Mike Brown calls out Knicks’ defense after lax ways finally catch up to them

There was a major theme to Mike Brown’s postgame press conference. He talked about one topic almost exclusively. 

“I just hope, sooner than later, our guys collectively want to sustain, the right way, the play on the defensive end of the floor,” Brown said after the Knicks’ 134-132 loss to the Spurs in San Antonio. “We’ll figure it out offensively as the game goes on. But when you play the way we play defensively, which is in spurts, you’re gonna keep giving a team hope. And when you give a team hope in this league, guys are too talented. They’re gonna find a way, especially a good team.”

That’s exactly what the Spurs did, scoring 41 points in the fourth quarter to come back and snap the Knicks’ three-game win streak.

The lax defense by the Knicks was a problem throughout their just-completed three-game road trip but was covered up by late-game heroics and strong offensive production.

They probably deserved to lose against both the Hawks and Pelicans with how they defended but bailed themselves out down the stretch. On Wednesday it finally caught up to them.

They were without Josh Hart (ankle) for all three games of the road trip and Mitchell Robinson (load management) for the final two games. They are two of the strongest Knicks defenders and should certainly make a difference when they return.