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The Knicks have struggled with one of coach Mike Brown’s core principles coming out of the All-Star break.
He has spent all season urging the Knicks to play with pace. They remain in the bottom half of the league in that regard, but they have played faster than last year under Tom Thibodeau.
In four games since the break, though, the Knicks are averaging 97.25 possessions per game — down from their season-long mark of 98.57 per game.
“One of the things we have to try and do better, especially offensively, is play with pace,” Brown said after the Knicks’ blowout loss in Cleveland on Tuesday night. “Our pace is not good. We have to do a better job of getting to the corners. We have to do a better job of playing with pace in the frontcourt.”
In Tuesday’s loss, the Knicks had just 95 possessions.
“We were running through mud tonight,” Brown said, “no matter what happened.”
With that loss to the Cavaliers, the Knicks are now tied with Cleveland in the standings. And the Cavaliers are red-hot since acquiring James Harden ahead of the trade deadline — they are 6-1 with Harden.
But the Cavaliers suffered a few injuries.
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Harden suffered a fracture in his right thumb in that game, the team announced on Wednesday. The outlook is positive, however — he was listed as questionable for the team’s game against the Bucks on Wednesday night.
Donovan Mitchell also suffered a groin strain in Tuesday’s game and was out Wednesday.
If the Knicks and Cavaliers meet in the playoffs, Cleveland has established its best option to guard Jalen Brunson.
Across the three matchups this year, Dean Wade has primarily guarded Brunson for the Cavaliers. According to NBA.com’s tracking stats, Brunson has just six points and has shot 1-for-16 from the field and 0-for-6 from 3-point range when Wade was matched up with him.
On Tuesday, Brunson went 1-for-4 from the field and 0-for-2 from deep with Wade on him.