New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown acknowledged Brooklyn’s performance after Friday’s 93-92 road win at Barclays Center. “Give Brooklyn a lot of credit. I thought they came out and they were extremely physical from the beginning of the game throughout the whole game and it impacted us and start with Jordi on down. Jordi outcoached me,” Brown said.
Brown highlighted the Nets’ execution across multiple areas. “They outplayed us in a lot of areas and we were just able to find a way to get a win,” he added, noting that turnovers and lost transition opportunities could have cost New York the game.
On the Knicks’ struggle against ball pressure, Brown explained, “Tonight’s just one of those nights. We didn’t do a good job handling the pressure. You just got to go by somebody at some of these pressuring you and make the right play. If you make the right play after going by him a couple of times, the pressure will loosen up.”
Brown also addressed the team’s uncharacteristic mistakes. “I thought we had more 24-second shot clock violations tonight probably than the whole year combined. There were a lot of things that were unlike our group and obviously we’re going to go back and watch the film and try to get better from it.”
Discussing turnovers specifically, Brown noted, “We had 13 at halftime and ended the game with 22. And again it’s not a good ingredient to have when you’re trying to get a road win, no matter who you’re playing.”
The Knicks coach praised his players’ preparation against double teams. “They face double-teams probably 60 out of the 71 games, if not more, and we’ve been pretty good at attacking double-teams. We probably held onto the ball just a little too long tonight or spacing wasn’t always great. But we’ll continue to watch film and improve in that area.”
Brown commented on Mitch Robinson’s rare on-court frustration. “Yeah. I don’t think I have seen Mitch get that fired up in a game since I’ve been here. I was a little surprised, but I don’t know exactly what happened.”
On defensive rotations against three-point shooters, he said, “No, we are. Again, you got to give them credit because they knock shots down, but especially the young kid Minott. He had a whale of a game, 6 for 9 from three-point line. Rotations weren’t good, and there were times we stopped playing.”
Brown concluded with his approach for future games. “We approach every team the same way, no matter their record. We have to play better, and I believe our guys will play better. Jalen has a great feel for the game and has done a better job than most people think on that end of the floor.”
