The Knicks did not secure their sixth victory last season until Game 26, four contests after head coach David Fizdale was focused in early December, following a 4-18 record.
Clearly, this is not the time to escape, but new coach Tom Thibodeau’s improved team shot only 35.8% of the floor and 60% of the free throw line on Friday night in a 101-89 loss to Thunder at the Garden. , concluding the winning series of the game.
The Knicks (5-4) failed to win their sixth victory after nine games for the first time since an 8-1 start in 2012-13, when they finished with a 54-win season under current assistant coach Mike Woodson.
“I think it was great, very important,” RJ Barrett said before the Knicks’ hot start to the game. “It shows us that our work pays off and our work is good, so we must continue to do what we do and continue to improve every day and have confidence in the process.”
Barrett led the Knicks with 19 points in 44 minutes, but missed 14 of 21 hits on the floor, including 4 of 5 from the 3-point range.
Top scorer Julius Randle had early wrong problems and did not score in the first half, but finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 31 minutes.
“Winning is always good, but I think it’s more what we do every day,” Thibodeau said before the game. “There are ups and downs in a season. If we do the right things every day, we will be better and better.
“It simply came to our notice then. Every day, this improvement. It is a long season and we must continue to grow. There are a lot of areas where we need to do much better. “
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Thunder (4-4) with 25 points, and Queens product Hamidou Diallo gained 23 points this season with 11 rebounds.
The Knicks, who will host the Nuggets on Sunday, led by 11 in the first quarter. The Thunder scored the first eight points of the second quarter, however, to close in one, 24-23. Kenrich Williams’ arrangement gave Oklahoma City its first advantage, 28-26 almost halfway through the period, and points 14 and 15 of Al Horford’s half lifted Thunder 39-38, two minutes from the end.
A late Barrett float and a Mitchell Robinson dunk brought the Knicks to a 42-42 tie. Ten changes in the third quarter lead gave Oklahoma City a 57-56 lead in the middle of the period, before a shot and two free throws by Diallo extended Thunder’s lead to nine.
Wednesday’s fourth-quarter hero Austin Rivers drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer and an early bucket in the fourth to draw the Knicks back in four, but a steal and a dunk from Diallo and a 3-pointer from Gilgeous- Alexander pushed Knicks’ deficit to 13, the highest in the game, with 4:21 for the final.
“We said from the beginning that the first step for us was to become a quality practice team and you have to keep doing that,” Thibodeau said. “You can’t let your guard down. You can’t start taking shortcuts. Once you start doing this, you will see results. Put in the work every day and keep improving. There are usually a lot of small steps. They are incremental. And you want to play your best in the end. “