Just when it had looked as though the New York Knicks were figuring it out, they take a few steps back that call into question the legitimacy of their status as a contending team. On Monday night, the Knicks lost another game in Los Angeles, this time against the Clippers, with New York not having enough juice on both ends of the court en route to a 126-118 defeat.
The Knicks, in particular, struggled with taking care of the basketball. They turned the ball over 19 times as a unit, and a composed table-setter would have come in clutch for New York, especially when they could have relied on Karl-Anthony Towns to score the rock on a night where he tallied 35 points.
The Knicks have some guard depth uncertainty behind Jalen Brunson, which is why they brought in Jose Alvarado via trade in the first place. But head coach Mike Brown has not given Alvarado a long leash at all; on Monday, he played in just eight minutes and went scoreless, adding three dimes for his troubles.
After the game, Brown explained his decision to bench Alvarado and dust off Tyler Kolek.
“I thought Jose was struggling a little so I threw Tyler out there and wanted to see if we could get a boost,” Brown said, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
Knicks don't have it on defense at the moment
This may be where Mitchell Robinson's absence is most felt. The Knicks have allowed the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers on back-to-back nights to get whatever they wanted. A common denominator in those losses has been the Knicks' turnover problems, and the team's guard struggles have not helped whatsoever.
The good news is that the schedule is kind to the Knicks for the next few weeks. They'll be facing the Utah Jazz next, followed up by games against the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Pacers again, two tanking teams in the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, and then the New Orleans Pelicans.
It won't be until March 26 when they take on the surging Charlotte Hornets and March 29 when they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
