With a 4-game losing streak and 2-9 in the last eleven games, something had to give for the New York Knicks. Veteran Josh Hart, after the blowout loss at home to the Dallas Mavericks, said the group needs to do some “soul searching”. Captain Jalen Brunson agreed to the notion and added, “We’ve got to figure this out fast”. The first steps are already in motion in the locker room.

“Jalen Brunson called a players-only meeting,” reported ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “(He said) ‘Guys, we gotta stop looking to the coaching staff for answers, we gotta stop looking elsewhere, the answers to what is wrong with us right now are right in this locker room. We gotta look in the mirror.’ And it was a longer meeting, a lot of people had something to say about what was going wrong.”

The Knicks started the season strong, going 23-9 and winning the NBA Cup in December. Since then, they are 7-11 and are now just 1 ½ games above the play-in. Plus, their offense has sputtered to the bottom five in the league in January.

Monday’s loss became a new low point of this season as Mike Brown’s team gave up 75 points in the first half to the shorthanded Mavs. The head coach had a potent message for the team.

While talking to the media at halftime, Brown revealed that he didn’t talk much about X’s and O’s. Instead, the messaging was simple and challenging the players, “do your f—— job.” To the players’ credit, they did outperform Dallas as the Knicks outscored the Mavericks by 11 points in the second half.

Brunson, before calling the players’ meeting, had just noticed the change of the two halves. “It’s a tale of two halves, not being there, and then being there.”

The Knicks gave up 75 points in just the first half, while only scoring a meager 47 points. It marked only the sixth time the Knicks have given up 75 points in an opening half at MSG.

Naturally, the Garden is not used to seeing its favorite team being embarrassed on its home turf. The boos started raining in with Coach Brown and captain Brunson accepting they would have done the same after the first half performance.

Moreover, Towns’ scoring, rebounding, and percentages have dipped this season, with three-point shooting at a career-worst 35.8% and a -0.3 defensive box plus/minus. Over his last seven games, he averaged 16.7 points on 43% field goal shooting and 28% from three, alongside 3.3 turnovers per game.

He’s been a net -66 since December 31, with inconsistency worsening without Jalen Brunson. Mike Brown has publicly called out Towns for lack of effort, complaining to refs, poor focus, ball-handling (3/3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio), and defensive issues. Brown benched him late in games, favoring Mitchell Robinson.

What went wrong for Jalen Brunson and Co. in the first half?

Throughout the pivotal first half, the Knicks kept piling on defensive breakdowns, late closeouts, and muddled on-the-floor rotations. In fact, away from home, the Mavericks dominated from the start and were 16-4 just minutes into the game and built a 30-point lead before halftime.

Josh Hart made a stunning comparison with last year’s team, which paints a grim picture.

Hart stated that a year ago, the Knicks could overcome poor shooting or offensive showings with grit, physicality, and defensive intensity. They could do it because of their effort. But this year, the similar trait is missing, especially during the slump.

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Jalen Brunson criticized himself and his teammates for not following the game plan, as the Mavs got away in transition.

“We just didn’t get back, myself included, closing it short when we should be running people off the line. Getting to their airspace and making shooters drive, but just didn’t follow the game plan at all.”

Not just a decline in offence, but the Knicks hold the worst first-half defensive rating across the league over their last 11 games at a horrid 124.8, and they often go into the half looking to come back from behind.

Putting more effort on the court is not part of X’s and O’s. It’s the players’ responsibility, which the Knicks team is seemingly lacking. That’s why Brunson had to address it before things turned for the worse.