Post Game Reaction: Magic 115 Knicks 103
The New York Knicks are in a little of a drought right now. The Knicks lost to the Magic 115-103. They played this game without Kristaps Porzingis, out with an achilles injury. With this loss the Knicks have lost 5 in a row. They are not playing well right now and it really starts on defense. Here are a few of my observations.
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Melo and Rose don't know what defense is. The Knicks defense starts with their 2 star players in Rose and Melo. Both guys don't play any defense. This puts so much pressure on everyone else and that has been the reason for the Knicks struggle on the defensive end. Rose for all his offense, does not stop the opposing point guards and that has been a major issue. On top of that Melo does not look like he even knows what defense is, he makes Harden look like an elite defender. When 40% of the lineup does not guard anyone, you are going to struggle on that end. This has been one of the main reasons that no one wants to trade for these guys. They are great at scoring but don't get others involved on offense or put any effort on defense. They may talk about winning championships but that starts with defense and Melo and Rose are not interested in doing that. This attitude needs to change and it starts with their best players.
The lack of defense. The New York Knicks right now are not playing any defense. This team is the worst defensive team in the league. The Magic a middle of the pack offense scored 67 points in the first half, that is unbelievable. The Knicks also let the Magic hit 15 threes and shoot nearly 50% from the field. The Magic had 35 assists on 45 field goals. They also had 46 paint points and 14 fast break points.That tells me that they had no problem getting to their spots and getting easy looks. This has become a joke as the Knicks are making every team look like an offensive juggernaut. Some basic concepts are either being missed or the Knicks are not willing to put the effort in.
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Knicks offense still struggling. As bad as the defense has been, the offense has been misleadingly good. They maybe scoring a 100 points every night but the way they go about doing it has always been difficult. They always rely on the iso ball and tonight it was either Rose or Melo taking turns shooting the ball. The Knicks had only 18 assists on 39 field goals and they also had 18 turnovers. The Magic on the other hand as a comparison had 35 assists to 45 field goals. The Knicks make things way too difficult on themselves and take contested shots, instead of moving the ball and getting better open looks.
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Poor effort. This loss puts them at 5 straight losses. You would have though after the poor performance they made on this road trip, the Knicks would have come out with more urgency. Instead they looked flat and showed very little effort on defense. The Knicks were just embarrassed by James Harden and they showed even less effort against the Magic. They gave up a whooping 115 points to a poor offensive team and on top of that made Aaron Gordon look like a star. Gordon hit 3 threes, scoring 22 pts. He was struggling all year, I guess he was just waiting to play the Knicks to regain his confidence.
The Knicks keep on losing and it may not stop anytime soon. I know the Knicks played without Porzingis but he would not made that much of a difference as the Knicks did not struggle to score but lacked any ability to stop the Magic on offense. The Knick next game is against the Bucks and I am not sure if things will get better.
