Knicks Lay an Egg in Loss to Philly

"We played like sh!t."

Final Score: Knicks 73 - Sixers 79
Record: 37-27

Let's allow the Knicks themselves to analyze Sunday night's defeat, shall we? 

Josh Hart, what do you think of your team's performance?
"We played like sh!t."

Jalen Brunson, how would you grade your play vs. the Sixers?
"I played like dogsh!t. That's it."

Yeah, I think that about sums it up, y'all.

If you missed the Knicks' embarrassing defeat to Philly because you were watching the Oscars (or doing anything else), congratulations. You didn't miss much scoring.

Remarkably, New York scored just 73 Sunday night, setting a record low for any team in the NBA this season. The Knicks shot just 32.5% from the field and 22.5% from three-point territory. Oh, and they also committed 19 turnovers.

Sloppy, awful, careless and inefficient. But "other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

With the team's starting frontcourt sidelined by injuries, Jalen Brunson, the Knicks' lone offensive initiator, was again forced to carry the load offensively. And, just as Coach Spo and the Heat did in last year's second-round playoff series and other intelligent coaches/clubs have done over the past month, the Sixers bum-rushed Brunson, double-teaming him with two long, rangy defenders nearly every time he crossed half court.   

Brunson finished the game shooting 6-of-22 from the field. When Brunson recognized the Philly defense collapsing, he swung the ball to a wide-open Josh Hart or Precious Achiuwa, but neither player could take advantage. Hart and Achiuwa were a combined 6-for-21 from the floor and 2-of-10 from behind the arc. When they refused to take open jumpers, they drove into the heart of the Philly defense and found little success. The pair combined to commit a whopping nine turnovers while dishing out just two assists. 

Often, they ended up running DHOs and dumping the ball back in Brunson's lap with the shot clock winding down.