Good afternoon and welcome to Locked on NBA Daily on today's show. The Knicks are in a rut.

Do they need to make a trade to turn their season around? Meanwhile, the Timberwolves have been

the NBA's best team in 2026 and Jalen Brown says the Celtics aren't getting a fair shake.

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However, you're tuning in on YouTube or on your podcast app, thanks making us your first listen every day I'm West Goldberg today we're talking about what's wrong with the Knicks and then we've got another round of make it take it because it's Thursday we're doing it with the help of lockdown's local experts I've two of the best with me as always from the Lockdown Nuggets podcast in your NBA writer for the Action Network. It's it's Matt more Matt I am currently in the midst of trying to figure out 7,000 ways for the Denver

nuggets to be able to keep Peyton Watson under the current CBA so that's like I really didn't

I was told there would be no math and I'm very upset about it fun with numbers from the lockdown

Bulls podcast these are bears and Bulls creator for bleach report it's Hayes I'm very upset about it. Fun with numbers. From the Lockdown Bulls podcast, these are Bears and Bulls creator for Bleacher Report. It's Hayes. I'm two days away from either having one of the greatest moments of my life or being pissed off all next week. So we'll see how that goes on Sunday for the Bears. Who they playing? Rams. Go Bears. Los Angeles doesn't need anything else um all right let's jump in the

nicks lost to the kings last night jalen brunson turned his ankle in the first quarter did not

return good news for them is that uh it doesn't sound as serious according to reporters after the game

as it looked on the broadcast when it happened but uh overall the nicks have have lost six of the last eight games. They are still second in the Eastern Conference. They're four games back of the Pistons in first. But they are just a half game up on the Celtics. So like I said, been a rough stretch, lost six of the last eight, Matt. What do you make of this stretch for the Knicks? And why have they struggled? So it comes after them with the winning of the cup, which is interesting. What that makes for that fun narrative for them to kind of talk about. To be honest with you, I feel like that we saw this last year. I feel like we're just repeating last year. Brunson goes down last night, by the way, with an ankle injury and then is in a walking boot afterwards. What do you want to bet that over the next like month and a half, the defense gets a lot better and they pull off some surprising wins and then he comes back and they surge into the playoff. I feel like this is just last year all over again. Like this is what happened. The big problem for them is just honestly that like their defense is simply not good enough. It has not been good enough. It, but the offense is also tailed off. By the way, in the last two weeks, they are 27th in defensive rating, but the offense also hasn't been there either. I'm of the opinion. They probably need to reconfigure this team on a larger level because of other reasons,

but I don't think they should overreact just because they've had a few bad weeks since the Cup. Yeah, they're in the Eastern Conference. Like, they don't, like, if they want to make a strategic trade, cool. I don't think they need to make some big dramatic trade here at the trade deadline. They just need to get something that for some of their players that could add some depth or some something that they're lacking.

But I wouldn't overreact to it.

There'll be,

they'll be fine in the long run. Jalen Brunson is going to be absolutely fine. They'll be okay. If you look at the numbers, the defense is the thing that sticks out, right? I mean, Matt had it, like they've been one of the worst defenses in the league over this last stretch, but usually, like, they haven't been an elite defense in general. They haven't been this bad, but they haven't been an elite. It's been the offense that has carried them. And in the games where they're losing, Carl Anthony Towns has really struggled, and he's sort of become the bellwether for them, right? Like, they lose against the Kings last night. He has 13 points on 14 shots. A couple nights ago in Phoenix,

it's 15 points on 11 shots where the efficiency just isn't there for him. Matt, you hinted at something maybe at a larger scale. Is this what you were looking at? Yeah. I mean, I just, I've always kind of held out that I don't think that they can put together a good enough defense with Brunson and Kat.

And the data kind of backs it up. Like the numbers all kind of say like, hey, you can have a good defense with Brunson and four wing to great wing defenders.

Or you can have a good defense with cat with three great wing defenders, but you can't have it with Bronson and Kat together.

Because you're just, you can't switch there there and you eventually wind up, even if you switch one four, they wind up putting you into dynamics that are going to involve those two guys. And it's just too easy for them to target. And even if it's not directly involving those two guys, you're able to then be like, oh, well, then your other guy, you know, know cat fell asleep on the weak side and he was able to cut in once the containment broke down and all these types of problems i think though like when you're really kind of look at it look they're 25th of since january an effective field goal percentage that doesn't sound with the nicks like some of this is just like they're just having a bad stretch they just can't react to it like they're just shooting badly right now and i mean they

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