Post Game Reaction: Nuggets 127 Knicks 114
The New York Knicks put together another bad performance. The road trip started out so well winning the first 2 games on the West Coast but after that things have fallen apart. The Knicks lose the last 3 on the trip. The Knicks lost to the Nuggets 127-114. This was another bad loss after losing to Phoenix on this trip. The Knicks scored 114 pts and still lost, that is some horrible defense. The defense and effort was a major issue. Here are a few of my observations.
Where was the defense? This has become an issue for the Knicks all season. They were 1 of 2 teams that have an above .500 record, while having a negative point differential. Tonight they gave up 66 paint points and a total of 127 points on the night. The Nuggets had 7 guys in double-figures and shot 55% from the field, while making 10 threes. The Knicks played soft and showed very little effort on the defensive side of the ball. A terrible showing.
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Nuggets dominate from inside and outside. The Nuggets were led by the combination of Faried and Mudiay. Mudiay had 22pts 7rebs and 5asts, while Faried had 25pts off the bench. The two of them torched the Knicks. Mudiay gashed this defense by getting in the paint on almost every possession, while Faried just out-hustled the bigs for the Knicks. He was everywhere and just dominated the Knicks on the interior.
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Melo gets no help. Poor Melo he puts together a valiant effort scoring 29pts on an efficient 10-14 from the field. The rest of the starters were 14-42 from the field. He tried his hardest at least on the offensive side of the ball but got very little help from anyone else. Melo has still yet to win in Denver since being traded to the Knicks and the Knicks have not won in ten years in Denver. On a night the Knicks needed more from Porzingis, he showed very little with 22pts on 7-19 from the field. His effort on defense was a problem.
Offense is too plain. This has become an issue for the Knicks. Without Rose the Knicks become a very predictable offense. They run very heavy iso with either Porzingis or Melo and teams don't really have to work on that end. Games like tonight show why Jennings needs to come off the bench, he was very bad on both ends of the court. The Knicks need to get Rose back as soon as possible because they need more scorers or they will struggle even more. They may have scored a 114 points but it was against a team that plays fast and one that plays little defense.
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Hernangomez plays well. On a nice side-note Hernangomez had his best game in terms of numbers with 17pts and 10rebs. He was very solid on offense but like the others he struggled on defense. Still for the rookie its a nice game he can build on individually.
Another disappointing loss for the Knicks as they end this road trip with 3 straight losses and 2 bad ones. I can understand losing to the Warriors but the losses to the Suns and Nuggets were bad ones. For a team trying to become a playoff team, these are games that can come back to haunt them. The Knicks will come back home and will play the Magic next week, hopefully they bring more effort.
