HOUSTON — It has reached that point in the Knicks season, better late than never.
After another ugly 111-94 defeat Tuesday night to the Rockets, the next game Wednesday night in Memphis, according to Josh Hart, is a “must-win.”
The veteran forward has seen enough and sounded the alarm.
“We’re obviously struggling right now to win games. Struggling to start games off. Struggling to focus on the attention to detail. Struggling to get outside of ourselves and focus on what the betterment of the team is,” Hart said. “So [Wednesday] we have to play with a sense of desperation. Sense of being willing to sacrifice. To win.”
Of course, it should be easier to beat the injury-ravaged and tanking Grizzlies. But nothing should be taken for granted these days for the Knicks, not with the way they’ve been playing lately.
They arrived in Houston on Tuesday with something to prove. Then they proved nothing. Just more of the same. Worse, actually.
Coach Mike Brown’s squad has now gone 25 days without beating a team with a winning record, continuing that streak with the loss to the Rockets.
They again looked flustered offensively and a step slow defensively. They’re certainly not carrying the look of a title contender.
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And now they are looking at the Grizzlies game as an important building block.
“We’re not going in the right direction,” Hart said. “We’re not trending upwards. So we got to figure it out. Three tough [losses in a row]. Got another one tomorrow. That’s a must-win for us. And build from there.”
Jalen Brunson was woeful while flustered by Houston’s swarming defense, managing just 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting with three turnovers. Karl-Anthony Towns was better but not by much, shooting 7-for-17 for 22 points.
Overall, the Knicks shot just 10-for-34 from 3-point range — bricking several wide-open looks, most commonly from Hart and Miles McBride.
Meanwhile, the Rockets (46-29) carved up New York’s defense with precision, getting 27 points from old man Kevin Durant while shooting 54 percent overall and 43 percent from deep.
“They did whatever they wanted,” Brunson said.
The Knicks (48-28) were never in the fight. They lost every statistical battle — points, rebounds, turnovers, assists. They trailed for the final 47 minutes and by 20 points heading into the fourth quarter. They have dropped three straight overall and five consecutive against winning teams.
In the big picture, New York is still third in the East but dangerously close to falling into fourth, leaving Toyota Center just a half-game above the Cavaliers — who played a late game Tuesday night against the Lakers. It’s getting precarious with the playoffs creeping closer.
“Regardless of being veterans or not, we got to turn the page and do something about it,” Brunson said. “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the league or not.”
The Knicks should still beat the Grizzlies (25-50), even in a back-to-back, but don’t stand a chance in the playoffs if they’re playing like they did last week. Some of the Rockets debacle was predictable. Coach Brown’s team has had problems dealing with long and athletic defenses. It stalls Brunson’s offense, and that happened again Tuesday.
The start was a disaster class for the Knicks.
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They trailed 12-1 after three minutes, then 22-5 after five minutes. They were wilting under Houston’s intense defense, failing to generate good opportunities while missing six of their first seven 3-point attempts.
On the other end, the Knicks were slow to rotate and allowed Durant open jumpers — about as efficient an attempt as it gets in the NBA. Brown burned two timeouts in the opening seven minutes. They trailed the Rockets 37-21 after the first quarter.
“To start the game, we were poor defensively,” Brown said. “They didn’t feel us at all, especially in the pick-and-roll game. Against KD, we went under two to three times early. He’s hot, we’re not supposed to go under, and he knocked down shots. We didn’t make shots going the other way. That’s what it comes down to.”
The Knicks settled down a little bit to start the second quarter and cut the deficit to four, largely because of Jose Alvarado’s injection of energy and shotmaking. But the recovery was short-lived.
The Knicks were soon down by 19 and went into the break with a 63-50 deficit. It was over, and the conclusion was deflating.
