\u201cDo your f\u2013king job.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the strongest quote on a night full of blame to go around in the Knicks\u2019 114\u201397 loss to the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> on Monday \u2014 New York\u2019s ninth loss in its last 11 games \u2014 this time at the hands of a Mavericks team with an injury list stretching further than the Manhattan Bridge.<\/p>\n The Knicks turned in their most embarrassing half of the season, allowing Dallas to score 75 first-half points in what the Mavs turned into a track meet at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n \u201cAt halftime, we usually [show] the clips and talk about technical Xs and Os and all that crap that coaches do, teams do,\u201d head coach Mike Brown explained after the loss. \u201cThere was nothing to be said at halftime except for lock in and do your f\u2013king \u2014 excuse me on that \u2014 do your job.\u201d<\/p>\n The Knicks did their job in the second half. They held the Mavericks to just 39 combined points in the third and fourth quarters and won the second half by 11 \u2014 despite scoring only three more points than they managed through the first two periods.<\/p>\n But it was far too little, far too late against a shorthanded Mavericks team that built a 30-point lead during New York\u2019s worst defensive stretch of a season that has suddenly gone off the rails.<\/p>\n And the fans, in a new low at The Garden, let the Knicks hear it.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, I\u2019d be booing us, too,\u201d said Jalen Brunson. \u201cStraight up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve saved up to bring your family to this game, and for us to come here, and obviously to not only not win \u2014 which is disappointing \u2014 but to not really have a chance?\u201d added Karl-Anthony Towns. \u201cI\u2019d be disappointed, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all need to do some soul searching.\u201d \u2014 Josh Hart<\/p>\n Hart\u2019s diagnosis for the Knicks\u2019 midseason issues is simple: start with the mirror. X\u2019s and O\u2019s can only take a team so far, and Hart says schematics are far from the problem at MSG.<\/p>\n \u201c100 percent. We all need to do some soul searching. We all have to come out here and make sure we\u2019re focused on winning the game, winning each possession,\u201d he said. \u201cLast year, there were games that we played [where] we didn\u2019t shoot the ball, we couldn\u2019t score, but we said \u2018we\u2019re gonna lock in and we\u2019re gonna play defense, we\u2019re gonna play physical, and we\u2019re gonna make it tough.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the same group of guys, so how we\u2019re playing right now is really inexcusable. We all gotta look in the mirror and do some soul searching.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown hammered that point home after the loss. After all, the Knicks know how to close out on lethal shooters.<\/p>\n Their head coach calls them \u201chot guys.\u201d In the NBA Cup Final, the Knicks held Harrison Barnes, De\u2019Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama to a combined 6-of-23 from three-point range.<\/p>\n Yet on Monday, Max Christie joined the MSG record books with an 8-of-10 shooting performance from deep, and Klay Thompson \u2014 with megastar girlfriend Megan Thee Stallion cheering him courtside \u2014 shot 4-of-7 from behind the arc.<\/p>\n \u201cThe two guys that we labeled hot \u2014 and we know how to close out to hot guys; we know how to play hot guys \u2014 they were 9-for-11 in the first half,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAnd most of those shots were open or we left our feet when they [pump-faked] the ball, and then they were open.\u201d<\/p>\n In the second half, Christie and Thompson combined to shoot just 3-of-6 from three.<\/p>\n \u201cNo [change to the] X\u2019s and O\u2019s. No. Just do your job,\u201d Brown continued. \u201cPlay with physicality and do your job early. The whole second half, they scored 39 points. The second quarter, they scored 44 points.<\/p>\n \u201cAgain, no adjustments. Just go do your job. So it\u2019s within our guys, but we all have to do our job for 48 minutes. And it didn\u2019t happen tonight \u2014 and it was evident. Doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s in the uniform in front of you. You\u2019ve gotta do your [expletive] job.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a special team, and we\u2019ve got a special opportunity, and we can\u2019t just let it go to waste.\u201d \u2014 Karl-Anthony Towns<\/p>\n