The Knicks already had posted several impressive wins this season against some of the NBA’s expected top teams, including Milwaukee, Utah and Boston.
A toe-to-toe victory Sunday would have rocked a full Garden from its foundation to the rafters, but the Knicks ran out of steam inside their empty home arena and their league-leading defense couldn’t stop Los Angeles’ stars in a mostly entertaining 129-115 loss to the high-rolling Clippers.
“They put a lot of pressure on you,” Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “We work, but they put tremendous pressure on you. They also, to their credit, and there’s a reason why they have that record, they play very hard and they play very unselfishly.