Knicks center Mitchell Robinson issued a warning regarding the team’s attitude towards facing inferior teams. This was two days before the Knicks played the Washington Wizards.
Robinson’s teammates apparently listened, as they extended their winning streak to six games with a 145-113 victory over the Wizards, who have now lost 16 straight games.
Robinson’s Call for a Better Approach
The game stood in contrast to the Knicks’ previous performance against the Nets. The Knicks barely escaped with a 93-92 win. Robinson, the longest tenured Knick, stressed the importance of not overlooking bottom-feeding teams.
“Our approach has to be better,” Robinson said. “We can’t just look at their record and say, ‘We’re going to whip their butts.’ We just have to be better altogether. Until we figure that one out, it’s going to be a long roller coaster.”
The Knicks have compiled their six-game winning streak against sub-.500 teams.
Concerns Despite the Winning Streak
The Knicks’ record has masked some serious concerns. The Knicks have had to rely on second-half surges to beat opponents they should have dominated from the start.
The Knicks have trailed after the first quarter in three of their six wins. Against Brooklyn, they trailed by eight, against Golden State by 14, and against Utah by 15. In two other games against Indiana, the Knicks led by just four and three points after the first quarter.
All of this has occurred against teams eyeing the lottery.
The Danger of Slow Starts
The habit of slow starts is disconcerting. While the Knicks might be able to overcome a bad start against a bad team, it’s much harder to do against good or even mediocre ones. The Knicks’ two losses before the start of the five-game streak saw both the Lakers and Clippers jump out to leads in the first quarter.
“We just have to come out better. We have to do better as a team,” said Mikal Bridges, who scored seven of his nine points in the first quarter of the Nets game. “It’s just mentally, I think. It’s just being mentally ready when the game starts.”
Coach Mike Brown has spent a good chunk of the season talking about how the Knicks have to get off to better starts. He found himself in that position again after the narrow win over the Nets.
“I thought we were real lackadaisical with the basketball,” Brown said. “We had 13 turnovers at halftime . . . 13 or 14