DETROIT — It only took three regular-season games for Tom Thibodeau to pinpoint the issue. The Knicks, who had just completed training camp and a preseason slate after trading five draft picks for Mikal Bridges, then shipping Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns, blew a 13-points lead in a six-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I thought the defense was good,” Thibodeau said on Oct. 28. “But you’ve got to strive to be a 48-minute team, and we’re nowhere near that.”
Eighty-six games later, the Knicks are singing the same-old song.