Knicks coach Mike Brown was unhappy with the free throw disparity in his team’s 115-107 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, calling Jalen Brunson’s lack of attempts “alarming.”
Brunson, who entered the night averaging a career-high 7.8 attempts, did not go to the line once against the Cavaliers. The loss ended the Knicks’ four-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden.
“I’m a little surprised,” Brown said. “I have to go back and watch the film, but Jalen plays 34 minutes and has zero free throw attempts. That’s pretty alarming.”
Overall, the Cavaliers were 20-of-25 from the line, while the Knicks were 11-of-11.
“I’m not sure how or why it’s that way,” Brown said. “I know [at] one time the free throw advantage was 18-3. That’s not why we lost the game, but you just hope to get a little bit better whistle when you’re playing a good team because it’s already hard enough to go win the game.”
Brunson and Harden put up big numbers
Brunson, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, scored 27 points on 12-of-23 shooting. It was a bounce-back effort after he went just 7-of-18 from the field against the Milwaukee Bucks a night earlier.
Brown wanted more, particularly when compared with Cleveland guard James Harden, who went 9-of-11 from the line on his way to a season-high 32 points.
Brunson, as is his custom, did not wade into any controversy after the defeat.
“I’ll have to control what I can control, and I’ll leave it at that,” he said. “Sometimes you have to make adjustments, no matter how the game is being officiated or not. Being able to adjust in-game is part of not just playing basketball but playing sports.”
Hart returns, Bridges struggles
Brunson’s extra offence was needed throughout the game. Josh Hart returned after a three-game absence due to a right ankle injury and illness, but he managed only six points.
Mikal Bridges continued to struggle. He played only 17 minutes and did not play in the final quarter, a night after logging just four minutes in the second half of the blowout win over the Bucks.
Brown pointed to the performances of Landry Shamet and Miles McBride, who combined to go 7-for-14 from three-point range, as the reason behind Bridges’ limited minutes against the Cavaliers. Bridges entered the night averaging 6.3 points on 32.9% shooting, including 26.5% from three-point range.
Brown said that pulling Bridges from the starting lineup would be a “panic decision.”
“It’s going to be hard to find minutes at times for Mikal and Josh because those two are playing at a high level,” he said. “He’s like a lot of players, had their good moments and not-so-good moments. Mikal has a track record of playing at a high level.”