RJ Barrett of the New York Knicks said he and his teammates can learn from their wire-to-wire loss to the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in their most recent outing.
“They just had a different intensity in the fourth that we weren’t able to match,” Barrett said Friday’s 123-108 loss in Milwaukee. “But it’s good (for) a team like us, watching the defending champs, to see how they raised their level, especially in that fourth quarter. We know what we have to do to … get to that level.”
Problem is, the Knicks are running out of time to apply knowledge gleaned from in-season teachable moments. They will face another team skidding out of the playoff picture Monday night when New York hosts the Sacramento Kings.
The Knicks have lost three in a row while the Kings are mired in a six-game losing streak and will be looking to salvage the finale of a five-game Eastern Conference road trip.
Despite never leading Friday, the Knicks had a chance to pull the upset in the fourth quarter when Alec Burks drained a 3-pointer 16 seconds into the period to pull the visitors within 93-91. New York’s Immanuel Quickley answered back-to-back baskets by the Bucks with a jumper to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 97-93 with 10:34 left.
But the Knicks went scoreless from the field for the next 3:32, a span in which they hoisted just three shot attempts as the Bucks went on an 11-2 run. The Knicks were never within eight points the rest of the way.
The Knicks were unable to raise their level late in games during an ominous three-game trip in which they fell to trio of Eastern Conference contenders. After a 95-93 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 24, they lost to the Miami Heat 110-96 last Wednesday and dropped into 12th place in the East. New York entered Sunday one game behind the 10th-place Atlanta Hawks and a bid to the play-in tournament.
The Kings, who are in 13th place in the Western Conference and entered Sunday four games behind the 10th-place Portland Trail Blazers, also are in danger of sliding out of the playoff picture. But Sacramento’s skid has contained some encouraging signs.
Saturday, the Kings led the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers by as many as 17 points and had a chance to win at the buzzer. Alas, Harrison Barnes missed a 3-pointer in the 103-101 defeat. While Sacramento is 3-12 since Dec. 31, six of those losses have come by 10 or fewer points to teams currently occupying a playoff or play-in spot.
In addition, the Kings almost upset the 76ers without leading scorer De’Aaron Fox, who has missed the last four games with a sore left ankle and is not expected to play Monday.
“If we play that way with that kind of intensity and togetherness, we’ll be fine,” Kings interim head coach Alvin Gentry said.
