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00:00Welcome to New York Gun Game.
00:15Tough night for the Knicks at the Garden.
00:17They're not able to build on their winning streak.
00:20They fall to the Sixers, 116-107.
00:23This is a game we're going to look at.
00:25I'm going to share my three things I observed from this game.
00:28What I liked, what I didn't like.
00:29Some things that I think Knicks fans should keep their eyes on in this one.
00:33Now, when you look at this game,
00:34where the Knicks have been playing really good basketball heading into this one,
00:37they were coming off that high of the NBA Cup win over the Spurs,
00:41and then that huge victory, huge comeback victory in Naptown,
00:45where they beat the Pacers on Thursday night.
00:47But when you look at this one,
00:48the first thing for me that stands out was turnovers.
00:51Knicks did not take care of the ball.
00:5218 turnovers on the night.
00:54Dad did them in.
00:55You can look at this and say, hey,
00:56they had their hands full with the great backcourt of the Sixers,
01:00with Tyrese Maxey, with Vijay Adjko.
01:03Defense overall was solid, and those players are a tough cover,
01:06but you got to take care of the ball.
01:08They did not.
01:0818 turnovers, as I mentioned.
01:10The Sixers, only 10 tonight.
01:12So they did a much better job of doing that.
01:15And the Knicks, when you look at them offensively in this game,
01:17they had four players reach 20-plus points.
01:20Jalen Brunson had 22.
01:22So did Carunty Towns.
01:23And then you also had 21 from Mikkel Bridges
01:26and another player that we'll talk about later.
01:28Yes, 21 points from Mitchell Robinson,
01:30who did some really good work in this game.
01:32We'll touch on that later.
01:34But why did the Knicks struggle with turnovers?
01:36They've been a really good team this year
01:37in terms of taking care of the ball.
01:39And through this recent play in their winning streak,
01:42they've really taken care of the ball.
01:43That's how they were able to win the NBA Cup.
01:45But they didn't do that tonight.
01:47And after the game, we had a chance to hear
01:49from head coach Mike Brown.
01:51He talked about the physicality,
01:53but he also was asked about the fact,
01:55could it be a little bit of the physicality
01:57that the Sixers brought to this game?
01:58Or could fatigue have something to do with it
02:01where the Knicks said we're playing their third game in four days?
02:04Obviously, it's tough.
02:06These guys are human.
02:07But at the end of the day,
02:08we try to pride ourselves on being a no-excuse team.
02:11And we're going to go out and try to play, you know,
02:14at the highest possible standard
02:17or highest possible level.
02:18And most times, we'll probably have it.
02:22But tonight, we didn't.
02:23You know, chalk it up, hopefully, as a learning experience.
02:27And we'll get some rest and get ready to get the next one on Sunday.
02:30So I think when you look at that
02:31and you hear about the physicality,
02:33you hear about the three games in four days,
02:35I think it could be a little bit of both.
02:37We know the Knicks were tired.
02:38They were depleted.
02:39Five guys that are generally in their rotation
02:41didn't play on Thursday night.
02:43And those guys returned.
02:44Josh Hart returned to the lineup.
02:45Carr and V. Towns returned to the lineup as well.
02:48So these were players that would help the Knicks.
02:50We also saw Mitchell Robinson return to the lineup.
02:52But the Knicks have played a lot of games
02:54in a short period of time.
02:55And there's so much talk about,
02:57all right, if you win the NBA Cup,
02:58is that really good for your team?
03:00Because following the NBA Cup,
03:02the Knicks had a back-to-back.
03:03And then they play again on Sunday.
03:05We'll get to that later.
03:07But either way, Mike Brown says,
03:09as you heard him say,
03:10no-excuse team.
03:11They're not making any excuses at all for this.
03:12But I think you have to look at this and say,
03:14fatigue might be catching up to this team.
03:16They'll get their rest.
03:17They'll see if they can bounce back on Sunday.
03:19And we will see how that goes.
03:21Now, next thing that really stood out to me in this game,
03:24and it was, I think it surprised a lot of people,
03:27Mitchell Robinson's free throw shooting.
03:29He had himself a fantastic night at the line.
03:32I talked earlier about how Mitchell Robinson had 21 points.
03:35He also had 16 rebounds.
03:37Six of those came on the offensive glass.
03:39So Mitch, when you look at that there,
03:40he was doing mixed things.
03:42But seven of eight from the line.
03:44Yes, that is correct.
03:45I'm not joking about that.
03:47Seven of eight from the line.
03:49He got some of the loudest cheers of the night
03:52here at the Garden every time he hit a free throw.
03:54And look, he switched a couple of those free throws
03:57as well, too.
03:58If Mitchell Robinson can shoot like this at the line,
04:01and just to be clear, he has not shot the ball well.
04:03He was shooting 22% from the free throw line
04:06coming into this one.
04:07He had only made six free throws all season long.
04:11He made seven tonight against the 76ers.
04:14Very impressive.
04:16And also, I gotta add, very shocking.
04:18I don't think anybody saw this coming
04:20with the way he had been struggling at the line.
04:22How rare is this?
04:24Six free throws in a game.
04:25That was his career high.
04:27He did that back on April Fool's Day in 2019.
04:30He had never hit more than six free throws in a game,
04:32but then he did it tonight.
04:34These were season highs for Mitchell Robinson tonight
04:36with the 21 points and the 16 rebounds.
04:39Played a good amount of minutes.
04:40And you're wondering, if he can do this,
04:43how does this change the strategy for teams
04:45when they're playing against the Knicks?
04:47Now, we know some teams, we've seen Boston do this,
04:49where they will foul Mitch Robinson,
04:50they'll go to the hack of Mitch,
04:51try to get the Knicks out of their rhythm offensively.
04:53But if Mitch can hit these free throws,
04:55and look, do I think he's gonna shoot 87%
04:57from the line every game?
04:59No.
04:59But if he can get it to a point
05:01where he can even hit one out of two,
05:02I think Knicks fans, I think the team,
05:04will take 50% from the line.
05:06And he did way better than that tonight.
05:07It just gives Mike Brown a lot more flexibility
05:10and more lineups he can play him within.
05:12He can play him later in the game.
05:14You do not have to worry about the hack of Mitch.
05:16You can play him in fourth quarters
05:17and trust that he can hold his own,
05:19do the things that he can do,
05:21and also hit free throws.
05:22Now, Mitch hasn't looked great defensively lately in space,
05:25but we saw how he could change a game
05:27with his rebounding against the Spurs.
05:29And you saw even today,
05:30he really kept the Knicks in the game with his rebounding,
05:32but also his free throw shooting.
05:34Now, is it real?
05:36I don't know.
05:37But Mike Brown talked about the fact
05:38that he believes that a game like this,
05:40yeah, it can help him build some confidence.
05:42You know, he's been working hard at it.
05:44You know, it's a process.
05:46Peter Fatton's done a great job with him.
05:48Mark Bryant's done a great job with him.
05:50But more importantly,
05:52Mitch has bought into what
05:54they're trying to work with him on
05:56when it comes to free throw shooting.
05:57And it's good to see, you know,
06:00any time you can see positive results,
06:02that breeds confidence,
06:03not just in the individual,
06:05but also in the rest of the group.
06:07So it was good for him to not do that.
06:09All right.
06:09So we'll see if Mitch's free throw shooting
06:11will continue to look the way it did tonight.
06:14I'm sure everybody would sign for that.
06:16But the other thing I'm looking at,
06:18the third thing I definitely had my eye on,
06:20and I will take note of from this game,
06:22is Tyler Kolek.
06:22Now, Tyler Kolek came into this game
06:24playing really, really great basketball.
06:27We know he played well in the NBA Cup Final
06:29against the Spurs.
06:30He also had a fantastic game
06:31against the Pacers in Indianapolis
06:34on Thursday night.
06:35But on Friday against the Sixers
06:37and their speedy guards,
06:39not so good of a game for Tyler Kolek, right?
06:41He only had two points,
06:43one of three from the field.
06:44He had four turnovers in this one,
06:46something you're not used to seeing
06:47with Tyler Kolek,
06:48him turning the ball over.
06:50He also had four fouls,
06:51struggled a little bit defensively.
06:53That's where Tyler Kolek
06:54has actually been better.
06:55I know everybody's looked at the shot-making,
06:56and yes, he's been more aggressive
06:58shooting the ball,
06:59but he's been able to hold up
07:00his own on defense.
07:01So we didn't see the playmaking.
07:03We didn't see the shot-making
07:04and aggression that we'd seen
07:05the last couple of games.
07:07He didn't look like Tyler, the creator.
07:08And look, he's still learning in the NBA.
07:10He has to learn how to deal
07:11with quick and speedy guards
07:13like Vijay Edgecombe,
07:14like Tyrese Maxey.
07:15This is part of the learning curve,
07:16but it's also why
07:17some of us have to pump the brakes
07:20when we're evaluating Tyler Kolek
07:22and understanding
07:22that this is a process.
07:24While he's played well lately,
07:25he's still trying to show
07:27that he can be
07:28the backup point guard
07:29for this team,
07:30and that is going to be interesting
07:31to see if he can
07:32really lock onto the spot.
07:33But when I look at this
07:34with Tyler Kolek,
07:35and I look at what he did tonight
07:36despite the four turnovers,
07:38what was very encouraging to me
07:40was the fact that it appears
07:41Mike Brown is starting
07:43to have more trust
07:43in Tyler Kolek.
07:44He still played 15 minutes.
07:46He still was playing
07:47important minutes
07:47late in the third quarter
07:49into the fourth quarter.
07:50You also saw some lineups
07:51again with him and Brunson
07:53in the backcourt together.
07:54You also saw him
07:55with Clarkson again,
07:56and you're starting to see
07:57Mike Brown give him more minutes,
07:58and this is the thing
07:59I think you have to like
08:00about the way Mike Brown
08:01has coached the team
08:02thus far this season.
08:03You're seeing that adaptability,
08:04and he's trying to instill
08:05that trust and confidence
08:06in players.
08:07So yes,
08:07Tyler Kolek,
08:08not his best game.
08:09He don't like the four turnovers,
08:11wasn't as aggressive offensively,
08:12struggled on defense
08:13with the quick guards
08:15of the Sixers,
08:16but I thought it was interesting.
08:17He still got 15 minutes.
08:18He was not buried to the bench,
08:19and I think you can look
08:20at these games sometimes
08:22even when he struggles like this
08:23and say,
08:23huh, okay,
08:25Mike Brown is keeping him out there.
08:26There's a chance for him
08:27to learn and get better
08:29and play through the mistakes.
08:31These games are still important
08:32for Tyler Kolek,
08:33so we can get super high
08:34about the highs that we saw
08:36from Kolek the last couple of games,
08:38but Tyler, the creator,
08:39he struggled tonight,
08:40and we will see
08:41if he can improve on that
08:42and see how he bounces back.
08:43Now, speaking of bouncing back,
08:45the Knicks,
08:45they're going to try to do that
08:46on Sunday.
08:47They're back here
08:48at the Garden
08:48when they will play
08:49the Miami Heat,
08:51their longtime
08:52Eastern Conference rivals.
08:53They will look for
08:54their 20th victory
08:56of the season,
08:57so the Knicks,
08:57they fall to 19-8
08:59on the season
08:59after they fall
09:00to the Sixers here at home.
09:02As I said,
09:02only their second
09:03home loss of the season.
09:05Those are the three things
09:06that I noticed
09:07from tonight's Knicks loss
09:08to the Sixers.
09:09Let me know
09:10what you think about it.
09:12We'll catch you next time
09:12on New York Got Game.
09:15And thanks for watching
09:17New York Got Game.
09:19Boop-shakalaka.
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