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It was one of the first issues that Mike Brown mentioned.
He had plenty to dissect after a 98-93 loss to the 76ers in Philadelphia, but the head coach was frustrated by the Knicks allowing 26 points in the paint during the first half of their loss — and brought it up, along with turnovers, to reporters following the game. The Knicks, by comparison, managed just 14. And while they responded in the second half and limited the 76ers to just 10 points in the paint across the final 24 minutes, their early lapses contributed to an early deficit that haunted them throughout their loss to open NBA Cup play.
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“They were getting in our paint left and right, right and left, and it was really, really easy doing it,” Brown said. “… If it’s a post-up game or something like that, OK, maybe, I don’t know. But to continue to have that ball driven in the paint, especially in the first half when they shot 5 of 17 or whatever it is from the 3-point line, was not good.”
Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers handles the ball against the New York Knicks on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. NBAE via Getty Images
This was new for the Knicks. Even after Friday, they were still only allowing 39.3 points per game in the paint, which ranked second in the NBA and trailed just the Celtics (38.0) for the league’s best mark. But Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with eight points in the paint during the first half, while LeBron James and VJ Edgecombe both added six.
Less than two minutes into the game, James cut behind OG Anunoby, collected a pass from Joel Embiid and finished a layup. Early in the second quarter, when the Knicks had some reserves in, too, ball movement allowed Maxey to get the ball on the wing, and a pump fake allowed him to drive past Landry Shamet and finish a dunk.
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“It’s not just one thing,” Brown said, when asked about pick-and-roll communication leading to paint defense issues. “It’s a little thing here, little thing there, little thing there, and that’s why it adds up. We’re competitive when we need to be, and that’s why all our games that we’re in, we have a chance down…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/paint-defense-suddenly-major-issue-020113589.html
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Publish date : 2026-11-01 02:01:00
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