Knicks ‘can’t rely on officials to win us the ball game’

It’s clearly a foul, and the nearest referee missed it.

Karl-Anthony Towns knocked Philadelphia’s Dominic Barlow off his sneakers at 9:54 of the first quarter of their 130-119 loss to the 76ers on Saturday, and Barlow crashed into the Knicks big man’s shoulder. In every book there should have been a whistle.

But it wasn’t to be — and when Towns tossed the ball in the air expecting a goal, the entire Madison Square Garden crowd stood collectively shouting a foul.

It’s for the fans. Not for gamers. Far too often, the Knicks let their emotions and ego take over, as infuriating as that can be, when it comes to missed fouls.

Knicks head coach Mike Brown wants it to stop.

“The officials are human. They will make good choices. They will make bad choices. We can’t rely on the officials to win us the game. We have to win it ourselves,” Brown said after the game. “The reality is, even with our late fouls, they shot 23 free throws, we shot 32. We had 18 fouls against us, and they had 23 fouls against them.”

Players are also human. So when Jalen Brunson is whistled for a ticking foul on one end, Towns is hit without a call, and Barlow heads to the foul line on the very next possession, it’s only natural that they would seek an explanation.

Tyrese Maxey also looked for answers at the whistle when Brunson chested for an and-one floater at 8:28 of the first quarter.

“We need to focus better on our job or what we can do to help the group overcome the obstacle and win the game,” Brown continued. “No one is forced to do anything extraordinary. But we have to give a little bit more in many areas to help us get over the top, but the officials are the officials, they did well. And now we just have to find a way to win and not focus on them at all.”

WHY START MCBRIDE?

Brown explained his decision to insert Miles McBride into his final lineup against the 76ers on Saturday while bringing Mitchell Robinson back to the bench. He was clearly asked if this decision was intended to alleviate Mikal Bridges’ difficulties defending Tyrese Maxey (36 points) at the point of attack.

“We needed to score, so we had to spread the floor and see if we could hit the paint and spray it and knock down some threes, so that’s one of the reasons I went small,” he said. “But I’ve said it before: Deuce is really good at the point of attack in terms of pick and roll defense when he’s on the ball, trying to get to a body and go over the ball. That’s why I threw him there. A combination of those two things made me do that.”

GETTING OUT OF A CRISIS

No. 1 seed or No. 11 seed, Brown doesn’t care. He wants to win a basketball game to end the Knicks’ three-game losing streak, and if it’s going to be a dogfight against the East’s top-ranked Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, so be it.

“For us, it doesn’t really matter,” Brown said. “It’s the one in front of us. We have to figure out how to play the right way on both ends of the court and get the victory. It’s that simple.”

THE BLUES AFTER THE NBA CUP

The Knicks are now 5-5 after going 18-7 in the NBA Cup Finals.

Last season, the Milwaukee Bucks entered the NBA Cup Finals with a 14-11 record, beat the Oklahoma City Thunder to win it, then found themselves with a 17-16 record on January 4th.

The same goes for the Los Angeles Lakers, who were 14-9 heading into the inaugural 2023 NBA Cup Finals, then immediately lost 10 of their next 13 games.