Knicks’ thin roster and rebounding struggles fuel Houston defeat
The New York Knicks (3-3) couldn’t find their groove last night in Houston, losing 109-97 to the Houston Rockets (4-3). Despite New York’s solid three-point shooting, Houston’s paint domination and sustained energy had them scrambling. With a thin bench, the Knicks relied on a seven-man rotation, and it showed. Here are three takeaways from the defeat.
Poor Rebounding Resulted in Shooting Struggles
The Knicks had a chilly shooting night, managing only 39% from the field—a rare stumble for a team that rates in the NBA’s top five for field goal percentage and number one (!) in three-point percentage.
Despite making 39% of their three-pointers, their overall shooting woes kept them from gaining ground on the Rockets. With both teams playing tough defense, the offense looked sloppy as a result, and New York barely eeked out 41 second-half points. It didn’t help that Houston outrebounded our heroes, 50-39.
Karl-Anthony Towns was the best board-getter by far with 19. As always, Josh Hart played tough, but he collected just four boards, five off his season average. Off the bench, Jericho Sims added four, but . . . the less said about the bench, the better.
With Cameron Payne now injured, the Knicks played what was essentially a seven-man roster (no disrespect to Tyler Kolek’s five encouraging minutes). One bench guy was Sims, mostly an offensive donut. And the normally rampaging Miles McBride shot an uncharacteristic 0-of-9 from the floor. With some healthy bench support, this would have been a different game–and our starters would have had a little left in the tank to complete the late comeback.
Playing Through Foul Trouble
When he arrived in New York, Karl-Anthony Towns brought a reputation for foul trouble. For reference, KAT had five or more fouls in 15 games last season and fouled out of seven. Through his first few games as a Knick, Karl has had two foul-heavy nights, with five against Miami–to be fair, he was stomping Bam Adebayo–and six versus Cleveland–to be fair, their frontcourt resembles sequoias.
Last night, the refs whistled KAT for three personals in the first half and another in the first two minutes of the second. With the Knicks thin at center, coach Tom Thibodeau couldn’t afford to put Karl’s size or offensive ability on the bench. The big fella played 16 more minutes, crashing the glass with aplomb and mixing it up in the lane, yet committed no further fouls. We applaud his discipline.
Punished in the Paint and Tired Legs
Alperen Şengün (25 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks) and the Rockets owned the paint. They outmuscled the Knicks with a staggering 62-38 advantage in inside scoring. This lopsided battle exposed New York’s shallow depth in the front court, as they struggled to contain Houston’s relentless drive to the rim. Jericho Sims was merely a body off the bench. At times last night, we wondered why tall rookie Ariel Hukporti couldn’t get a few minutes of action, just to see if anything different might result.
Unable to protect the basket or secure crucial defensive rebounds, the Knicks allowed the Rockets to dictate the game’s tempo. First, they were on their heels, and then, as the minutes ticked by, they were on rubber legs. New York managed to fight back and close the deficit to one point, but that burned up all the gas in their tanks.
Jalen Brunson played the entire second half, finishing with 42 minutes played; Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby were close behind with 40 and 39, respectively. If the Knicks had Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson available, last night’s story would have gone very differently. The former should return from his hamstring problem soon; the latter . . . January, maybe?
Soon, we hope. New York heads to Atlanta for tomorrow’s tilt with the Hawks, the last of a road trip before they return to the Garden on Friday.
Go Knicks.