The victories dried up with as much certainty as the kicks stopped falling for the Knicks. Three consecutive losses by mistake canceled any initial buzz generated by the sequence of three previous victories.
RJ Barrett and the Knicks endured another night of rebellious firing, while offseason target Gordon Hayward set them on fire with 28 of his 34 points in the first half of a 109-88 loss on Monday to the Hornets in Charlotte.
The Knicks (5-6) missed nine of their first 10 attempts to pitch and hit just 39.5% of the total. This included a 5-in-18 display – and five consecutive errors in the 3-point range – by Barrett, who ended with 11 points.
The third overall choice in the 2019 draft is shooting at just 36.5% for the season and 18.0% for long distance, connecting in nine out of 50 attempts.
“I think it will eventually happen,” said Thibodeau of Barrett before the game. “I think, as long as he gets it right, it’s a big part of the NBA game, I think, understanding the value of those plays.
“But there are many other things that he does well. We want him to play a full game. He can throw the ball, he can drive the ball well. And I think that over time it will kick better and better from the perimeter. “
The recent fall of novice point guard Immanuel Quickley also continued with a night of pitches from 1 to 9 in 28 minutes off the bench; he scored just 10 points out of 2 out of 24 shots in the last four games.
Kevin Knox scored 17 of his 19 points, the best of the season, in the first half, while Austin Rivers started in place of Reggie Bullock – the first lineup change in 11 games under Thibodeau – and ended with 13. Julius Randle (2 in 9 ) scored 11 points, the lowest of the season.
Impressive debutant LaMelo Ball scored just eight points out of 3 of 13 shots for Charlotte (6-5), but he also contributed 14 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the Hornets’ fourth consecutive victory.
The Knicks came tossing 39.1 percent off the ground and 31.3 percent (6 to 21) in the 3-point range in their previous two defeats, after connecting at least 50 percent of their attempts in each game of the streak. three consecutive wins.
“I think that when you sometimes struggle to get it right, it undermines the other aspects of the game,” said Thibodeau. “But we have been a very selfless team. Some nights, the ball will enter, others not.
“But we have to do everything else to put ourselves in a position to win.”
Thibodeau knew that his team needed to rediscover their shooting range and play in representative defense against the Hornets, which improved with Hayward’s additions, their $ 120 million off-season acquisition, and Ball, overall number 3 choice on the project.
Thibodeau spoke enthusiastically about the two opposing players, noting about Hayward that the Knicks had “ranked him high” among the targets of free players in the off season.
The former Utah and Boston star scored 28 points for the Knicks in the first half, in 8 of 12 shots and 10 consecutive free-throw attempts. The Knicks scored Charlotte in the first 10 points of the game and lost by up to 17 in the first quarter.
Knox kept the Knicks close by hitting five of his eight long-distance attempts, ending the semester with 17, to Charlotte’s 57-50 lead at halftime.
Still, the Knicks committed 10 of their 16 plays in the first two quarters and, in addition to Knox, the rest of the team made 1 to 13 in the 3-point range. Hayward scored just four points in the third, but the Hornets increased their lead to 82-68 in the last quarter.