Back-to-Back Ends With Loss to Wolves 2016-10-28T19:34:42-08:00

On Derek Fisher’s first day as the coach of the New York Knicks, he immediately began preaching his defense-first philosophy, even though the majority of the buzz was surrounding the implementation of the triangle offense.

Through their first 13 games of the season, the Knicks have made major strides offensively, but in Game No. 13, the defense faltered in a 115-99 defeat on the road to the Minnesota Timberwolves. After the game, Derek said that his team’s defensive play remains a work in progress.

New York Knicks v Minnesota Timberwolves

“We’re still not understanding that (the defensive) end of the floor is what has to get it done for us,” Fish said. “Offense will come and go. We are shooting the ball well percentage-wise, our assist numbers are pretty good, tonight we turned the ball over way too many times, but offense is not what’s costing us these games. We’ve talked about it from the beginning that defense had to be the end that was going to hold us together, and it’s not right now.”

For the third time in four games, New York’s opponent hit triple figures. The Knicks (49.3) and the Wolves (49.4) had nearly identical field goal percentages, but Minnesota won the war in the paint, scored 11 more points off turnovers and splashed 11 threes to take the win. New York Knicks v Minnesota Timberwolves

With Ricky Rubio still out of the lineup, the Wolves looked to Kevin Martin to carry the way, and he did just that, splashing 7-of-11 threes and a game-high 37 points coupled with four rebounds and two assists. The Minnesota guard was scorching from the start.

In the first quarter, he tallied 13 points off 5-of-8 shooting and 3-of-4 shooting from three. However, the Knicks hung tight and trailed by just two at the end of one thanks to a combined 15 points from Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire.

Melo led the way on the night with 20 points off 7-of-10 shooting, his seventh straight 20-point game and his fifth consecutive contest over 58 percent shooting. Stoudemire finished with a season-high 19 points in just 20 minutes to lead all bench players.

Those two stayed hot in the second, but the Wolves were even hotter. Rookie Andrew Wiggins amassed 12 points in the frame, and Minnesota shot an incredible 71.4 percent. Melo and Amar’e each had 10 points in response to the No. 1 overall pick’s scoring flurry, but the poor defensive frame left N.Y. trailing by 13 at the break.

After halftime, the Knicks came out with a sloppy frame, turning the ball over 10 times and allowing Martin and second-year swingman Shabazz Muhammad to combine for 19 points. By the end of three, the Wolves had stretched their lead to 20.

In the final frame, Derek elected to let Melo and Amar’e rest to close the team’s back-to-back. Jason Smith and Travis Ware combined for 18 points off the bench and shaved four points off the final deficit before all was over. Afterward, Fish explained the reasoning behind his personnel decisions in the fourth quarter.

“I think it’s important that we all continue to have a level of expectation that every guy on our team is capable of giving us something,” Derek said. “We go out there, we play hard, we give everything we have, and we’ll get somebody in there that can keep it going once guys get tired. We had some guys out there that seemed fatigued, and we put some guys in there to give us a little burst, and they did that for a while but couldn’t sustain it. But I thought their effort was pure and they tried the best they could.”

Fish talked a bit about how his team has been developing thus far, and where it must go from here.

“I think individually we’re making a lot of progress,” Coach Fisher said, “but we still haven’t come together collectively, and we have to figure out a way to do so.”

NEXT UP

The Knicks (3-10) get a much-needed two days of rest, which will give them plenty of time to heal up before taking on the Philadelphia 76ers (0-11).

At the end of Wednesday night’s game, Fish sent a message to his players to take into their two-day regroup period.

“I reminded them that success, and winning at an elite level requires a very high degree of sacrifice, and it requires that you lay your basketball life on the line for those around you,” he said. “You have to give some things up in order to give some things back, and you know we’re still trying to break through that as a group.”

The Knicks trial the Sixers in the all-time series, but New York took the series 3-1 last season, winning both meetings in Philly and splitting at Madison Square Garden.

Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from MSG Saturday. Philly will be at the end of a back-to-back after hosting the Phoenix Suns (7-5) Friday night.

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