Mikal Bridges of the New York Knicks signaling to someone court-side. The Knicks play against the Hornets today at 7:30 p.m. Photo courtesy of @nyknicks/Instagram

The NBA season is in full swing, and the New York Knicks have started to click. They capped off the month of November on a four-game winning streak and won five out of their last six games. This four-game winning streak was the best for Jalen Brunson, as he won Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He averaged 28.8 points, 4.5 assists and shot 40.7% from beyond the arc in that span.   

This season, the Knicks are struggling on the road as they started off 0-4. Yes, they have won three out of their last four road games, but that doesn’t cut it for me when you look at the opponents. The Knicks took care of business against the Nets and Hornets, but both teams are towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference. New York also faced a struggling Mavericks group, which nearly completed a miraculous comeback to beat them in the final seconds.   

In the five road games the Knicks have lost this season, there is a common denominator in all of them: closing out games. In all of these contests, the Knicks struggled late in the game, missing key shots while opponents were able to knock down the big shots. In many of these games, they had late leads, but the team disappeared in the final minutes.  

For a team that is contending for a championship, it must close games down the stretch. Yes, I know it is very early in the season; however, on multiple occasions the Knicks could not close out opponents that they should beat, and that is slightly alarming.  

Despite some trouble on the road, New York is 10-1 at home. For the first time since 2013, the Knicks started off the season 7-0 at home, a feat New York wants to continue down the line. However, New York has a history of not protecting the home court and losing many winnable games. The team had nearly identical records at home and on the road last season, 27-14 at home and 24-17 on the road. The group is dominating at home and is at a record-breaking pace this season, maybe even on pace to win 60 games.  

Jaxson Dart clapping during a game. The Giants lost against the New England Patriots 33-15 on Dec. 1, the team’s seventh straight lost. Photo courtesy of @nygiants/Instagram

Changing gears to a team that has been getting dominated, the New York Giants lost their seventh straight game on Monday night, falling 33-15 to New England.  

Everything about the game was a disaster for the Giants. Jaxson Dart made his return after missing the last two games due to a concussion. Part of the reason why Dart was out was because of his risky antics as a quarterback. He is yet to grasp how crucial it is to slide or get out of bounds when on the run. He got hurt in Chicago while fighting for extra yardage.  

After coming back from injury, many thought maybe Dart would get down and play safer on the run. Early in the first quarter, he rolled out of the pocket and took off for a first down. He was tight roping on the sideline before getting smashed by Patriots’ linebacker Christian Elliss. As bad as the hit may have looked, it was completely legal, as Dart was still in bounds and had yet to give himself up.   

 “I’m going to get hit if I’m in the pocket or outside the pocket. I feel like I played this way my whole entire life. It shouldn’t be any shocker to anybody if you followed along with my career,” he said postgame. “We’re not playing soccer out here. You’re going to get hit. Things happen. It’s just part of the game.”  

As much as I have loved Dart this season, this is the first thing that I dislike about him. Why try for a few more yards? It’s better to be healthy for a third-and-4 instead of being knocked out of the game for a third-and-1.