HOUSTON — The Knicks needed a closer, and Jalen Brunson didn’t come through.
Trailing by three with 2:16 remaining, Brunson missed shots on three possessions and committed a turnover as the Knicks offense sputtered Monday in a 109-97 loss to the Rockets.
Brunson played 42 minutes because of a thin bench, and tired legs might’ve been a factor down the stretch as he scored just four points in the fourth quarter.
“He wanted to go. He’s in great shape,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “You’re not going to make every shot. So take your shots.”
The Rockets (4-3) finished the game on an 11-2 run, with center Alperen Sengun dropping 25 points total and Jalen Green knocking down the dagger trey over Brunson with 58 seconds left.
“We missed shots. We didn’t get stops,” Brunson said. “We weren’t together on the defensive side. So, let one slip away.”
Houston’s defense entered Monday as the NBA’s stingiest in terms of 3-point attempts allowed, and the Knicks threw up just 28 treys — about five below their average.
Ime Udoka’s squad was also physical with Brunson, who last season was screwed on a phantom foul call at Toyota Center that decided a Rockets victory. This time, Brunson was knocked around on his drives, shadowed and, at times in the first half, clearly wasn’t happy with the officiating while taking nine total foul shots.
He finished with 29 points on 9 of 24 shooting. Thibodeau was peeved by the officiating, particularly a foul on Josh Hart as he tried to retrieve a rebound with 2:45 remaining.
“The whistle didn’t go our way and you got to play through that, get past that, and find a way to win in the end,” Thibodeau said.
The Knicks needed Brunson’s offense because there wasn’t much help from Miles McBride (zero points, 0-for-9), Mikal Bridges (15 points in 40 minutes on 6 of 14 shooting) and Karl-Anthony Towns (17 points, 7 of 17 from the field).
Thibodeau preached ball movement before tip-off, and the offense managed its lowest point total of the season. Houston’s ability to switch on defense proved difficult for the Knicks (3-3), whose two-game winning streak was snapped.
“We need to be better with our switching offense,” Brunson said. “That’s just plain and simple. We need to be better.”
The Rockets started with Dillon Brooks, among the peskiest and feistiest of NBA defenders, guarding the 7-foot Towns.
Despite the size disadvantage (Brooks is just 6-foot-6), the strategy worked well for the home team. Towns was flustered early, unable to get by Brooks on the perimeter or move him in the post. Towns also battled foul problems, picking up his fourth early in the third quarter. But that’s also when he started working the paint with more authority while setting a season high with 19 rebounds.
“We’ve seen that before. KAT can play in, he can play out,” Thibodeau said of Brooks defending Towns. “So that shouldn’t — it’s part of the league. With the amount of switching, you see that stuff all the time.”
On the other side, the Knicks had problems dealing with Sengun, who scored 25 points while missing just four of his 15 shots and grabbing 14 boards.
“He’s so crafty, multiple fakes, great touch and can play away from the basket, deceptive, changes speeds and knows how to create space to get a shot off,” Thibodeau said. “So you have to be disciplined, stay down, be the second jumper, and then we have to be active with our reads in terms of our help.”
The Knicks had two days of rest following Friday’s blowout victory over the Pistons but started slowly, appearing startled by the physicality and an inconsistent whistle from the referees. They trailed by 15 in the second quarter but ended the half with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to five at the break.
OG Anunoby was the first-half savior with 16 points on 5 of 7 shooting with five rebounds. He was 4 of 4 from deep in those first two quarters but managed just five points in the second half when the Knicks couldn’t finish.
“We can’t say shots weren’t falling and that’s why we lost,” Brunson said. “We need to be able to win games when shots aren’t falling. And I think we thought we fought a good amount, just not enough.”
