The New York Knicks surprisingly lost to the Detroit Pistons 120-111. The Knicks were completely flat last night and let a young Pistons team take them out. Mikal Bridges spoke about the performance after last night’s game and criticized the entire team for their lackluster defense, not just against the Pistons, but all season.
“Not good, not good. I think we pick and choose when. And we’re not that good where we can pick and choose when we want to play defense. I don’t think there’s a team that good where they pick and choose when they want to play defense. It starts with me, we just have to be more vocal and lead by example. That’s all of us.”
Despite his comments, Bridges had some solid numbers last night. He had 20 points (8-17 FG), three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. He was one of the Knicks’ best defenders last night, along with OG Anunoby, who had four steals and two blocks.
The Knicks have not been a great defensive team this year, with a defensive rating of 114.1, which ranks 18th in the NBA. As a team, the Knicks are averaging 7.3 steals per game, which is 25th out of all 30 teams in the NBA. As for blocks per game, they are averaging 4.2 per game, which is 27th in the NBA.