Knicks coach Mike Brown criticized his team’s free throw disparity after a 115-107 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, calling Jalen Brunson‘s lack of attempts “alarming.” Brunson played 34 minutes and did not attempt a free throw against the Cavaliers, despite entering the night averaging a career-high 7.8 attempts per game.
The loss ended New York’s four-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden. Brown said he was surprised by the whistle.
“I’m a little surprised,” Brown said. “I have to go back and watch the film, but Jalen plays 34 minutes and has zero free throw attempts. That’s pretty alarming.”
Free throw disparity
Cleveland made 20 of 25 free throws, while New York went 11-of-11 from the line. Brown said he did not understand the imbalance.
“I’m not sure how or why it’s that way,” Brown said. “I know [at] one time the free throw advantage was 18-3. That’s not why we lost the game, but you just hope to get a little bit better whistle when you’re playing a good team because it’s already hard enough to go win the game.”
Brunson, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, scored 27 points on 12-of-23 shooting. That performance followed a 7-of-18 night from the field against the Milwaukee Bucks a night earlier. Brown still wanted more from his star, particularly when compared with Cleveland guard James Harden, who made 9 of 11 free throws on his way to a season-high 32 points.
Brunson declined to focus on the officiating after the game.
“I’ll have to control what I can control, and I’ll leave it at that,” he said. “Sometimes you have to make adjustments, no matter how the game is being officiated or not. Being able to adjust in-game is part of not just playing basketball but playing sports.”
Bridges and Hart
Josh Hart returned after a three-game absence due to a right ankle injury and illness, but he scored only six points. Mikal Bridges struggled again and played just 17 minutes, none of them in the final quarter. He had played only four minutes in the second half of the blowout win over the Bucks the night before.
Brown credited the play of Landry Shamet and Miles McBride, who combined to go 7-for-14 from three-point range, for limiting Bridges’ minutes against Cleveland. Bridges entered the game averaging 6.3 points on 32.9% shooting, including 26.5% from beyond the arc.
Brown said that moving Bridges out of the starting lineup would be a “panic decision.”
“It’s going to be hard to find minutes at times for Mikal and Josh because those two are playing at a high level,” he said. “He’s like a lot of players, had their good moments and not-so-good moments. Mikal has a track record of playing at a high level.”