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The champions lost their third straight preseason game Monday, 122-104 to the Timberwolves at Madison Square Garden, as Mike Brown said he’s challenging his players by coaching simple and predictable.
“The truth of the matter is I’m kind of hamstringing our guys offensively,” the head coach said. “Real generic with what we’re running offensively because I want to see if they can execute when a team gets rhythm and they start denying or putting pressure on us because they know what’s coming. Can we execute our counters? Can we still get to our spots offensively and execute our actions? Can we play fast doing it? Those are little things I’m looking at offensively.”
Jalen Brunson dropped a team-high 20 points, shooting 6-for-13 and just 1-for-4 from beyond the arc.
The captain and the rest of the starters each played about half the game and lost their minutes, as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards (26 points) and Jaden McDaniels (22) combined for nine treys.
The Knicks have been outscored in preseason play by 43 points.
Brown seems unconcerned.
“For me, it’s more about the process, not necessarily the end result. … Defensively, are we making sure we’re playing with next-play speed? And, for the most part, I thought we did,” he said. “We had some breakdowns execution-wise in terms of what our assignments were, but those things can be cleaned up in time. We’ll keep watching film and keep drilling it and all that other stuff.”
Tony Bradley (10 points in seven minutes, 5-for-5 from the field) and Pacôme Dadiet (seven points, 2-for-3 from long distance) were efficient for the Knicks off the bench.
None of the starters are expected to play Tuesday in Toronto, which is the second half of a back-to-back.
Brown said the individual players will decide if they want to travel.
Most of the starters didn’t stick around to speak with reporters after Monday’s game.
For the Timberwolves, Edwards declined postgame interviews.