The Knicks own one of the NBA’s best records but the dominant feature of their season has been their mighty struggles against the NBA’s elite.
The Knicks (38-10) are 0-7 against the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder — the three best teams in the NBA — after losing to Boston, 118-105, on Feb. 23. They have lost those seven games by a combined 141 points.
“Our record against the top teams in the NBA: pretty horses--t,” Brunson said on Thursday’s Roommates Show episode.
Brunson, one of two Knicks to start in the All-Star Game along with New Jersey native Karl-Anthony Towns, is also irked that the Knicks have blown opportunities in the fourth quarter in several of those games.
Against Cleveland on Oct. 28 at Madison Square Garden, Darius Garland hit several late three-pointers to earn the win. Against the Thunder on Jan. 3, the Thunder outscored the Knicks 37-19 in the final 12 minutes of the game.
“I see where we have opportunities to where we can be aggressive, and pounce on it, and win,” Brunson said. “The frustrating part about all this is that, we have what it takes. We have the personnel. We have everything we need in that locker room, right now. We’ve just got to put it together. The X’s and O’s, and all that stuff, that’s easy. That’s an easy fix.
“The number of times we’ve been embarrassed on national television, that should ring a bell. That should be a wake-up call in itself, not just for those games, just for the rest of the reason. We’ve got to wake the hell up.”
The Knicks will get another big test Friday night when they visit Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies (38-20).
Next week they host Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry and the red-hot Golden State Warriors (31-27) on Tuesday before visiting LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the L.A. Lakers on Thursday (35-21).
They will do so without backup center Ariel Hukporti, who is out 4-6 weeks with a torn meniscus.
The Knicks are expected to get center Mitchell Robinson back this weekend when they visit Memphis and then the Miami Heat, per SNY, which could mean moving Towns to the four.
But the long-term problem is that the Knicks are the No. 3 seed in the East and would right now have to go through the red-hot No. 6 Detroit Pistons -- winners of eight straight -- in the first round.
After that they would meet the defending NBA champion Celtics in the conference semifinals, and if they survive that would face the Cavaliers in the Eastern finals.
Given their horrendous record against the top teams, that seems like a Murderer’s Row for them to navigate.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.