The New York Knicks dropped their fourth straight contest as they fell 114-97 to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. Despite a generally strong start to the regular season, Knicks captain Jalen Brunson understands that his team will have to take a long look in the mirror.
“There's been a lot of things to pinpoint, but I mean as a team we know what we have to do,” captain Jalen Brunson told ESPN. “It's either we do it, we care enough to do it, or we don't.”
Brunson tallied 22 points and six assists in the losing effort, while Karl-Anthony Towns posted 22 points, 18 rebounds, and four assists. New York head coach Mike Brown did not mince words when speaking about his squad’s effort.
“They scored 75 points in the first half,” Brown told Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. “Halftime, we usually do the clips and talk about technical X’s and O’s and all that crap that coaches do, teams do. There was nothing to be said at halftime. Except for lock in and do your f–king — do your job.”
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Veteran guard Josh Hart finished the game with eight points, six rebounds, and three assists. Like Brunson and Brown, he was not afraid to share his opinion on the Knicks’ poor showing.
“I haven't seen this kind of effort that we had today. It was embarrassing,” Hart said.
New York is now 25-18 on the season. While they are still poised to make the playoffs, the group will have to do some soul-searching before re-establishing itself as true contenders.
“It should've started a couple weeks ago, but we've got to start tomorrow,” Brunson said.