For the first time in franchise history, the Knicks have lost back-to-back games by 30-plus points.
Thursday's 129-92 loss at home to the Denver Nuggets was the fifth game this season that the team has trailed by 30 or more in a game, with three of those games coming at home.
Perhaps the biggest issue for the Knicks came on the defensive end, as they allowed the Nuggets to shoot a lofty 21-39 (.538) from three-point range on the night.
"The three-point line killed us again, so until we figure that out, we're going to keep feeling this pain," head coach David Fizdale said to start his postgame press conference.
"Sickening. They'll have to re-watch it, just like I'm going to watch it three or four times. They're going to have to suffer through it as well."
The Knicks came out of the gates much stronger than in their last game against the Bucks, leading by six points midway through the first quarter.
But things fell apart shortly after that. Denver went on to lead by 22 points at halftime and pushed their lead to as large as 43 points in the fourth quarter, led by their blazing three-point shooting.
"Nobody's happy about what just happened, but again, at least to their credit, they're owning it. They understand that we've got to get better at getting to three-point shooters," Fizdale said. "We can't keep allowing these teams to shoot clean threes. It's blowing games open for them right now, so we'll just keep working on our close-outs, we'll keep working on our rotations, we'll keep watching that film, and at some point we'll find our breakthrough."
"Getting out to the perimeter quicker, that would be something that we have to fix for sure," echoed RJ Barrett after the game. "Once we get that, our defense will be even better."
The team's eight straight loss drops the Knicks to 4-18 on the season, a worse start than last season, when they won a franchise-low 17 games.
Fizdale was asked if he's worried about losing his job in the wake of back-to-back blowout losses.
"I don't care about all that. I don't even think about that, really," he said. "I think about the next team we're playing, I think about the guys in the locker room and how I can help them. At the end of the day, that's all I care about."
He said he feels as if he's on the same page as team president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry.
"Absolutely. I'm still coaching this team. I'm still pushing them. I'm still preparing them," he said. "We had a hell of a practice before this game, it was just a disappointing output."
But while the team continues to struggle to find their way out of this early-season slump, the head coach and the players in the locker room know that they'll stick together as a group.
"I still think we have a group that's going to fight for each other, I think a group that's going to come back to work and try to solve the problem," said Fizdale. "We have a lot of character in that room, so no I'm not concerned (about where this group is)."
"Obviously, there are going to be waves in the season where things are going to be up and down," said Bobby Portis. "It's a long season. Obviously, things aren't going to be pitch perfect, and obviously if we could have it our way, we want everything to be perfect, we'll have it that way, but that's not how life works. Obviously, adversity hits always at some point. Ours hit early on in the season. We've just got to keep fighting through it, sticking together, and the cream will always rise to the top.
"I think we just keep working, keep building, keep trusting one another each and every day. It's not gonna rain forever."
Marcus Morris added: "We're never going to give up, no matter how many games we lose. It's not gonna be, we're just packing it in. I don't think that's ever gonna happen."
