Knicks: Good news and bad news from embarrassing 129-114 loss to Mavericks

The New York Knicks followed up their best offensive performance with one of their worst on Wednesday, as they were manhandled by the Dallas Mavericks 129-114 despite Luka Doncic not playing. The Knicks dropped their second game in three and fell to 10-8, while the Mavericks continued their winning ways and improved to 11-8.

The Knicks offense was dreadful in the first half

The Knicks’ first-half offensive performance cannot be sugarcoated; it was terrible. New York scored just 38 points in the first half and shot 11-for-42 from the floor, including 4-for-21 in the entire first quarter.

New York couldn’t buy a bucket from anywhere on the floor, as Dallas’ suffocating defense was too much for them to handle. The Knicks also turned the ball over six times in the first half and allowed the Mavericks to get in transition, an area that continues to haunt the Knicks this season.

The second-half offense was much better, as they shot 29-for-44 from the floor and scored 76 second-half points, but they were down big early and couldn’t slow down Naji Marshall (24 points), Spencer Dinwiddie (21 points), and Quentin Grimes (21 points), who all stepped up with Doncic out.

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said he was disappointed with “the way we started” and that they got into a massive hole early that was tough to climb out of (h/t The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III).

OG Anunoby struggled badly after career night in Denver

OG Anunoby had the best game of his career Monday night against the Denver Nuggets, but he had his worst game of the season Wednesday against the Mavericks.

Anunoby finished with just eight points on 3-for-15 shooting from the floor and 0-for-8 from three. He didn’t make his first field goal until the fourth quarter, as he missed his first 11 shot attempts through the first three quarters.

Anunoby also had the worst plus-minus on the team at -15, which is very uncharacteristic for the two-way forward. The hope is that this game was just an anomaly and that he will get back on track and finish a great November on a high note in their next game on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets.

Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were the lone bright spots for the Knicks

The only positive takeaways from this game come from their two All-Stars. Jalen Brunson scored 37 points on 14-for-21 shooting from the floor. He also kept his strong playmaking streak going with seven assists on the night.

Karl-Anthony Towns recorded his eighth straight double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds. He shot 7-for-16 from the floor, 2-for-4 from three, and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Towns is now averaging 27.8 points and 13.1 rebounds in his last eight games on 55% shooting from the floor and 41% from three.

Overview

This is now the second game on the road trip that the Knicks would like to forget. They have one more game on the road before they finally head back home. They will have the Thanksgiving holiday off before they head out to Charlotte to take on the Hornets at noon on Friday.