SAN ANTONIO — The beauty of the NBA, multiple members of the Knicks said Thursday, is a direct chance to erase the bitterness of a devastating loss.
Of course, such words only apply if the next opportunity is available.
With starters Jaylen Brunson and RJ Barrett missing nearly two games in a row, the Knicks have gone 0-2 in the Texas swing over the last three games, an eight-game winning streak followed by a five-game losing streak overall. After he lost 122-115 to the Spurs at the AT&T Center, they plummeted to the .500 mark for the season (18-18).
Julius Randle scored a season-high 41 points and Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 36, but the Knicks were ahead 62-42 in the paint. And in his one game after recording his career-high 33 points, Quenting Rhimes shot his 10-1 from the field to finish with nine points.
“Agnostic [numbers]I’ll see what the team does. How does that affect winning,’ said Tom Thibodeau. “The ball was in the paint all night and in the first quarter he scored 38 points…and by the end it was too little and too late.
With Keldon Johnson scoring 30 and Romeo Langford scoring 23, the Spurs have lost five of their last seven games and have the second-worst record in the Western Conference (12-23).
Before the game, Derrick Rose enjoyed a “chance to redeem himself” after the Knicks flashed a 9-point lead in less than 35 seconds to play on Tuesday before losing to the Mavericks in overtime, with Luca Doncic said he recorded a 60-point triple-double.
“That’s your basketball character. You’ve got some tough losses, but you’ve got to get through them. The game continues,” said Thibodeau as the team wraps up its three-game trip in Houston on Saturday. “Sometimes you’re on the other side. It’s like having a great win and then feeling too good and having to prepare for the next match.”
Still, the absences of Barrett and Branson cost the Knicks lineup 39.9 points per game, and Branson also leads the team with an average of 6.6 assists.
That duo and Randle started every game together before Branson sat first in Tuesday’s overtime loss in Dallas, Barrett less than two minutes into the first quarter with a finger laceration. I left that game.
“Obviously you don’t want the match to end like that, but everything had to work out. [the Mavericks] Wrong for us. But we’re entering a new day,’ said Randle. We have enough people to come up, so that’s all I’m worried about.”
Quickley scored 10 of the Knicks’ first 12 points, and Randle scored 11 in a row for a 27-24 lead, but the Spurs closed out the first quarter with a 14-2 run. 2nd with a 9 point advantage.
Thibodeau used only eight players after Barrett left early on Tuesday night, but Fournier checked in with three minutes remaining in the first quarter on Thursday, 23 since last game action on November 13. You recorded your first action in the game.
The 11-year veteran scored seven points in the first half stint, including three, with Randle finishing the half on 21, while the Knicks trailed 64-53 in the intermissions.
Quickley’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to single digits early in the third set, but Johnson’s back-to-back three-pointers pushed the Spurs up to 17 points with three minutes remaining.
The Knicks were 13 points behind in fourth place, with Randle’s fifth of six three-pointers cut to nine with 8:07 remaining. But Langford’s layup and Johnson’s triple from a Fournier turnover extended San Antonio’s lead to 108-94 with 6:33 remaining.
“They didn’t feel us from the start, but they were confident,” Randle said after the game. “It’s hard to shut down a team, especially on the home court.” We have to get back to the way we do it.”
