The New York Knicks got blown out by the Brooklyn Nets in the Battle of the Boroughs on Wednesday night, and sure enough, Jalen Brunson found nothing to be happy about in their performance.
Speaking to reporters after their 112-85 loss to the Nets, Brunson offered a straightforward assessment of their play. He admitted that they were outworked by Brooklyn, citing that the Knicks lacked effort and clearly failed to play their hardest.
“It's not okay… they played harder than us and we didn't play as hard as we could have,” Brunson shared.
Article Continues BelowTrue enough, it's hard to take anything positive from the Knicks' display against the Nets. Not only did they allow Kevin Durant have his way en route to a triple-double (29 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists), but they also failed to respond to the challenge on the offensive end.
Only Julius Randle managed to breach the 20-point mark for New York, finishing with 24 points on top of 11 rebounds and three assists. Jalen Brunson himself knows he's part of the problem, though, especially after he tallied just 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field.
The Knicks have a chance to bounce back on Saturday when they host the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden. Nonetheless, it surely won't be easy with Detroit equally hungry after losing four of their last five outings. If the ‘Bockers continue to show little effort, they could very well end up being on the wrong side of a blowout.