Two days after their demonstration in Denver (145 points scored), the Knicks traveled to Dallas against a team deprived of Luka Doncic, Klay Thompson and Daniel Gafford. So there was clearly something to be done in Texas.
The first quarter and even the first half, in general, will be responsible for killing the hopes of Tom Thibodeau's men: 15 points on the clock at 19% shooting success after twelve minutes and only 38 units to 26 % at the break…
“We didn’t shoot well, not well at all”, can only observe Karl-Anthony Towns faced with this very ugly shooting percentage. “We were catastrophic in the first half”judge Josh Hart, who shot 0/13 before the break, in the company of OG Anunoby, yet so effective among the 2023 champions.
The roller coaster
The Mavericks won this game, being perfectly prepared to extinguish Jalen Brunson and his gang, who had caught fire in Colorado.
“Jason Kidd is a hell of a coach. He watched the Denver game and found ways to play us. It was good, they were ready”insists Karl-Anthony Towns. “We give the game plan to stop us”regrets Josh Hart.
The Knicks tend to yo-yo: often good, sometimes excellent, they can also miss a meeting. “Some nights we look ridiculous, and others we do too but in a positive way. We can't ride the roller coaster. We have to be regular”indicates Jalen Brunson, who therefore wants “limit the ups and downs”.
This is the second defeat in four matches during this “road trip” to the West, started a week earlier, for Tom Thibodeau’s troops. After meetings in Phoenix, Utah, Denver then Dallas, and before a last one in Charlotte, are the legs now a little heavy?
“We've been on the road for a while and the game started early, but we have to be ready for it. We found ourselves in a hole and it was difficult to get out of it”concludes the New York coach.
