Another Game. Another Loss. And Another Lost Opportunity.

Burks is not to blame. The fault lies with his head coach, who is stubbornly attempting to force a square SG-shaped peg in a round PG-sized hole.

Another Game. Another Loss. And Another Lost Opportunity. 

Sixers Squish the Knicks: 123-108

As is the new tradition, let's accentuate the positive before recapping the regression.

And if we're going to first focus on something Knicks fans can be optimistic about, Rowan Barrett Jr. is where we have to begin. In a dark, dank season, Barrett's growth in 2022 has been a ray of sunshine. 

RJ racked up 30 more points in Wednesday's loss. He also dished out a season-high seven assists and grabbed six rebounds. In addition to knocking down three triples, Barrett also made seven of his eight free-throw attempts. 

Again, keep in mind the kid won't turn 22 until mid-June. He has now scored 30+ points eight times this season, which is the most such games among all players aged-21 or younger. Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball each have seven 30-burgers. No other player under the age of 22 has more than four such contests. 

In the 21 games Barrett has appeared in over the last two months, he is averaging 24.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 made treys (while shooting 40% from downtown). 

Over his last six contests, RJ is averaging 29.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.0 triples. (The only players to match or exceed those numbers during this stretch are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic.) Not only is his confidence peaking, but Barrett is figuring out how to score points in a multitude of ways. The game is slowing down for him, and he's making it look easy.  

Of course, it's important to note that despite RJ's offensive eruptions, the Knicks are currently riding a six-game losing streak and have lost each of the last seven games Barrett has appeared in. And, once again, the backcourt was primarily responsible for this most recent Knicks defeat. 

After the tag-team duo of James Harden and Tyrese Maxey lit up the Knicks in MSG on Sunday, they torched the 'Bockers in Philly on Wednesday. Instead of incorporating adjustments to slow down the Sixers guards, coach Tom Thibodeau trotted out the same unit. 

Over these past contests, Harden and Maxey have combined for 101 points on 53 FG attempts and dished out 31 assists (vs. just six turnovers.).

On the other hand, the Knicks starting backcourt of Alec Burks and Evan Fournier combined to tally 42 points on 41 FG attempts and six assists (vs. four turnovers). 

But, hey, even though New York lost again (they are now a league-worst 3-16 over their last 19 games), at least the young core got valuable reps against elite competition, right? 

Wrong. 

Deuce McBride played 75 seconds of garage time.

36-year-old Taj Gibson logged more court time than Jericho Sims.

Burks played 31 minutes, which was ten more mins than Immanuel Quickley.

As I've harped on, again and again, New York continues to waste opportunities to find out about the young players on the roster. Burks was 2-of-11 from the field last night. It's ridiculous that he took as many shots as Cam Reddish, Obi Toppin, Sims and McBride COMBINED in a game in March in a lost season. How does that benefit the organization?

To be clear, Burks is not to blame. He's doing everything he can to win. The fault lies with his head coach, who is stubbornly attempting to force a square SG-shaped peg in a round PG-sized hole. 

Last night was Burks' 24th start in 2021-22. Only once in his entire career has he started more contests in a single season. That was back in 2014-15 when he was 23 years old and started 27 games for the Jazz. Over the next three years, from 2015 through 2018, AB started just four of the next 137 games he appeared in. Last season, Burks authored the best all-around numbers of his career after finding a comfort zone as a combo guard/SF off the bench. 

The numbers illustrate that Burks is far more efficient and effective in that role. 

In the 24 games he has started this season, Burks is shooting 33.3% from the field and 33.3% from behind the arc while averaging 3.3 assists per-36 minutes.

In his 37 games as a reserve this season, Burks is shooting 41.9% from the floor and 42.5% from downtown and has averaged 3.8 assists per-36 minutes.

The excess minutes on Burks have clearly had an impact as well. With 20 games still remaining this season, he has already logged a total of 1,643 minutes and is on pace to shatter his career-high for minutes played. Only once in his career has he logged more than 1,800 minutes, and that was way back in 2013-14.

I have discussed, at length, New York's fourth-quarter woes in 2022. Much of that is the result of having a worn-out wing masquerade as a point guard down the stretch. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Knicks are 0-4 since the start of February when leading by 15+ points and are the first team to lose four straight games when leading by 15+ points since the 2018-19 Magic.

Considering Burks' critical role on the team (only Randle and Barrett have played more minutes for NY dating back to the start of 2020), putting him in a position to succeed would increase the Knicks' chances of winning basketball games.