The New York Knicks had a stunning two-game road trip in which they dropped both games to the Spurs and Hornets. To make matters worse, neither game was overly competitive, and the Knicks were severely outplayed on both ends of the floor.
Knicks legend Walt Frazier bashes team’s effort level against Hornets
Their recent efforts have come at the disgust of Knicks legend and MSG Networks broadcaster Walt Frazier. The Hall of Famer lashed out at the Knicks’ effort at the end of Thursday’s game in Charlotte and wants them to turn things around as soon as possible.
“They have to do some soul searching. They’ve got to look in the mirror tonight…Not competing right now…But we know they have character, they have pride. So we look for them to bounce back,” Frazier said.
The Knicks got trounced by the Spurs who didn’t have Victor Wembanyama or De’Aaron Fox and followed that up with a lousy effort against the Hornets. They have struggled to put points on the board without Jalen Brunson, who is still out with an ankle sprain he suffered earlier this month against the Lakers.
The Knicks need to show some intensity on both ends
Without Brunson, they lack true shot creating from any of their other available players, which has led to bad offense and poor shot selection. New York has shot under 30% from three in each of the last two games.
Furthermore, they haven’t shown much intensity defensively, and have continued to allow teams to shoot exceptionally well. The lack of pressure has been a catalyst behind their struggles, as they are unable to turn their defense into good offense.
New York is still sitting comfortably as the third seed in the Eastern Conference, but they have a lot of work to do before the postseason if they wish to make a deep run this year.