Knicks know they have only themselves to blame for loss to Mavericks
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson looks on with teammate forward Julius Randle during the second half of an NBA game against the Mavericks in Dallas on Thursday. Credit: AP/LM Otero
DALLAS — As the Knicks fell into a huge hole Thursday against the Mavericks, the frustration was evident, mostly with the officials as the fouls piled up and the deficit grew. When it was over, they were more frustrated with themselves.
In a homecoming game, his first appearance back at American Airlines Center, Jalen Brunson was assessed a technical foul in the second quarter. In his on-court argument with referee Danielle Scott, he said he was yelling to coach Tom Thibodeau, not speaking to her, although teammates laughed at that notion afterward.
“I love to keep my money, so I’m going to keep my money,” said Brunson, who is listed as questionable for Saturday's game against the Grizzlies with a left calf contusion. "It’s tough. I can’t be in that mindset of letting things frustrate me, whether it’s anything that’s going on in the game. I got to be better. And we got to be ready from the start of the game, and that’s on me.”
The Knicks (22-16), who had allowed only 97.4 points per game in the five-game winning streak since OG Anunoby arrived, were torched for 44 first-quarter points by a shorthanded Mavericks squad and then couldn’t complete their frantic fourth-quarter comeback.
As they moved on to the next test — a shorthanded Memphis squad on Saturday, with Ja Morant out for the season and Marcus Smart sidelined for up to two months — they promised to avoid taking that lightly.
“Recently we’ve been hitting teams in the mouth first and just running away with it,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “I think this was our first test of adversity as this new group together. I think we responded well in the fourth quarter. You take the good and learn from that as well. We have to be ready Saturday. It doesn’t matter if Ja’s out or not. They’re playing really well. And they’re going to play hard. I think we just got hit first in the mouth tonight and they just kept going.
“In the NBA, when teams start to feel good about themselves, you know something’s coming. I think it’s a humbling game for us, but I know the team we have, everybody is going to respond and be ready to go on Saturday. Thibs is going to have us ready. I think our effort to start the game will be better.”
The frustration was understandable early. Even though the Knicks took their usual tack of driving to the rim, they were called for 15 fouls in the first half and Dallas was whistled for only eight. But the arguments fell on deaf ears and the Knicks were down by 19 at halftime. When they returned for the start of the second half, they actually seemed more aggressive, but without fouling and without complaining.
“We just shut up and played,” said Julius Randle, who scored 18 of his 32 points in the third quarter. “To be completely honest, stopped worrying about the officials, what we were getting and not getting. Just shut up and play basketball. That’s what we did. When we do that, we’re pretty good.”
Said Thibodeau: “Hey, look, I don’t really care if the game was called tight or it was called loosely. I just want consistency. So there was some frustration there, but that’s all part of it. We’ve got to handle that.”
The Knicks cut a 113-93 deficit to 121-120 with 1:08 left in their 128-124 loss. Their biggest issue was containing Kyrie Irving, who had 44 points and 10 assists. They were unable to keep him in front of them, and he was able to either score or find open shooters.
“The quicker we let go of this one, quicker we can focus on the next one,” Randle said. “Self-correct what we did today. Evaluate it, but got to move on.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
