A knockout round berth in the NBA Cup isn’t cause for celebration in New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau’s orbit.
Thibodeau maintained focus on New York being ready to play when the visiting Charlotte Hornets come to the Garden on Thursday night.
The Knicks completed a 4-0 run through East Group A of the in-season tournament by cruising to a 121-106 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night. Karl-Anthony Towns (23 points) and Jalen Brunson (21) headlined a balanced offensive attack that featured six scorers in double figures.
New York, the No. 2 seed in the East quarterfinals of the Cup, will have to wait until next Wednesday to get its hands on the Atlanta Hawks, in a matchup that Thibodeau doesn’t mind tossing on the backburner for now.
“Just worried about Charlotte,” Thibodeau said.
What has caught Thibodeau’s attention is his team’s ball movement as of late, as the Knicks have racked up 30 assists in each of their past two games. They finished with only 20 when they edged Charlotte 99-98 last Friday.
“I love how unselfish we were,” Thibodeau said after New York’s performance on Tuesday. “I thought we made great reads. When we got into the paint, just making the extra pass, creating the right space and then cutting which got us going downhill.
“When you do that, everyone finds rhythm and you’re finding good shots. You’re creating good shots for each other. And that’s everyone working together.”
The Hornets didn’t fare as well on Tuesday, falling 110-104 to the Philadelphia 76ers. It marked Charlotte’s sixth straight loss, with five of those setbacks coming by six points or fewer.
Hornets coach Charles Lee is hoping that his team can get off to a faster start on Thursday after trailing by as many as 18 in the first half of the meeting with Philadelphia.
“For most of those games (during the losing streak), we were in the lead or right there. I just didn’t think that from the jump we were ready to hoop (Tuesday),” Lee said. “I thought that Philadelphia, their physicality kind of took us out of our rhythm offensively. … In the second half, we do what we usually do.
“We competed a lot harder, we were a lot sharper and we gave ourselves a chance, but you have to be ready to play in the first half.”
Brandon Miller has been on a tear during the Hornets’ skid, posting averages of 26.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists over the past six games. Charlotte has been leaning on the second-year man ever since star guard LaMelo Ball went down with a calf strain that is expected to sideline him for two weeks.
Vasilije Micic has been filling in for Ball and has delivered 9.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in his three starts.
The loss on Friday was the Hornets’ fifth straight against the Knicks. Charlotte has not beaten New York since March 7, 2023.
–Field Level Media REUTERS
