In the final minutes of Monday afternoon's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday game, the Knicks couldn't establish their fundamentals.
After holding an 11-point lead at the Garden that looked like it would be their fifth straight home court win, the Knicks lost to the Magic 98-94 thanks to missed foul shots and rebounds.
Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo got to the foul line after attacking in the paint, effectively drawing fouls and contributing to a struggling offense down the stretch.
Both players missed shots at the charity stripe.
Randle described the Knicks' fourth-quarter offense as “stagnant” and “too stagnant.”
Additionally, the Magic had at least three players crashing the boards on each possession.
Orlando outscored the Knicks 46-41, leading 33-28 in defensive rebounds.
Goga Bitadze led the Magic with 11 boards.
When asked where the game started to slip away, head coach Tom Thibodeau replied, “The third is over, the fourth is beginning.” “I thought their bench came in and hurt us. In the fourth, we had to break the dribble and rebound. We missed the free throw.
“It was a shaky game because of foul trouble early on. I want to watch film. And watch it. We went into the fourth with a five-point lead. They're a good defensive team. had to trust the pass. I thought we missed some open shots that we should have taken. Rebounding was an issue. They got some timely rebounds. [Wendell] Carter came in and hurt us. [Cole] Anthony hurt us. [Chuma] Okeke's three shots hurt us. We should have been in a position to win the game. And we have to do better offensively as well. ”
The Knicks currently rank fifth in the league in rebounding, averaging 45.8 rebounds per game, ahead of the 13th-place Magic (43.9 rebounds).
The Knicks also rank 19th in free throw percentage (77.6).
“We talk about it a lot, but it's just making sure our guards are taken care of,” Miles McBride told the Post about the team's defense and rebounding struggles. Told. “There were teams that were hitting those long rebounds or 3-second shots or really attacking the rim with dribble drives and that was putting us out of place because we had to help. We just had to defend that defensively. I think we made a lot of good plays. We had good communication, but it wasn't enough to get the win.”
