Not bad is an understatement.
Three out of four exceeds expectations.
The Knicks return home with a 3-1 record after a four-game West Coast road trip concluded with a 113-100 loss to the defending champion Denver Nuggets late Thursday night.
The West Coast swing included a 12-point victory over the NBA Draft Lottery-bound Portland Trail Blazers, a 98-91 victory over a Sacramento Kings team positioned for a deep Western Conference playoff run, and a convincing 119-112 win over Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors before the Knicks fell short to the champs on Thursday.
A pretty good trip considering the circumstances.
OG Anunoby returned early from right elbow surgery only to aggravate the injury and miss the Knicks’ last two games.
Julius Randle continues to miss time due to a dislocated right shoulder he sustained on Jan. 27, and while Mitchell Robinson’s return from left ankle surgery is on the horizon, he has yet to log NBA minutes since Dec. 8.
Yet the Knicks — shorthanded and all — were in it against the reigning champions until midway through the fourth quarter.
It was a five-point game with 6:09 remaining in the final period before Denver closed the game on a 16-8 run.
“They’re obviously champions for a reason, and I thought we fought hard, but our rebounding wasn’t good throughout the game,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought offensively, the way we started the game was really good, and it’s a two-point game with eight minutes to go in the fourth. But then a couple things [went awry].
“Our margin of error was tight. I thought playing with the lead was good early on, but to beat these guys, particularly here, you’ve gotta play 48 minutes, and we didn’t do that.”
The loss — paired with an Orlando Magic victory over the New Orleans Pelicans earlier Thursday evening — moved the Knicks down one spot to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
With 13 games remaining on the schedule, the Knicks are a half-game behind the fourth-seeded Magic, a game-and-a-half behind the No. 3 Cleveland Cavaliers, and three games behind the second-seed Milwaukee Bucks.
The Boston Celtics are out of reach with the best record in all of basketball.
And while the Knicks may have fallen down the standings, they’ve risen in spirit.
Without Randle, Anunoby and Robinson, the Knicks put themselves in position to get it done on the road against a team aiming to repeat as NBA champions.
“[This game was] definitely a building block, but you’re only as good as your last game,” said All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, who finished with 26 points, nine assists and zero turnovers on the night. “So we’ve gotta go back and regroup and get ready for Brooklyn. Definitely a successfully road trip. We can still learn.”
The Knicks return home winners of six of their last nine games. The loss to the Nuggets snapped a four-game winning streak.
The Knicks have a chance to right the ship hosting the Brooklyn Nets (26-44) on Sunday.
The cross-borough rivalry showdown has a 1 p.m. tipoff, creating another challenge for a team on a cross-country flight home before an early call time.
“[The road trip went well], but it doesn’t end. This game ends and then you’re challenged in a different way getting back and we’ve got an early start next game against Brooklyn,” said Thibodeau. “But just keep focusing on one day at a time. Put everything you have into it, get a look at the game today, fix our mistakes, get ready for the next one.
“But the fight has been great, the togetherness has been great. I think we’re functioning well as a team. We had 29 assists. We were low turnover. But when our defense, when we’re flying around and we’re creating turnovers, that wasn’t there.
“But give them credit. … It’s a team that is very well put together. They play together and they play smart. They’re gonna make you pay for mistakes.”
