Mike Brown praises ‘unselfish’ group as Knicks wins sixth-straight vs. Lakers

NEW YORK – The New York Knicks have found a rhythm, earning their sixth-straight win on Friday night over the Los Angeles Lakers. The 112-100 victory was the result of an all-around, 30-assist outing by the home team at Madison Square Garden. All five of their starters contributed double-digit scoring performances.

After their 2-9 slump, the Knicks have responded with a renewed commitment to fundamentals. Throughout their winning streak, none of their six opponents have reached 110 points. Players are also making quicker and better decisions on offense, which head coach Mike Brown credited them for after the win.

“Our guys, first of all, they’re unselfish as is. But they know when they draw a second defender, that’s the right time to find their teammate,” Brown told reporters postgame. “We all need to keep trying to make the game easy for one another, and that’s where the 30 assists come in.”

The coach has often emphasized the need for players to impact the game in more ways than scoring. He and Karl-Anthony Towns, selected to his sixth All-Star Game an hour before tipoff, have seemingly gotten on the same page in that regard. The coach has adjusted schemes to help Towns, who’s responding by rebounding more and fouling less. He had 11 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, and four assists in 32 minutes against the Lakers.

Team captain Jalen Brunson only had 12 points against former teammate Luka Dončić, who told reporters that Brunson “deserves to be in [New York], because he’s been amazing.” His biggest contributions, however, came in the form of his seven rebounds and 13 assists, the most dimes he’s dropped in a game since January of last year. When asked about the assists, his answer was quite similar to Brown’s on the same subject.

“If your shot is not falling, you have to impact the game somewhere else,” Brunson said of himself and his teammates. “I kept seeing two people so I was just trying to make the right play at the right time. We were getting good looks. Just going to play the defense how they’re playing. They were knocking shots down, and the way we were moving the ball is great.”

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Brunson’s mention of making “the right play at the right time” is another indication that he and his coach are in lockstep. In mid-January, Brown used the same phrasing when discussing Towns’ two first-half turnovers against the Phoenix Suns.

“We knew they were coming. And, you know, I thought our spacing was good,” Brunson said. “We just didn’t get the ball out to the right guys in a timely manner,” the coach explained after a 106-99 loss in which Towns committed three turnovers and five fouls.”

The Knicks’ effort against the Lakers demonstrated, for the sixth-straight game, that they’re bought into Brown’s system. It’s helping them find ways to win. Towns and Brunson’s relatively lower scoring totals were a symptom of the same defensive coverages that resulted in the team’s balanced scoring attack.

Other symptoms included Landry Shamet making six of his ten 3-point attempts for 23 points off the bench, or that total only being bested by OG Anunoby’s 25 points. Another was Josh Hart scoring 20 points himself, reaching the mark for the third-straight game.

Hart, who made three of his four 3-point attempts, told reporters that the team winning with a balanced scoring attack helps define Knicks basketball.

“I think that’s what we’re capable of. We have great depth. We have guys that can knock down shots, guys that can playmake. It’s not always going to be JB or KAT’s night,” the Swiss Army knife said of his All-Star teammates. “We rely on those guys, obviously, to score points. But it shows that we don’t have to force anything.”

This group will continue to be tested, with six games remaining before the All-Star break. That stretch of the schedule includes two back-to-backs, beginning on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets. That leads the Knicks right into Thursday’s trade deadline, after which their roster isn’t expected to look much different. New York’s players and coaches will simply continue to work together toward the same championship goal.

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