Knicks Bulletin: ‘You get to the fourth and the starters look gassed’

After the Knicks lost for the third time in four games, they sounded off on their defensive woes.

Oh, well . . . another game, another loss. That makes three out of four in what has been an ugly stretch of Knicks basketball, and a trip to Philly is right around the corner.

New York kept its head above water for most of Sunday afternoon’s matchup but ultimately faltered, allowing the Pacers to clinch the win and beat the orange and blue 132-121 in Hoosier Land.

Here’s what Coach Thibs and a few Knicks had to say about their disappointing performance.

Tom Thibodeau

On the Pacers’ offensive firepower and the Knicks’ defense:

“They’re a great offensive team. And we gave up way too much.

“We don’t challenge shots, they’re going to make. So too big of a discrepancy from the three-point line. They made 21, we made 7. That’s a problem.

“Our offense, we score 121 points, we shoot 55 (percent). We got to the line a lot. Outrebounded them. But we didn’t cover the 3-point line.

“So we got to fix it, and we got to fix it fast.”

On the need to make defensive adjustments quickly before getting deeper into the season:

“We have to do better. And we will.”

On relying solely on offense not being the best plan:

“If we’re just going to rely on offense… we’re not going to be a good team. So we have to do better.

“The fourth quarter is different, we got to treat it differently. We understand how hard we got to play in the fourth quarter. And we have to do better.”

On the need of better situational awareness in defending shooters:

“Everyone has to be moving on the flight of the ball. You have to be there on the catch.

“When you get two guys running to one, then you’re leaving someone wide open.

“In general, the communication has to be a lot better, especially against a team that can put points on the board.”

On Cam Payne and Precious Achiuwa’s injuries:

“Cam’s further along because he’s obviously doing a lot more on the court.

“Precious still hasn’t been cleared for practice. He’s doing a lot on the court but he hasn’t been cleared for practice. So there’s another step before we can say he’s getting close.”

On Mikal Bridges’ and Josh Hart’s defensive contributions:

“Mikal takes on whoever the primary ball handler is and he works at it all game long and keeps coming. I think that says a lot about him.

“And [Hart] is going to hustle and get the loose balls and push the pace and do what he does.

“If we do that and everyone commits to their strengths and playing defense, we can be good. But we know right now we are shorthanded, so we have to play real hard and rebound the ball. We have to do that as a team. If we do that, good things will come from it.”

On the Knicks’ offensive stats and the need for more volume:

“We’re fourth in offensive rating, we’re top five in field-goal percentage, we’re No. 1 in 3-point percentage and free-throw percentage, but we need more.

“We need to get the volume up.”

On Tyler Kolek’s development:

“Each day [Tyler Kolek] gets better. He’s got a great feel for the game, and he’s a worker. He’s still learning the league and he’ll get better and better, with understanding what’s happening with defenses and also as he becomes more familiar with the people that he’s guarding and the teams.

“I think each time out, you can see his confidence growing. We have a lot of confidence in him, and I see it every day. Usually it starts in practice, and if you practice well, you usually play well.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On the importance of winning all games, including these early matchups:

“This is my 10th year in the NBA. Last year was a year where I had a tremendous amount of experience garnered going to the Western Conference Finals, and I know when we were in Game 80, 81, 82 against the Suns, we looked back at those Game 1, Game 4, you looked back at the ones you gave away that put you in a better position whether it’s to be in the No. 1 seed, No. 2 seed, No. 3 seed, or gives us a chance to choose our destiny.

“That’s why I’m disappointed. Experience has taught me a lot. This is just as important as Game 82, and we just didn’t come out with a win. That’s what’s so disappointing to me.”

On the team’s transition defense:

“They hit threes. They did what they had to do. Credit to them. They hit shots when they had to hit shots.

“We just didn’t do enough to win tonight. We’ve gotta be better with transition defense. I think that allowed them the threes that got them going, that got them confident in the three-ball. Early on especially, transition threes.

“I thought we did a good job playing defense when we got them in a half-court set, making them take some tough ones or the shots that we wanted. The transition got them going, and then later on in the game, it hurt us again when we needed to get some stops.”

On the sting of losing:

“They’re all tough. Any [game] you lose is tough.”

On playing close to home at Madison Square Garden:

“My mom’s family—the Dominicans are very excited.

“My dad, my mom, immigrating over here from the Dominican Republic, Madison Square Garden, to her, was the Mecca. And to our family, it’s always been the Mecca.

“To be able to play in a place that was so revered by her. Obviously, it strikes a different emotion.”

Josh Hart

On bad defensive communication and the lack of effort on Sunday:

“We’ve just got to work on getting them out of their sets, getting them out of rhythm better. Especially with this team… if you have one breakdown, they find it and they get in the lane, they drive, kick and they’ve got shooters all over the place.

“We’ve got to communicate better. We’ll figure it out. Not even 10 games in.

“We’re not worried. We’re going to figure it out, and when we figure it out—offensively we’ve been great.”

On what he’s learned about Towns since he arrived in New York:

“I don’t think he really likes being called, ‘Meow.’ I learned that. I haven’t called him that in a while.

“Besides that, he’s a very team-oriented player, a team-first guy. He’s willing to sacrifice, and obviously when you have one of your guys, one of your engines, that has accountability like that… it trickles down.”

Jalen Brunson

On the need to improve the team’s defensive focus:

“I would say regardless of what’s happening on the offensive end, we can control what we can control—and that’s the defensive side.

“Offense is not really the problem.”

On personal accountability and his own defensive lapses:

“We just weren’t together. I had a couple of plays in the first half where I just fell asleep. And it doesn’t look like a big thing then, but when you look at all the little mistakes, it adds up to what could have been a closer game and what could have been a win for us.

“We’ve just got to stick together on that side of the ball regardless of what’s going on.”

On working with Tyler Kolek:

“I talk to Tyler every day. I like Tyler, just watching him work hard every single chance he gets, it’s something that gets me excited about his future.”

Rick Carlisle (Indiana Pacers Head Coach)

On expecting Haliburton to bounce back from his ugly first matchup in New York:

“Listen, he’s a great player and he’s going to be fine.

“As I’ve been through this whole thing a couple of times now, this summer, even though he was on the Olympic team, he didn’t play much and he didn’t get to work out much because he actually got injured when he was there. And then he was dealing with another ailment into the fall.”

On knowing Tyrese Haliburton would destroy the Knicks:

“Look at the look in the eyes. It was as simple as that. I could make up some other bullsh*t, but they’re just times when great players just have a look in their eye that you know they’re going to be great.

“They are determined not only to have a great individual game, but to highly impact the game for themselves and their teammates.”

Stephon Marbury (Former NBA Player)

On the Knicks’ potential to win with the current roster and not minding if they keep adding talent:

“I think we can win a championship with our team, but I do think that adding pieces is always something that helps.”

On eventually welcoming even more top players if they fit the Knicks’ system:

“We’re a team that just now changed some guys from last year so we still trying to improve, we’re still trying to get better. So, we’ll welcome all top 75 players to come to New York as long as they can fit within the system.”

Monica McNutt (TV Personality)

On the Knicks’ need to get healthy and their fourth-quarter struggles:

“I think this team desperately needs to get healthy. [In the] third quarter [the Pacers] go 10-deep. Myles Turner and Haliburton have the opportunity to rest, then come in on the fourth and literally go gangbusters.

“The Pacers hit more 3s in the fourth than the Knicks in the game, and so to me, by the time you get to the fourth quarter… the starters look gassed.

“Then the rotation suffered defensively. They were okay in terms of scoring, but when you compare it to how efficient and effective the Pacers were able to be—it’s tough to look at those margins.”