Knicks look to strike back against Thunder on Sunday at MSG | SNY

Knicks look to strike back against Thunder on Sunday at MSG | SNY

Tough loss for the New York Knicks on Friday night as their three-game winning streak came to an end in the Alamo City they fell to the Spurs 130 to 126 in overtime despite Jaylen Brunson serving up a 61 piece so let’s talk some Nicks basketball we’re going to do it with one

Of the co-hosts of Nicks fan TV my guy JD representing East Harlem to the fullest all the time JD what’s going on back said Thank you for having me tough loss last night but uh on to the next one on to the next one that’s the attitude you got to have especially at

This time of year let’s talk about jayen Brunson JD because he scored a career-high 61 points against San Antonio that’s the second most points scored in a game by a player in a Knicks uniform in Nicks history despite the point guards outstanding performance the Knicks they dropped one to the Lotter

Rebound Spurs what were the key factors that led to this loss and the Knicks not pulling out this win tough loss and you know a lot of times teams at that point talk about you know crunch time situations but I think last night was one of those real

First half stories and I think that’s where they lost the game you know they were down 74 to 57 at halftime you’re down 15 points uh to you know one of the worst record teams in the NBA you gave up 16 free throws you only had three as

Well in the first half uh you know the Spurs shot about 50% in the first half so not coming out strong allowing a lot of Threes to one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA you exerted so much energy to get back into the game in the second half that by

The time you got into overtime Nicks just ran out of gas I thought that was one key factor another key factor to me was the bench you know bojan bogdanovic specifically has not been giving the Knicks the production that they were expecting you know he’s shooting 35%

From three as a New York Nick last time he shot anywhere near that number was actually his rookie season in 2014 as a Brooklyn Net as he’s basically 40% every single season they’re going to have to figure out a way to get more consistent production from him because right now

With the injuries he’s an important part of uh their bench so I think you know the bench scoring the first half little bit of refereeing put it all together you’re on the road you get down 21 points to lot to overcome and in that way you get a loss yeah a lot to

Overcome when you get down that big and trying to climb back up the mountain to get a win just exerting a lot of energy there in the Knicks they fall that was their first overtime game of the season believe it or not now Brunson talking about him he seems to continue to

Elevate his play this season JD what does this performance I know was 61 in a loss but what does it say about brunson’s role in impact on this team you want you want to know what’s his impact well listen to this you had 40 8 minutes in regulation plus five in OT

That’s 53 minutes Brunson played 43 of those 53 minutes Dexter and the Knicks outscore the Spurs by 20 points in brunson’s minutes and the Knicks lost the game the Knicks lost the game that right there tells you the impact that he has on this team in terms of when he’s

On the floor and how different differently they look with him off the floor and you about top five MVP in my estimation you know a guy that has been missing his second and third most important player for months basically you know a guy that has had to dealt

With a big trade so many moving Parts you basically don’t know who’s playing whether it’s Mitch one day ahard the next day OG Randle has been back and for a star player in New York City to handle all of that and still have your franchise in the running for a top three

Seed I mean I I don’t know what else you know defines MVP and impact than than him having that type of role on this team so you know outstanding performance last night to be able to have 61 points on 50% shooting and only six free throw attempts scoring 30 in the near the

Paint area I mean with a 75 wi bayama who had a huge role he’s actually he was actually one of those factors to your first question cuz he controlled the paint right and and for him to still be able to you know have that type of impact

Last night and almost got them to win on the road you know if you’re a Nick fan you got a loss but you have to feel confident you have to be encouraged by where this franchise is headed not only this season but for Seasons to come yeah

I think you do especially with Jaylen Brunson leading the way and my colleague Stephan Bondi I think he tweeted that there’s no question anymore about Jaylen Brunson being a top guard a point guard in this league there’s no doubt about that at all whatsoever he’s proving it

Time and time again this season now getting back to the team JD the Knicks they’re now just two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for second seed in Eastern Conference they did have a chance to move within a game had they won on Friday night how crucial is it

For the Knicks to secure a top three seed before the playoffs you know if you’re in the conversation of you want to avoid the Boston Celtics because of bracket where if you know you want to avoid them in the second round you must get the second

Or third seed at this point I don’t see them going down all the way to six or seventh so you’re looking at two or three to avoid the Celtics in the second round I’m not as like crazy over the Celtics you give them their respect I think Drew holiday is the equivalent of

Like OG with the Knicks but you do have to give him that respect with Drew I think he makes that type of impact where the Celtics may be able to overcome some of the pressure and pass criticisms in the playoffs now with the Knicks it is

Very crucial you you you got to try to at least you got to shoot for the two seed last night’s loss put some damping on that but you do play the Bucks only because if you get to the second round being the two seed you want to be able

To have that homecourt Advantage for two rounds um and if you get the third seed and you play the Bucs in the second round you’re obviously on the road versus Giannis and Dame so being able to play uh have homecourt Advantage for two rounds instead of one is key um and also

Being able to avoid the Celtics on till the Eastern Conference Finals is also key for this franchise so it is very very important that they get the three seed also the first two seeds Dexter the way it’s looking like they’re going to play the Heat and the Sixers and I just

Saw a picture of embiid getting back so this might be a you know very very very competitive first round where the top two seeds are not really playing traditional seven and a seeds and if you’re the Knicks at three you’re looking like right now at a Pacer or orl

Match up you want to give yourself the best chance to be able to advance and you want to give yourself the best opportunity in match up so it is very important for them to get a top three seed in the East definitely important for them to do that and I’ve been

Wondering if it might even be better for them to stay at the three spot than the two spot because of what you mentioned in the opponents and the tough ones that you might face at seven or eight whether that is Philadelphia or Miami it will be interesting to see still about eight

Nine games to go for most teams to shake out for this NBA season last thing for me JD I just want to look ahead to Sunday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder what adjustments do you think the Knicks need to make to bounce back from Friday’s loss to the Spurs where

They’re going to go up against one of the best teams in the west what adjustments do they need to make for Sunday’s game at the Garden well this is going to be a very very very tough tough game you’re talking about the number one you know

Seed in the west with they’re tied with the nuggets and the timber right now so they’re they’re aiming to be the number one seed you’re talking about a team that is third in the league in score and 100 uh scoring 120 points per game and by contrast the Knicks are third in the

League second in the league relinquishing 107 points so we’ll it’ll be interesting to see which style uh you know prevails the other thing is they just struggled against the Spurs in the first half with the three-point shot OKC is number one in the league shooting almost 40% from three in the NBA Tom

Tibido has that scheme where he likes to pack the paint you know attack the lanes and then go out and contest will he make the same adjustment he made against the Spurs in the second half where he had his guards a little bit closer to the

Three-point line to be able to have a a faster contest on three-point shots that’s going to be interesting also OKC is a very good road team they’re 22 and 14 on the road they’ve also missed Shay gilis Alexander he’s been out the last two games so the injury report will be

Important however although he’s been out the last two games they just beat the Phoenix Suns and they took the Houston Rockets the game before that to overtime although they lost that game but that goes to tell you they go overtime game and they beat the Phoenix Suns by double

Digits that tells you the uh the talent that’s on that team um that they’re able to have not their star player available and still go out and and beat an elite team in the NBA so you’re going to have to uh adjust your three-point coverage

To to a team that is so efficient in the league and a high-scoring team their top uh as a free throw percentage shooting team you have to be physical with those teams Dexter teams that are just comfortable shooting the basketball you have to be physical and rebound the

Basketball they can do that get some energy from the crowd Jaylen brunon hopefully they have enough they just went to overtime you’ll be able to get a victory and and get back to the third seat yeah it’s going to be interesting to see do they have enough coming back

Home to New York playing a top team as you said in the Thunder very good team as you mentioned from downtown one of the best in the NBA right now and you also have the let length excuse me of Chad hren to worry about inside as well

There too should be an interesting match up on Sunday JD of Nicks fan TV you know he’s going to be on top of it you know he’s going to be all over it I’ll be watching too JD always a pleasure to talk Nick’s Hoops with you we are

Getting closer to playoff time so you know we’re going to be doing some more stuff pleasure to talk to you brother appreciate it man thank you and we’re in the stretch run so let’s let’s go let’s go

The Knicks suffered a tough loss to the Spurs on Friday night. What do they need to do to bounce back on Sunday vs OKC?

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