These are the kinds of matchups that expose a team’s flaws. Because the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder have every intention of repeating as NBA Finals winners the second time around.
And there’s a decent chance the Thunder, should they emerge from a Western Conference field featuring Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs, Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets, and the Luka-LeBron Los Angeles Lakers, meet the Knicks with a title on the line in mid-June.
Because the Knicks, flaws and all, can win the Eastern Conference for the first time this century with a team
And if they do, if they emerge from the East and survive the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers along the way, there’s little reason to believe, after falling short at OKC’s Paycom Center in a 111-100 loss to the Thunder on Sunday, the Knicks will fare any better in a seven-game series.
The Knicks lost a second game in a row for just the fourth time this season, following Thursday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets with a late-game collapse against the defending champs.
The Knicks fell behind by eight midway through the second quarter, kept it close until the Thunder pulled ahead by 11 in the fourth quarter. The Knicks responded with a 10-0 run that made it a 92-91 game with 6:20 left in the final period, but the reigning champs outscored New York, 19-9, the rest of the way.
The Thunder are now on a six-game winning streak against the Knicks and have swept them three seasons in a row. And the Knicks must figure out how to make up ground. Because this is a championship-or-bust season, and the Knicks haven’t consistently looked the part against teams their own caliber.
Much of it stems from the Karl-Anthony Towns matchup–a matchup the Thunder sought more than the Knicks in the first half. Towns finished with 15 points and 18 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. The problem? He only took eight shots on the night. Towns attempted no field goals in the first quarter and had just two points entering halftime.
He then imposed his will over the Thunder in the fourth quarter, using his size advantage to create opportunities against OKC’s cross-match. Meanwhile, the reigning champs frequently put Towns in defensive actions, often creating wide-open driving lanes to the rim, much to the ire of head coach Mike Brown.
Jalen Brunson scored a team-high 32 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field. Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart added 15 points apiece, and OG Anunoby scored 10 points on two-of-nine shooting from the field.
Reigning Most Valuable Player of the year Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 on 8-of-18 shooting, and Jalen Williams added 22 points. The Thunder bench outscored the Knicks’ second unit, 25-13, and Miles McBride, in his first game back from a sports hernia surgery that sidelined him 28 games, suffered an injury and grabbed at his stomach before leaving the floor and going to the locker room in pain.
The Knicks now have seven games left on their regular season schedule, seven more opportunities to refine themselves on both ends of the floor before their record shifts from 50-plus wins to 0-0: Their next challenge comes Tuesday in Houston against a physical Rockets team also looking to establish itself as a title contender–and leaning on a physical defense plus Kevin Durant’s individual scoring greatness to do so.
The Knicks will face the Memphis Grizzlies in the second leg of a back-to-back on Wednesday, the Chicago Bulls on Friday and play their final road game of the season in Atlanta against the Hawks on April 6 before a three-game home stand to close the season: a back-to-back against the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors before the season finale against the Charlotte Hornets.