The Knicks have pulled off the largest win in franchise history after defeating the Nets 120-66 in a 54-point win at Madison Square Garden. This defeated their previous record of the biggest win, which was by 48 points, achieved multiple times.
It snapped the Knicks’ four-game losing streak amid what was a tough period of scrutiny for the franchise. Following what Josh Hart described as “embarrassing basketball” against the Mavericks, the Knicks reportedly held a player-only meeting and seemingly had issues with their head coach, Mike Brown.
After the game, Hart spoke to the media and clarified the false rumors about such a meeting.
“We didn’t have a players-only meeting. Y’all dragged that. I don’t know who said it, who did all that,” said Hart initially while refusing the meeting altogether.
He later conceded that the players spoke to each other, but it seems the subject was not scapegoating Mike Brown but rather cleaning up issues on the court through film and practice.
“We talked, but it wasn’t like some… thing. That got dragged. We didn’t have a players-only meeting. We know what we have to do; we cleaned some things up yesterday with film and practice. We know we haven’t been playing to our capability, but we’re going to continue to build on this one.”
Jalen Brunson led all scorers for the Knicks tonight with 20 points, four rebounds, and five assists while shooting 8-17 from the field (47.1%). Josh Hart finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, and three assists while shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field (100%).
Brown has been nothing but passionate about what the Knicks can do to become a better team. Even before today’s game, he spoke to the media about how adversity helps teams build a championship-culture.
“I’ve never been a part of a championship team that didn’t go through adversity during the regular season. Every time we went through it, it paid dividends come playoff time,” said Brown before the Nets game.
The Knicks, who had won only two of their last 11 games before tonight. Therefore, this game could mark the end of a tough period for them. But let’s be realistic, a true test of their caliber will be against a championship caliber team, and not one that is rebuilding and not looking to win currently.
But that doesn’t mean the Knicks forget a strong reason to celebrate, which is the historic win tonight. But they need to ensure consistency now to avoid skidding further down in the conference standings. They are currently 26-18 and the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
Therefore, a good test of whether the players-only meeting would be their next meeting, which is against the 76ers at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
