The coverage of the 0-3 Knicks centers on the offense, a benched center, a Bridges slump and a Knecht signing. The roster facts back some of it and not all of it.
Brunson Takes Blame
ESPN's Vincent Goodwill has Jalen Brunson saying the sputtering offense "falls on my shoulders." Posting and Toasting's Michael Zeno argued the Knicks are too talented to keep playing this way. The New York Post's Stefan Bondy wrote that Brunson failed late again. The box score backs part of that. Brunson shot 12-of-28 and 1-of-7 from three. He scored nine in the fourth, while Anunoby scored 10. But the Magic put up 40 in that quarter against 27 for New York. That is a team problem, not only a Brunson problem.
Drummond Sits
Bondy also wrote that Andre Drummond bristled after being benched for lack of effort. That is the Post's account of the reason, and nothing here confirms it. What the box score shows is seven minutes, four points and a 2-of-3 night. The whole bench scored seven. Earlier, the Post said Mike Brown called out a lack of physicality. A bench this thin gives that charge no cover.
Bridges Goes Cold
Mike Vaccaro of the Post called Mikal Bridges' slump all-too-familiar and said it means more this year. The numbers agree. Bridges had six points on 3-of-7 shooting against Orlando and finished minus-23 in 35 minutes. He is averaging 3.3 points and has missed all his threes so far. He is paid $33.5 million. Nobody on this roster can fake a fix for that.
Knecht's Path
Michael Scotto reported that Dalton Knecht would sign a two-way deal. Bondy wrote that Knecht's chance at redemption begins in the G League. Knecht is on the roster now, so the first part holds. Whatever the Post means by redemption, the Knicks have not said it. He does not fix a rotation that gave up a 12-0 start.
Bottom Line
Vaccaro told fans not to panic at 0-3, yet. The standings allow that for now. New York is two games behind sixth and one behind tenth with 79 left. But Detroit comes in Tuesday at 3-0 and will be without Jalen Duren. Jose Alvarado has an estimated return of Tuesday. The outlets are right that the offense is the story. It needs a fix before the Bulls and Sixers games arrive.
Why was Andre Drummond benched against the Magic?
The New York Post reported he was benched for lack of effort. He played seven minutes and scored four points.
How far are the Knicks from a playoff spot?
At 0-3 they are 13th in the East, two games behind sixth and one behind tenth, with 79 games left.
