The New York Knicks fell 103-100 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, and head coach Mike Brown pointed to effort, rebounding and defensive growth while also questioning a key officiating decision late in the game.
Brown opened his postgame press conference by emphasizing his team’s competitiveness after falling behind by double digits.
“A good basketball game,” Brown said. “I thought our guys could have folded at any time. We were down double digits and I liked our competitive spirit. Our competitive spirit was great.”
The Knicks erased a 15-point deficit during a 40-point third quarter before the Thunder regained control late. Brown credited New York’s activity on the offensive glass, especially with Mitchell Robinson unavailable.
“When the game gets ugly like that, you’ve got to defend and try to do the little things to get a win,” Brown said. “Our ability to crash the glass, especially with Mitch not playing, was there. We had 20 second-chance points.”
The Knicks also tried to increase pace to avoid Oklahoma City’s half-court defense.
“You want to play fast against these guys so that you’re not going against their set defense all the time,” Brown said. “We did a decent job of that.”
Free throws and perimeter shooting also played a role in the outcome. Oklahoma City shot 84% from the line while New York finished at 73%.
“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a tough cover,” Brown said. “He does a great job of convincing the referees, probably better than anybody in the league, that he’s getting hit.”
Brown also pointed to missed opportunities from beyond the arc after the Knicks shot 10-for-35 (29%) from three-point range.
“I thought we had good looks from the three-point line,” Brown said. “They didn’t go in. You’ve got to give them credit for being physical and playing as hard as they do. Over the course of the game it has an effect on three-point shooting.”
Chet Holmgren was a major factor, scoring 28 points and tying a career high with six three-pointers. Brown said the Thunder center’s early success changed the defensive challenge.
“He saw the first one go in,” Brown said. “When that first one went in, it was a little harder for us to get to him. He hit one on the move like he was Reggie Miller back in the day.”
The Knicks improved defensively in the second half after Holmgren went 6-for-8 from three in the first half.
“I thought our guys did a better job of understanding that we needed to get to his airspace,” Brown said.
Brown also addressed his first technical foul as Knicks coach after disputing a collision involving Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson.
“I don’t understand why that was a no-call,” Brown said. “That should have been his third. The bucket shouldn’t have counted and we should have gone the other way with the basketball.”
Despite the loss, Brown stressed that the regular season remains a process for building consistency.
“You should get better as you go along as long as everybody has embraced the process,” Brown said. “Our group has embraced the process.”
He added that games against elite teams provide valuable film regardless of the result.
“Do you still want to win those games? Yes,” Brown said. “But seeing what they did, how they did it, why we shot 28% from three, it’s a great learning experience to grow from.”
The loss dropped New York to 40-23, third in the Eastern Conference, while Oklahoma City improved to an NBA-best 49-15.
