The wins have dried up with the same certainty that the shots have stopped falling for the Knicks. Three consecutive losses of erroneous errors have nullified any initial news generated by the previous three-game winning streak.
RJ Barrett and the Knicks endured another messy night of shooting, while off-season target Gordon Hayward attacked them with 28 of his 34 points in the first half of a 109-88 loss Monday to the Hornets and Charlotte.
The Knicks (5-6) missed nine of their first 10 field goal attempts and fired just 39.5 percent from the field. That included a 5-on-18 demonstration, and five straight failures from three points, from Barrett, who finished with 11 points.
The No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft is shooting just 36.5 percent this season and 18.0 percent from long range, connecting in nine of the 50 attempts.
“I think it will finally come,” Thibodeau said of Barrett before the game. “I think as long as I take the right ones, I think it’s an important part of the NBA game, I understand the value of those shots.
“But there are many other things he does well. We want it to make a global game. He can throw the ball, he can drive the ball well. And I think as time goes on he will throw the ball better and better from the perimeter. “
The recent fall of rookie goalkeeper Immanuel Quickley also continued with a 1-on-9 shooting night in 28 minutes off the bench; has added just 10 points in the 2-on-24 throw over his last four games.
Kevin Knox scored 17 points from his season highs of 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 vs. 9) reached the 11-point low of the season.
The impressive rookie striker LaMelo Ball scored just eight points on the 13th shot against Charlotte (6-5), but also contributed 14 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the Hornets ’fourth straight win.
The Knicks threw 39.1 percent from the ground and 31.3 percent (6 vs. 21) from 3 points in their two previous defeats after connecting at least 50 percent of their attempts in each game. the three-game streak. .
“I think when you sometimes struggle to make shots, you put away other aspects of the game,” Thibodeau said. “But we have been a very disinterested team. Some nights, the ball will come in, some nights it won’t.
“But we have to do all the other things to be able to win.”
Thibodeau knew his team needed to rediscover their defensive touch and play representative defense against Hornets, who have improved with the additions of Hayward, their acquisition of signs and exchanges in the low season of $ 120 million and Ball, the choice number 3 of the general in the draft.
Thibodeau rushed over the two opposing players, noting Hayward that the Knicks had him “qualified quite high” among free agent goals in the offseason.
The former Utah and Boston star scored the Knicks by 28 points in the first half on 8 of 12 shots and 10 consecutive free-throw attempts. The Knicks saw Charlotte top 10 points in the game and reached 17 in the first quarter.
Knox kept the Knicks close by nailing five of his eight attempts from distance, finishing half with 17, with a 57-50 lead to Charlotte at halftime.
Still, the Knicks made 10 of their 16 changes in the first two quarters, and apart from Knox, the rest of the team was 1-on-13 from the 3-point range. Hayward scored just four points in the third, but the Hornets extended their lead to 82-68 entering the final quarter.