On Monday night, Cam Payne chucked a meaningless 25-foot shot with eight seconds left and sank it, at least preventing the Knicks from tying the NBA's lowest number of 3-pointers in a game this season.
The Knicks finished a disastrous 103-94 loss at home to the depleted Magic with just four conversions on 22 attempts from beyond the arc, especially from long range during their first three straight losses of the season. The ice-packed development continued.
“It's the NBA season. There's going to be ups and downs,” Josh Hart said after the game. “There will be games where you shoot right field, and there will be games where you can’t buy shots.
“We have to make sure we're focused and have the right energy. We can't have our own individual agenda. We can't do that. I need to stay locked in and make sacrifices for this team and go out there and make plays.”
Entering Wednesday's game against the Raptors at The Garden, the Knicks still rank fifth in the entire NBA in 3-point efficiency this season at 37.9 percent.
Despite this, the Knicks have mostly misfired from long range in their past eight games since sitting second (39.8 percent) behind the league-best Cavaliers through Dec. 23.
They won the first five of those matchups as part of a nine-game surge, but both in 3-point attempts (30.6 per game) and 3-point percentage (29.4 percent) during that period. was ranked lowest.
The numbers were even worse during the three-game losing streak, with 28.0 attempts per game and a 25.0 percent conversion rate.
“It's tough. We want to look at 3S,” Tom Thibodeau said after Monday's loss. “Some of them felt good [looks]. Some of them I found difficult to finish and I have to read them more closely. If we do that, we'll be able to do better than tonight. I'll consider it. ”
One of Thibodeau's key points for the Knicks this season was increasing his 3-point shooting volume to take advantage of his proficiency from the outside.
However, they rank 24th overall in the league with 35.1 attempts per game, more than 15 on average behind the league-leading Celtics (50.2).
Leading scorer Jalen Brunson has been the worst offensive player amid a team-wide shooting slump, hitting just 5-for-39 (12.8 percent) in eight games since Dec. 23, including missing one game. .
In a 55-point performance against the Wizards on December 28, he was 3-of-11 from deep.
“The ball just wasn't going our way, but that shouldn't be the reason we don't win games,” Brunson said Monday night. “When I’m not hitting those shots, I have to find a way to impact the game in other areas, and that starts with me.”
The team captain also said the Knicks' self-proclaimed “low energy” level in Monday's loss (which started 12 of 14 games at the Garden after a tough schedule) was “unacceptable.”
“[The schedule is] “It's good for us,” Brunson added, “but we have to make the most of it.”
Brunson certainly wasn't alone during his skein shooting spree.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed Monday's game with right knee soreness, is the only starter to shoot at least 33 percent (36.7) from long range in eight straight games.
Precious Achiuwa is also 3-of-7 (42.9 percent) on 3s during this stretch.
Miles McBride has missed the past four games, but before injuring his hamstring, he had made just 6 of his past 23 3-pointers (26.1 percent).
Hart (29.4 percent), OG Anunoby (31.0 percent), Mikal Bridges (32.1 percent), and backups Landry Shamet (30.0 percent) and Payne (31.6 percent) have also struggled from the outside since Christmas. .
Starting with today's win over the Spurs, the Knicks shot better than 35 percent from deep just once in eight games — 39.1 percent in the win over the Jazz through 2025. .
Monday's loss marks the fourth straight game with fewer than 10 completed treys.
“I don't know [the reason]we just have to keep shooting them and keep it going. Keep trusting. I don’t think we really look at it that way because everybody’s been in the gym,” said Bridges, who missed six of seven 3-point attempts against Orlando. “I think [the Magic] They just played harder than us. ”
