Knicks join Pacers in the NBA's most shameful road start

Joseph Kallan

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Knicks join Pacers in the NBA's most shameful road start image

The New York Knicks lost 115-113 to the Miami Heat on Monday night in a game that came down to the last second and featured absolute madness.

Unfortunately, New York failed to capture its first win on the road, making it, along with the 1-13 Indiana Pacers, the only two teams league-wide still winless away from home.

If you’re a Knicks fan, this is not the category you want an 8-5 team with championship aspirations to fall under. Now, if you’re an Indiana Pacers fan, you have a bit more leeway given the circumstances.

Almost half of their main roster has been injured, including key players like Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell. That doesn’t even include Tyrese Haliburton, who will miss the entire season — a blow that all but derails their competitiveness night in and night out.

This isn’t to take anything away from the Knicks. They were without both Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby on Monday night, leaving Karl-Anthony Towns and head coach Mike Brown to get creative in their offensive approach. In their first two road losses, they were also without Mitchell Robinson, a critical piece in their rebounding identity.

Despite New York winning seven of its last eight home games to open the season, this team still needs to find its identity when playing outside of Madison Square Garden. Letting the pressure of the road get to players has long been a deciding factor across the NBA, separating contenders from pretenders.

Right now, it’s still too early to make long-term assumptions about most teams (unless you’re the Brooklyn Nets or Washington Wizards). The Knicks are simply working through the kinks: drawing up better sets to stop scoring droughts, executing late-game actions for role players and establishing continuity in their rotation. But something has to give.

Two of New York’s road losses have come at the hands of Miami, which could prove detrimental if these two match up in a postseason series. For now, the Knicks have four more games on the road before returning to Madison Square Garden.

Whether they can squeeze out a win is something only time will tell.

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Editorial Team