New York Knicks lose to the Detroit Pistons 121-90: Worst performance of the season

The New York Knicks have lost four in a row after being blown out by the Detroit Pistons, 121-90. It’s safe to say this was New York’s worst performance of the season.

The Knicks haven’t been the same since their NBA Cup run left them with lots of travel and no rest. But that’s no excuse. Detroit came into the game on the second night of a back-to-back and still outworked New York thoroughly.

There’s no need to break this down by quarter. Jalen Brunson was the only starter with a pulse, and everyone off the bench was outplayed by their counterparts except for Deuce McBride.

The Knicks’ defense continues to look like a disaster. They lost the rebounding battle despite going with two bigs to start. Then their offense repeatedly turned the ball over, leading to easy baskets. This game never felt competitive after the second quarter.

Let’s perform an autopsy on this brutal night by reviewing each player’s contributions.

It’s hard to get too mad at Jalen Brunson despite his six turnovers with zero assists. He should have created more, but Detroit’s physicality removed any aggressiveness from the Captain’s teammates. So, Brunson’s constant attacking led to turnovers, but felt like the only way New York could score.

Brunson’s importance became clearer as soon as he sat. The Knicks rarely got offense going while the Captain rested, though a few three-point streaks helped the bench outshine the woeful starting unit.

Deuce McBride snuck into this section with a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter. He played a “this is fine” game, which is more than I can say for most Knicks.

But I’m highlighting Deuce because of his outstanding shooting lately. McBride has made 10 out of 13 three-pointers in the past two games. He should be starting until Josh Hart returns.

I’m running out of excuses for Karl-Anthony Towns. He looked listless all game, barely shooting and offensive fouling virtually any time he attacked the paint.

KAT has made up for bad offensive performances with his rebounding and effort before, but not tonight. He got outworked for rebounds and offered nothing for rim protection or help defense.

The Knicks can’t win if Towns plays like this. He dragged the team down on both ends.

Mitchell Robinson seemed like he found his role, coming off the bench and wreaking havoc. So, I’m scratching my head over Mike Brown moving Mitch into the starting lineup after a week of inactivity.

Mitch was ineffective against Detroit, providing the Knicks with a boost in rebounding but little else. His value as a screener is diminished when he shares the duty with KAT, and the pair of bigs looked too slow to rotate properly against multi-pass possessions.

I would have liked to see OG Anunoby defend Cade Cunningham more often. Cunningham torched smaller defenders, but Anunoby frequently stuck with players like Duncan Robinson or Paul Reed, which is a massive waste of his defense.

Even with those problems, Anunoby clocked four Stocks. But he has no excuses offensively. Anunoby didn’t attack, wouldn’t shoot, and wasn’t the off-ball weapon we’ve grown accustomed to. He just looked tired.

At halftime, Mikal Bridges was the only starter offering Jalen Brunson offensive help. After halftime, Bridges made one shot. Suffice to say, this wasn’t his best game.

But it only gets worse when we consider that Bridges guarded Cade Cunningham a lot. Cunningham played the entire Knicks’ defense like a fiddle, dropping 29 points and 13 assists. Mikal got torched by Tyrese Maxey in the last game, too. He’s recently regressed to last year’s disappointing mean.

As much as I blame the ridiculous scheduling anomalies that the NBA Cup creates for New York looking fatigued, that excuse can only stretch so far. Detroit played last night and still flew home to beat up the Knicks.

In fact, teams have routinely beaten up on the Knicks during this losing streak. They don’t look tired. They look soft.

The Clippers are next for New York to try and get on track against. See next time, Knicks’ fam!