned a timeout. The Knicks responded with a 12–0 run that cracked the game open.
“To have that happen the way it happened to us last night, I just wanted to remind our guys that that’s not who we are and that’s not going to be OK,” Brown said. “Our guys responded. I give them credit.”
Brown understands there will be defensive slippage as his roster adjusts to new schemes at both ends. Priority No. 1 is protecting the paint — which naturally means conceding more three-point attempts.
“We’re going to give up a lot of 3-point attempts. Our closeouts, there’s some technique things that we can do to work on closeouts, which we’re doing a better job of,” he said. “Teams aren’t shooting as high a percentage. Teams are going to keep shooting because we’ve gotta protect the paint.”
Defensive miscues are one thing. Effort is something entirely different. And if it’s not on display in orange and blue this season, Brown is going let his players know it.
“It depends on what the miscues are because it’s going to happen during a game. And if there’s a miscue and we’re still trying to scramble and figure it out, OK let’s keep it rolling,” Brown said. “Every once in a while a guy gets a wide-open shot. [But if] there’s something that’s correctable or I thought we could have given a better effort, then I’ll hit [a timeout] just to remind them, ‘Hey, we’re not OK with this. None of our guys should be OK with this. That’s not who we are.’”
HUKPORTI EARNS DEFENSIVE HONORS
Brown said second-year center Ariel Hukporti earned the team’s Defensive Player of the Game belt for his performance off the bench.
“I’m happy for him. This is a guy that hadn’t played much in a while,” Brown said. “He logged a lot of minutes for us… He was our defensive player of the game.”
Hukporti fouled out in 13 minutes but was a plus-6 with two rebounds and two blocks.
“He used every one of those fouls. I appreciate that. He was special,” said Karl-Anthony Towns. “His ability to come into the game and just always staying ready, being a professional, continuing to work on his game. Tonight was a night we needed him. I don’t think we win this game without him making the contributions that he did. Everything he did may not show in the stat sheet, but if you’re watching the game you see the impact he made.”
HART TAKES BLAME FOR BALL CATCHING FIRE
Josh Hart said he’s the reason Ball erupted in the second half.
“Yeah man, I guess my fault to everybody, dog,” he said at his locker. “That’s my guy. I’ve known Melo since I got in the league, obviously teammates with Lonzo and that’s when I first met him so that’s my dude.”
Ball and Hart chirped at each other early. Ball responded with 34 points and five threes.
“Every time we’re on the court, we’re always talking. It’s always love, it’s always competitive, and yeah, I guess I got him going a little bit on that one,” Hart said. “So first tell him to leave me alone, then I’ll leave him alone.”
