Defense was the Knicks identity during last year's magical run to the postseason, the forefront of the culture Tom Thibodeau immediately established when beginning his tenure as head coach.
But this year, defense has been a lingering weakness for a New York team that simply doesn't have the offensive firepower to mask those defensive lapses. Those continued on Wednesday, particularly in the second half when the Knicks gave up nearly 70 points in their sixth straight loss.
Julius Randle called out those lapses after Wednesday's loss, declaring that the team had to be better on the defensive end.
"I just think we got to be fighting on the defensive end,'' Randle said. "Coach had to call timeout in the first minutes of the second half because we weren't fighting enough. It starts with us. We're not getting stops at critical moments. Teams are getting on runs."
The 76ers certainly went on a big run on Wednesday, outscoring the Knicks 38-19 in the third quarter after New York held a 16-point lead in the first half. It was the latest display of poor defensive stretches that wind up being the turning point of the game.
"When you look at who we were last year, we were the best defensive team in the league and prided ourselves on getting stops at critical moments,'' Randle added. "We'd string together three, four stops in a row. One of the things are coaching staff shows us after games is how many times we got three stops in a row. We're not doing that enough."
Last year, the Knicks were fourth in the NBA in defensive rating. This year, they are 17th, as they have struggled to replace the defense of Reggie Bullock in the starting lineup, particularly because Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier have both struggled badly on the defensive end as starters. Walker has since been shut down for the rest of the season, but the defensive woes remain, and Randle wants to see it turned around.
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