Schmeelk: If Knicks Don't Fix Defense Soon, Kiss Playoffs Goodbye
By John Schmeelk
» More Columns
The Knicks dropped back down to five games below .500 in a lopsided loss to the Lakers on Sunday that continued some bad trends that should worry fans. For the third straight game, the Knicks' defense lacked in every facet, and the head coach and players could find no answers.
Much like Wednesday's game against the Grizzlies, the Knicks showed very little resistance against the Lakers' offense. After both games, players talked about how the other team played harder and wanted it more than them. Coach Jeff Hornacek, likewise, came down hard on the team's defensive execution. The Knicks also allowed 115 points to the Utah Jazz on Friday night but still won -- and hid the issue -- thanks mostly to Tim Hardaway Jr.'s hot shooting.
This season, for the most part, the team's defense had been a pleasant surprise. Despite using players who were expected to be poor defenders, such as Enes Kanter, Jarrett Jack, Michael Beasley and Hardaway, the Knicks have been an average defensive team. They've been helped by an effective scheme from Hornacek, improvement by some players (such as Hardaway) and strong defenders such as Courtney Lee, Kristaps Porzingis, Lance Thomas and Frank Ntilikina.
The start of this six-game swing out of the Eastern time zone has the Knicks trending in the wrong direction. When seasons begin to turn and teams begin to fall apart, it is often the defense that betrays them first. That effort and focus on defense is often harder for players to sustain over 82 games than it is on offense.
In the last seven games, the Knicks' defensive rating is a putrid 111.9, which, if they had played the entire season that poorly, would make them the worst defense in the NBA. Their offense -- with a rating of 109.6, which would be sixth in the league -- has allowed them to remain competitive, but sustaining that type of offensive production will be very difficult. It is a problem that has been common for the Knicks on the road this season, with the team struggling to the tune of a 109.1 defensive rating away from the Garden. They can't seem to find success on that end of the floor away when they're not playing at home.
The stretch has also seen Hornacek begin to hunt and peck a little bit with lineup combinations and move certain players in and out of the rotation. Point guard Trey Burke is becoming part of the rotation, and his presence has prompted Hornacek to have a relatively quick hook for Ntilikina instead of letting the rookie play through his issues. Despite consistent defensive effort, guard Ron Baker doesn't seem to be a permanent part of the rotation.
Hornacek has, thankfully, tried to get Willy Hernangomez some playing time, but he has done so by pairing him with Kyle O'Quinn or Enes Kanter. Playing Hernangomez at power forward with another slow-footed center will only exacerbate all of their weaknesses. When the Lakers are playing the fast and agile Larry Nance Jr. at power forward like they were Sunday, it doesn't make any sense to play two big people together.
If the trend continues, Hornacek might have to limit the rotation to players who excel at defense and pair them with the team's two offensive stalwarts: Porzingis and Hardaway. It would require making tough decisions regarding minutes for veterans such as Kanter, Jack and Beasley.
It's only a small sample size and the Knicks can still show this is only a forgettable blip on the radar rather than an enduring trend. The odds of their defense turning around against their next opponent, however, aren't good. The Knicks play Tuesday at defending champ Golden State, meaning a fall to six games below .500 is likely. They then have to travel face the Nuggets -- and the Denver altitude -- before closing out the West Coast portion at Phoenix in the second half of a back-to-back.
In other words, the harder part of the West Coast swing still remains. The team then gets to play one home game against Brooklyn before two tough road contests in Boston and Milwaukee. Of the next six games, five are on the road and only two opponents sport records below .500 (the Suns and Nets). The Celtics and Warriors are premium teams, with the Nuggets and Bucks hovering around .500.
Despite recently improved play away from Madison Square Garden (wins in Utah, New Orleans and Dallas), the Knicks are still only 6-17 on the road, with two of those victories coming at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in front of a Knicks-friendly crowd. The schedule still gets a little harder before a couple of winnable home games leading up to the All-Star Break after Feb. 8, which is also incidentally the trade deadline.
The Knicks are 4½ games behind the Bucks for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with one team, the Pistons, sitting between them. The Knicks remain nearly as close to making a postseason run as they do of falling into good odds for winning the draft lottery.
If the defense doesn't get better soon, they will find themselves far more worried about pingpong balls in April than about playoff seeding.
For everything Knicks, Giants, and the world of sports, follow John on Twitter at @Schmeelk
