The gains dried up just as surely as the shots stopped falling for the Knicks. Three consecutive missed losses canceled out any early buzz generated by the previous three-game winning streak.
RJ Barrett and the Knicks endured another night of shooting, while off-season target Gordon Hayward threw them 28 of the game’s 34 points in the first half of a 109-88 loss Monday to the Hornets. from Charlotte.
Knicks (5-6) missed nine of the first 10 goal attempts and shot only 39.5% of the field. This included a 5-for-18 presentation – and five straight misses from the 3-point range – by Barrett, who finished with 11 points.
General election no. 3 in the 2019 draft records only 36.5 percent for the season and 18.0 percent from a distance, connecting to nine of the 50 attempts.
“I think it will come eventually,” Thibodeau said of Barrett before the game. “I think, as long as it takes the right people, it’s a big part of the NBA game, I think, understanding the value of those shots.
“But there are a lot of other things he does well. We want him to play a full game. He can post the ball, he can drive the ball well. And I think that as time goes on, he will shoot the ball better and better from the perimeter. “
The recent drop in rookie goalkeeper Immanuel Quickley also continued with a 1 to 9 night of shooting in 28 minutes from the bench; he has totaled just 10 points in 2 to 24 shots in his last four games.
Kevin Knox won 17 points of his season-high 19 points in the first half, while Austin Rivers started in place of Reggie Bullock – the first lineup change in 11 games under Thibodeau – and finished with 13. Julius Randle (2- for -9) won a season minimum 11 points.
Impressive debutant LaMelo Ball scored just eight points in the 3-for-13 shooting for Charlotte (6-5), but also contributed 14 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the Hornets’ fourth straight win.
The Knicks came with a shot of 39.1 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent (6 for 21) from the 3-point range in the previous two losses, after connecting to at least 50 percent of the attempts in each game in the three-win series. .
“I think when you sometimes struggle to take pictures, it takes you away from the other aspects of the game,” Thibodeau said. “But we were a very altruistic team. Some nights, the ball will come in, other nights it won’t.
“But we have to do everything else to put ourselves in a position to win.”
Thibodeau knew his team needed to rediscover their shooting attitude and play a representative defense against the Hornets, which improved with Hayward’s additions, their $ 120 million off-season signing and trading acquisition, and Ball, general election no. in the project.
Thibodeau threw himself at both opposing players, noting that Hayward had “rated him quite high” among free agent targets in the offseason.
The former Utah and Boston star burned the Knicks by 28 points in the first half in 8 of 12 shots and 10 direct free throws. The Knicks saw Charlotte in the top 10 of the game and were followed by 17 in the first quarter.
Knox kept the Knicks close, taking five of his eight long-range attempts, finishing the half with 17, for a 57-50 Charlotte lead at the break.
However, the Knicks committed 10 of the 16 turnovers in the first two quarters and, apart from Knox, the rest of the team was 1-for-13 in the 3-point range. Hayward scored just four points in the third, but the Hornets extended their lead to 82-68 in the final quarter.