Fourth Quarter of Doom

Over their last five games, the Knicks are shooting just 29.2% from the floor and below 21% from downtown in the fourth quarter.

The Knicks have a chance to enter the All-Star break with a smidge of momentum if they knock off the Nets in MSG tonight. Brooklyn will be playing without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Joe Harris. Ben Simmons (who I wrote about here to remind folks that he is a great basketball player) won't make his Nets debut, but Seth Curry and Andre Drummond, the other players the Nets received in the James Harden deal, will suit up. 

Both Curry and Drummond started and played critical roles in Brooklyn's victory over the Kings on Monday night, which snapped the Nets' 11-game losing streak. Curry tallied 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes, while Andre Drummond chipped in 11 points, nine boards, four assists, two steals and a block in 24 minutes. 

However, instead of looking ahead to tonight, let's take a look back at the Knicks' recent collapses (plural). Specifically, at how poorly New York has played late in losses to Portland and Oklahoma City. 

As I detailed on Sunday, the Blazers outscored the Knicks by 31 points (51-20) over the final 16 minutes of regulation. As frustrating and infuriating as the loss in Portland was for Knicks fans, Tuesday's defeat may have been more vexing. Keep in mind, OKC is more than 20 games below .500 on the season and entered MSG riding a five-game losing streak. Furthermore, they were playing without their best offensive player (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and their best defender (Luguentz Dort). All five of OKC's starters were 23 or younger. 

Yet, somehow, the Thunder walked out of the Garden with a victory. It was the second time in as many games that a team committed to tanking beat a Knicks squad desperately fighting to make the playoffs. 

And, once again, it was the Knicks' inability to score late in the game that led to their demise, as they made just nine of the 30 shots they attempted in the fourth quarter and overtime periods combined. 

Over their last two games, New York is 9-of-38 from the floor (23.7%) and 1-of-14 from three-point territory (7.1%) in the fourth quarter. That works out to an almost unimaginably horrible Offensive Rating of 61.7. In these 24 minutes, they committed more than twice as many turnovers (11) as assists (5).