Knicks at Thunder
New York Knicks coach David Fizdale is trying to mold his roster into a winner but is having some trouble putting the pieces together. Fizdale and the Knicks will try to avoid a third consecutive setback when they open a three-game road trip by visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
The Knicks were crushed 115-89 at home by the Orlando Magic on Sunday and rank in the bottom third of the NBA in scoring average (106.4 points) while sitting last in assists (19.1). "Sometimes holding it too much, not making shots. There's always two sides to getting assists," Fizdale told reporters. "Trust. Making the right play with the right timing. There's a lot of different factors. I don't think it's a selfish thing. We're not a selfish team at all. It's matter of timing, hitting guys when they're open and converting fast breaks when we have a 3-on-1, 3-on-2 opportunity, and not finishing those and making shots." The Thunder know how to finish a fast break and used a 22-0 run in the first quarter on Monday to open a lead and coast to a 118-101 victory over Phoenix. "As a group we sense the energy," Oklahoma City forward Paul George told reporters. "We were the more aggressive team. We just jumped on them. Once you get one stop, you get another. At that point we were just in a groove. We felt good out there."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FS Oklahoma
ABOUT THE KNICKS (4-10): While New York searches for an identity as a team, rookie center Mitchell Robinson is quickly developing his own identity as a defensive force. Robinson set a team rookie record with nine blocks in just 22 minutes on Sunday - his fourth consecutive game with multiple blocked shots. "I thank Coach. He put me in position to get those blocks," Robinson told reporters. "He was telling me to drop back and not to worry about my guy. Just go get him and meet him at the rim."
ABOUT THE THUNDER (8-5): Oklahoma City can afford to let superstar point guard Russell Westbrook take all the time he needs to recover from an ankle injury if it continues the level of play that saw it win eight of the last nine games - three of four without Westbrook. George matched a season high with 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting and hit a season-high six 3-pointers on Monday while coming up two rebounds shy of his third straight double-double. "It's a long year," George told reporters. "One game at a time. We're just trying to get better."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Knicks SG Tim Hardaway is 4-of-23 from 3-point range over the last three games.
2. Oklahoma City C Steven Adams went 9-of-13 from the floor on Monday and is shooting 60.3 percent on the season.
3. New York snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with a 111-96 home win in the most recent meeting on Dec. 12, 2017.