The Knicks got a late start to their offseason training, and head coach Mike Brown’s solution is a heavier dose of preseason minutes.
The regular starters played about 20 minutes apiece in Thursday’s 111-109 loss to the Wizards, as podcast partners Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart led the way with 13 points each.
It followed their participation in Monday’s exhibition — a loss to the 76ers — and it sounds like Brown’s plan is to play his top players in two of the final three preseason games.
Other teams are more cautious about using their starters in preseason. But Brown said the Knicks are playing catch-up after winning the championship.
“If you think about it, we played a long time last year, and our summer was short. So the guys needed to get away from the game. They needed to go fill their cup, however that may be,” Brown said. “And so our demands weren’t the same as other teams. Going around the league and talking to other teams since they’ve come back, some of them have been working since July and August in terms of training camps here and overseas camps and in [Los Angeles] and Miami and voluntary camps and back in the home gym.
“We encouraged our guys to get back at the end of September, but it wasn’t mandatory. We didn’t really push hard for our vets to come back. I told them to fill, whatever they wanted to do, and take some time and when you’re ready to come back, come back.”
Brunson finished 6-for-12 from the field Thursday but missed five of his six 3-point attempts. He added three assists.
Hart was efficient while attacking the cup and shooting 5 of 8.
Mikal Bridges (two points, 1-for-6 shooting, 20 minutes) and Karl-Anthony Towns (eight points, 2-of-7 shooting, three turnovers) struggled.
Andre Drummond highlighted the bench’s play with nine rebounds in 20 minutes, including five offensive.
James Wiseman helped his case for the final roster spot with a solid nine minutes.
For a second straight year, all the Knicks passed the conditioning test. While the coach doesn’t know the exact parameters of the test — “if they pass, they’re good to go. That’s all I’m worried about” — Brown has established punishment for failing.
“They will not practice until they pass it,” he said.
So what do they do?
“That’s up to them and the performance team. But I know I will not allow them back in practice until they pass it.”
