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The New York Knicks are stumbling after their hot start to the season, which was to be expected, but fans likely didn’t expect to see the struggles come against teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers or Toronto Raptors.
After taking out the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and the upstart Chicago Bulls to begin the season, fans and the team were both riding high. The “bing bong” trend started, something the Cavs, like every other team who beat New York before them, trolled the Knicks with.
After the loss, Knicks star Julius Randle, calling himself the team’s leader, took the blame, and he laid out several of the things he believes he’ll need to do better for the team to avoid losses like this in the future.
Randle Shoulders Blame
In his post-game press conference, Randle tells reporters that the team has had trouble getting stops when they need them, which is a big factor in the team blowing late leads.
“I feel like in critical moments we can’t get stops the way we need to be able to get stops, consistently,” he says. “Giving teams confidence early, 3-point line hurt us today. We just gotta be better, man, we gotta figure it out and be better.”
In the opener against the Celtics, while it ended up being a thriller and potentially the best game of the season, it came as the result of a late blown lead, something that keeps popping up for the Knicks.
“I think it’s our energy, our fight, our will,” Randle continues. “Understand that’s who we are first. I said it from the very beginning, I said it from the beginning when I talked to you guys on the first day, on media day, I said we’ll be fine if we play defense.”
With coach Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks are one of the better defensive teams in the league, but as they shift to a more 3-pt heavy offense this season, along with the rest of the league, defense gets a bit harder. 20 point leads are no longer as safe as they once were.
As a leader, Randle says that he will get better.
“I take accountability, I have to be better as a leader, as a leader of the team. Like, I’ll be better, I gotta talk more, play with more energy, whatever I gotta do,” he says. “I’ll look at the tape. Whatever I gotta do, because at the end of the day the only thing that matters is winning.”
Quick Turnaround
The team doesn’t have very long to dwell on the loss to the Cavs as they’ll be right back in action against the Philadelphia 76ers beginning Monday night.
This will be the second matchup of the season between the two teams and the Sixers will still be without Ben Simmons, making things a bit easier for the Knicks.
New York was able to take the first game against Philadelphia, and they’ll also be looking to avoid a two game losing streak for the second time this season.
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