BOSTON (AP) — Built to compete with the Eastern Conference’s elite during the offseason, the New York Knicks are trying to still figure out how to break into the top group after the past two games.
Worse yet, it was the third time this season that they were handled easily by the defending champion Boston Celtics after a 118-105 loss on Sunday.
“We’re not trying to close the gap with the Boston Celtics,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “They’re the champs for a reason. They’ve got all-NBA guys, they’ve got All-Stars, a heck of team. We’re not trying to close the gap on them. We’re trying to make sure we get ourselves where we need to be at the end of the year, and right now we’re not there.”
Coming off a 37-point loss against the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night, they still look as if they’re trying to get things figured out. On Sunday, Boston built a 27-point lead in the third quarter before the Knicks made a charge that fizzled in the fourth.
“We’ve all got to step up to the plate,” Hart said. “We’ve really got to start building. Right now, we’ve got the possibility that we might face (Boston) down the road. We’ve got to continue to get better.”
The new-look Knicks were supposed to be the biggest threat to the Celtics in the conference after adding Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges over the summer.
“It’s an on-going process,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, when asked if they’ve closed the gap against Boston. “(That) team is a well-oiled machine. They’ve been together a while. We have to keep learning and getting better.”
Seeded third in the East, behind the second-seeded Celtics and Cleveland, the Knicks need to regroup after the recent two-game stretch.
They’ve struggled defensively against top offenses.
“I think it’s probably a combination of things,” Thibodeau said of his team’s defense. “One, they’re elite and I think the volume 3-point shooting; you can do a good job, it just takes two or three minutes of not getting it right and they can go on a run on you.”
Thibodeau knows the defense needs to get fixed to compete.
“That’s something we’ve got to continually work on,” he said. “That’s the test of the league.”
Towns said getting close against Boston isn’t good enough.
“We’re a work in progress,” he said after the two-game stint. “We’re going to be a work in progress all season until the day we step into the postseason.”
Boston beat New York by 23 and 27 points, respectively, in the first two games this season.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Ken Powtak, The Associated Press
