Knicks Struggle Again in Loss to Rockets

HOUSTON — The Knicks entered with a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, they didn’t deliver on that front. If anything, the situation feels worse.

Coach Mike Brown’s squad has been winless against teams with winning records for 25 days, and that streak continued with a disappointing 111-94 defeat to the Rockets on Tuesday night.

Offensively, they seemed confused, and defensively, they were notably slower. They certainly don’t exude the aura of title contenders.

Jalen Brunson faced challenges with Houston’s flexible defense, resulting in a poor outing where he tallied only 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting, along with three turnovers.

Karl-Anthony Towns performed slightly better, contributing 22 points but was still below par with a shooting line of 7-of-17.

Meanwhile, the Rockets (46-29) sliced through New York’s defense, led by veteran Kevin Durant, who notched 27 points while the team shot 54 percent overall, including 43 percent from beyond the arc.

The Knicks (48-28) never seemed to engage in the game. They lost on all fronts—points, rebounds, turnovers, assists. They started the fourth quarter trailing by 20, having struggled for the last 47 minutes. This marked three consecutive losses and five straight against winning teams.

For context, New York remains third in the East but is perilously close to falling to fourth, just half a game ahead of the Cavaliers, who played later that night. As the playoffs draw near, the uncertainty only grows.

If the Knicks continue to play as they did last week, their chances diminish rapidly. Some struggles were predictable; Brown’s teams have historically had trouble against dynamic defenses. This became evident again on Tuesday.

Brunson found himself hindered, delivering one of his poorest performances of the season.

It was a rocky start for the Knicks.

They jumped out to a quick 12-1 lead in the first three minutes and extended it to 22-5 after five. But they quickly faltered under Houston’s tough switching defense, missing six of their first seven 3-point attempts and failing to generate solid scoring opportunities.

New York’s slow rotations allowed Durant to capitalize easily, hitting wide-open shots. Brown called two timeouts within the first seven minutes. By the end of the first quarter, they had a modest lead of 37-21.

The Knicks managed to regroup a bit at the start of the second quarter, closing the gap to four thanks to some energized plays from Jose Alvarado. But that momentary recovery didn’t last long.

Before long, they found themselves trailing by 19 points, heading into halftime down 63-50. It felt almost insurmountable at that point.

The Knicks were nearly at full strength, with Miles McBride unexpectedly activated just two days after seemingly re-injuring his sports hernia. Still, it was clear he was not quite himself, as he missed his first eight shots and finished with merely three points on 1-of-9 shooting.

Mikal Bridges had a quiet night as well, scoring seven points on four shot attempts over 34 minutes, while OG Anunoby managed just eight points in his 38 minutes on the floor.

Alvarado made an impact off the bench, scoring 12 points in 12 minutes on 5-of-6 shooting. His performance has opened up discussions for his role heading into the playoffs, alongside Jordan Clarkson or Tyler Kolek as potential backup guards.

Kolek did not see action again on Tuesday.

“Tyler has shown remarkable growth this year, and his confidence is evident. However, Jose provides a level of experience,” Brown noted, elaborating on Alvarado’s current standing in the rotation.

“He brings a quickness that Tyler doesn’t have. But Tyler has his own strengths; he’s still young. I’m leaning on Jose for now, but Tyler needs to stay ready. Should his number be called, he must step up to help us win.”