Knicks head coach Mike Brown acknowledged Philadelphia’s execution after New York’s 130-119 loss at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. “You got to give Philadelphia credit. They played a really good basketball game,” he said.
Brown singled out Tyrese Maxey’s impact. “Maxey was a handful for us. Then we tried to take the ball out of his hands. They did a great job of moving the basketball… and they made the right plays or made the right shots when we did take the ball out of his hands,” he explained.
The loss marked New York’s first three-game losing streak of the season. Brown reflected on the challenge of adversity. “We’ve hit a little bit of adversity. I’ve never been part of a team that has not gone through adversity throughout the course of the year… now for us it’s about how do we respond?”
Brown addressed the Knicks’ struggles with point-of-attack defense. “Right now we’re not as physical as we should be… we’re not navigating the ball screen like we should be,” he said, citing difficulties in pick-and-roll situations and foul trouble as factors.
The absence of Josh Hart has also affected New York’s pace and spacing. “Having Josh out there helps a ton. Having Landry out there with his pace helps a ton. Right now our pace is not good. We’re walking the ball up almost every time,” Brown said.
Brown emphasized accountability over officiating. “Officials are humans… we can’t rely on the officials to win us the ball game. We have to go win it ourselves,” he said, noting the team needs to give “a little bit more in a lot of areas to help us get over the top.”
The Knicks’ offense has struggled to find rhythm in consecutive losses. Brown said, “Our staples—pace in the full court and the front court—we want to space the floor correctly, make quick decisions, touch the paint, and get the ball reversed. We haven’t seen a lot of that.”
Brown also explained his late-game lineup adjustments. “We needed to score. We needed to spread the floor, see if we can touch the paint, and knock down a couple threes. Deuce is really good at the point of attack, trying to get into a body and getting over the top with the ball,” he said.
The 76ers improved to 19-14 behind Maxey’s 36 points and Joel Embiid’s 26, while the Knicks fell to 23-12 despite Jalen Brunson’s 31 points and Karl-Anthony Towns’ 23 points and 14 rebounds. Philadelphia now heads home to face the Nuggets, and New York will visit the Pistons on Monday.
