New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t celebrating just because his team made it to the knockout round of the NBA Cup.
Thibodeau is keeping his focus on the upcoming game against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night, making sure the Knicks are prepared.
On Tuesday night, the Knicks finished a perfect 4-0 run in East Group A of the in-season tournament, beating the Orlando Magic 121-106. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points, and Jalen Brunson added 21, leading a balanced offense with six players in double figures.
As the No. 2 seed in the East quarterfinals of the Cup, New York will play the Atlanta Hawks next Wednesday, but Thibodeau isn’t focused on that just yet.
“I’m just worried about Charlotte,” Thibodeau said.
What has stood out to Thibodeau is the team’s ball movement. The Knicks recorded 30 assists in each of their last two games. They only had 20 assists when they beat Charlotte 99-98 last Friday.
“I love how unselfish we were,” Thibodeau said after the win on Tuesday. “I thought we made great reads. When we got into the paint, just making the extra pass, creating the right space and then cutting, which got us going downhill.
“When you do that, everyone finds rhythm, and you’re finding good shots. You’re creating good shots for each other. And that’s everyone working together.”
The Hornets, on the other hand, lost 110-104 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. This was their sixth straight loss, with five of those games being decided by six points or less.
Hornets coach Charles Lee is hoping his team can start faster on Thursday after falling behind by as much as 18 in the first half against Philadelphia.
“For most of those games (during the losing streak), we were in the lead or right there. I just didn’t think that from the jump we were ready to hoop (Tuesday),” Lee said. “I thought that Philadelphia’s physicality kind of took us out of our rhythm offensively. … In the second half, we did what we usually do.
“We competed a lot harder, we were a lot sharper and we gave ourselves a chance, but you have to be ready to play in the first half.”
Brandon Miller has been performing well during the Hornets’ losing streak, averaging 26.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists over the last six games. Charlotte has been relying on him since star guard LaMelo Ball got hurt with a calf strain, expected to keep him out for two weeks.
Vasilije Micic has been filling in for Ball and has been contributing 9.7 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game in his three starts.
The Hornets’ loss on Friday was their fifth straight to the Knicks. Charlotte hasn’t beaten New York since March 7, 2023.
