Knicks’ Win Streak Comes To Abrupt End With Discouraging Loss To Hornets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Knicks faced their toughest test, by far, in two weeks.

And they ran out of the gym.

Their defense, ranked No. 1 in the NBA since Jan. 21, turned into a porous mess for much of an ugly 114-103 defeat to the Hornets. The Knicks allowed a younger and faster opponent to run rampant, and their seven straight wins entering Thursday felt like a paper streak when it ended Thursday with a thud.

Kon Knueppel, a real threat to snatch Rookie of the Year from Cooper Flagg, scored 25 points in 37 minutes for the Hornets, knocking down 6 of 10 3-pointers. Four of his teammates had at least 17 points as the Hornets shot 53 percent overall and 39 percent on treys.

But the Knicks’ biggest problems were threefold:

• They were killed by Charlotte’s pace, which started from the opening tip and never relented.
• They were killed by Charlotte’s pick-and-rolls.
•  They were killed on rebounds.

“They just kicked our behinds on the glass,” coach Mike Brown said. “We need more production on the glass than what we got from a handful of guys. If you’re going to go on the road and let a team outrebound you 43-24, it’s not even close because we didn’t put bodies on bodies. We didn’t hit first.”

The Knicks, meanwhile, got little offensively outside of Jalen Brunson, who had a spectacular first quarter but otherwise fizzled while finishing with 26 points and 13 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns logged just 22 minutes with eight shot attempts, scoring 13 points. The All-Star center wasn’t part of the closing lineup for a second consecutive game.

The Knicks trailed for the final three quarters and by as many as 21. It was worse than the final score.

“They played very well. They were physical,” Josh Hart said. “I just felt like we were a step slow. When another team is playing at that pace and with that physicality, it’s not going to be good day.”

Hart added the Hornets played as if “shot out of a cannon.”

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It’s totally different than what the Knicks witnessed in their previous matchup against the Hornets, way back in December.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” Brunson said. “From the outside looking in, it looks like they all bought in to playing a certain style and bought in to playing together. And they looked great.”

By the time the Knicks turned up the intensity late in the fourth quarter, it was too late. LaMelo Ball iced the game with two free throws to put the Hornets up by 12 with two minutes left, and Miles Bridges’ tomahawk jam in the final seconds was the final insult.

It was a discouraging start to a four-game road slate for the Knicks, with tougher games coming at Oklahoma City and Houston.

Before this, the Knicks feasted on lesser opponents — including a slew of tankers — having toppled seven straight teams currently with losing records.

The Hornets are trending in the opposite direction of tanking. They’re sharpshooting and surging, riding Knueppel and a revived Ball to a legitimate hope for the playoffs.

In fact, Thursday was the first time since 2001 that the Knicks and Hornets faced off this late in a season with both teams sporting above-.500 records. It’s also a potential first-round playoff matchup, depending on how the jumbled conference standings shake out over the final two-plus weeks.

The Knicks (48-26), who could’ve clinched a playoff spot with a win, now sit third in the East. The Hornets (39-34), winners of five straight, are tied with the Heat for eighth.

Charlotte certainly looked like the better team Thursday.

“Our pick-and-roll defense wasn’t good,” Brown said. “And part of the reason why it wasn’t good is because they set great physical screens. And we didn’t do a good job protecting one another in the pick-and-roll.”