Knicks plagued by turnovers for second straight…
LOS ANGELES — A day earlier, coach Mike Brown made an impassioned plea to his gamers about taking care of the ball.
As he put it, control the controllables.
They didn’t pay attention.
Jalen Brunson reacts during the Knicks-Clippers recreation on March 9, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images
The Knicks dedicated 20 turnovers in a second consecutive slopfest in L.A., this time falling 126-118 to the Clippers on Monday night time at the Intuit Dome. The defeat felt sealed, appropriately, with consecutive Knicks turnovers in the ultimate 3:05 — one by Jalen Brunson, the other by Landry Shamet.
But the Knicks still held hope until Shamet and OG Anunoby missed contested 3-pointers in the ultimate 25 seconds.
So the Knicks (41-25), who allowed 24 factors off turnovers, left Southern California with consecutive defeats. It wasted a uncommon high-scoring efficiency from Karl-Anthony Towns, who dropped 33 factors on 12-for-16 taking pictures. It was the first time he scored 30-plus factors since December.
But the Knicks couldn’t overcome the turnovers. Anunoby was the sloppiest with 4 of them. Brunson, Towns and Josh Hart all had three.
On Sunday in an ugly loss to the Lakers, the Knicks dedicated 18 turnovers, which prompted Brown to record that as a main issue alongside fouling an excessive amount of and poor rebounding.
His staff was actually better at rebounding Monday. They have been barely better at avoiding silly fouls. They have been worse at turnovers.
Karl-Anthony Towns drives during the Knicks-Clippers recreation on March 9, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via GWN Connect
Mikal Bridges, who went scoreless in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers, didn’t hit a shot until halfway through the second quarter against the Clippers. He completed with seven factors in 26 minutes and was benched for crunch time. His backup at the two-guard, Shamet, endured a brickfest while lacking his first eight 3-pointers. Shamet closed over Bridges and completed with 9 factors on 3-for-12 taking pictures, with all makes an attempt from past the arc.
Brunson, meanwhile, arrived in a deep taking pictures droop and shortly righted the ship Monday. He scored 13 in the first quarter with three assists and two rebounds.
“He’s human and he’s going to have some nights [when he struggles to shoot],” Brown said. “His track record shows that he can go get it done. It’s not anything I’m concerned about or I’m looking at. And like I said, when he does have nights like that, how else can you impact the game, and he’s shown that he can do that.”
Brunson was cooking in the first quarter. Then Towns took over the offense.
The middle feasted on the slower Brook Lopez, who had issue defending Towns last season with the Bucks, as effectively.
Towns completed the first half with 21 factors — including 17 in the second quarter — but New York’s protection underwhelmed, and the Knicks went into the break with a nine-point deficit.
Kawhi Leonard dunks during the Clippers-Knicks recreation on March 9, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images
It was the first time since Dec. 27 that both Brunson and Towns had at least 25 factors in the same recreation.
“They’ve stepped up and done different things at different times. They both can score, but what I like especially as of late, great players have a way of impacting the game on both ends of the floor,” Brown said before Monday’s clunker. “They’re both trying to do that in a lot of different ways. There may be nights where KAT is not scoring, but man he’s rebounding.”
On Monday, the pair have been in sync scoring but it didn’t matter.
The good news for Knicks followers is the schedule eases up significantly. They face horrible groups in six of their next seven video games, including Wednesday at Utah and Friday at Indiana.
It’s a likelihood to regroup after their poor back-to-back turnover-fests in La-La land.
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