Knicks return to Philly in a better place than the Sixers, but Jalen Brunson says ‘there’s still a long way to go’

NEW YORK — The double team to get the ball out of Cade Cunningham’s hands led to a pass swung to Tim Hardaway Jr. on the left wing and then Malik Beasley in the corner, where he drilled a wide-open three-pointer.

Then the Detroit Pistons ran the same play on the New York Knicks — with the same result — which prompted Beasley to wave goodbye and blow kisses to the Madison Square Garden crowd as he floated back to the bench.

Those shots in the final 40 seconds Monday were the dagger in the Knicks’ 124-119 loss to the upstart Pistons on the second night of a back-to-back. It caused a frustrated tone inside a New York locker room that cleared out quickly following the team’s fifth loss in seven games.

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The Knicks hit the regular season’s midway point with a 26-15 record and in third place in the Eastern Conference, a much better spot than the 76ers, who were 15-22 and in 11th on Tuesday entering a home back-to-back against the Thunder and Knicks. Although those rivals feel worlds apart compared to last spring’s fierce playoff matchup, the Knicks are still aiming to shift their 2023-24 rise into the consistency required to be true contenders.

“There’s still a long way to go,” said All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson, the former Villanova standout who was wearing an Eagles beanie and hoodie after Monday’s game. “Continue to just have that mindset of getting better every day. It’s just the same, no matter what game it is. It could be Game 82, and our mindset is still to get better.”

Following that wildly entertaining first-round series, the Knicks and Sixers took dramatic offseason swings to try to vault themselves into the same tier as the defending champion Boston Celtics.

New York traded five first-round draft picks for standout two-way wing Mikal Bridges, making him the latest ’Nova Knick alongside Brunson and Josh Hart (and, at the time, Donte DiVincenzo). Then just before training camp, the Knicks acquired All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster trade that sent Julius Randle and DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Sixers landed perennial All-Star wing Paul George in free agency, creating a Big Three with 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid and All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey. They also signed complementary players such as Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond and drafted guard Jared McCain.

Yet both teams got off to clunky starts. A multitude of injuries, notably an ongoing knee issue for Embiid following last year’s meniscus surgery, was a primary culprit in the Sixers’ initial free fall to 3-14. The Knicks began 10-8 but were plagued by a subpar defense, Bridges’ jumper form, and a depleted bench.

Coincidentally, the Sixers and Knicks also hit a December surge, before another slide to begin 2025.

The Knicks won nine games in a row, powered by an offense that entered Tuesday ranked third in the NBA in efficiency (119.2 points per 100 possessions). Brunson, who finished fifth in MVP voting last season, is averaging 25.7 points and 7.6 assists and could be an All-Star starter. Bridges (17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists) and Hart (14.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists) rank first and second, respectively, in the NBA in minutes played. Towns (25.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists) accepted his Eastern Conference Player of the Month award for December before Monday’s tipoff but clearly was bothered by a thumb injury after inadvertently banging it on the backboard early in the game.

“It is what it is,” Towns answered to multiple questions about the injury.

The Sixers also appeared to be stabilizing during a 10-3 stretch headlined by a Christmas win at Boston. But they followed it with can’t-do-that losses — even with Embiid now sidelined by a foot sprain — when they gave up 15 unanswered points to end a Jan. 1 collapse at the Sacramento Kings, shot 39.1% in a Jan. 6 home loss to a Phoenix Suns team that had just benched star Bradley Beal, and then fell Friday to the bottom-dwelling Pelicans, who were without Zion Williamson after he was suspended for being late to the team flight. The Sixers enter Tuesday two games out of 10th place, the final play-in spot, and set to begin a six-game stretch against opponents all sitting in the top six of their respective conference.

New York, however, generally has beaten the opponents it should — often a benefit of game-to-game continuity and availability. The Knicks have struggled with teams near the top of each conference, leading some to wonder if they bolstered the roster enough to win a hypothetical second-round playoff series against Boston or the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had scorched their way to a 33-5 record entering Tuesday.

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The Knicks have not yet beaten the Celtics (0-1) or Cavaliers (0-1) but are 3-1 against the fourth-place Magic. The West-leading Thunder throttled the Knicks Friday, although Sunday’s 140-106 blasting of the Milwaukee Bucks was an impressive bounce-back.

Still, perhaps the Knicks’ biggest concern is the overall defensive regression. Excelling on that end of the floor — combined with a rugged, hard-playing style — typically are trademarks of teams coached by Tom Thibodeau. Yet after ranking in the league’s top 10 in efficiency last season, the Knicks were 15th in that category (112.7 points per 100 possessions) entering Tuesday.

Issues on that end surfaced again Monday, when Brunson lamented that “offense wasn’t our problem tonight. Just defensively, we just gave them a lot of confidence.”

The Pistons took an 11-point first-quarter lead and rode Cunningham’s 29-point second half to victory. Neither Bridges nor OG Anunoby, who are regarded as two of the league’s lockdown perimeter defenders, could stop the fourth-year guard who’s gunning for his first All-Star recognition.

Cunningham’s outburst led to the Knicks’ last-minute double teams. And to Beasley’s open three-pointers. And to New York’s fifth loss in seven games.

Up next: another Philly visit.

“We’re losing games I feel like we shouldn’t be losing,” Hart said. “So we’ve got to figure it out. … Nothing we can do about the first half [of the season]. Now, all we’ve got to do is focus on the second [half].

“But if we want to be the team that we want to be at the end of the year, we’ve got to start correcting.”

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