Knicks coach Mike Brown was not happy with the refs.
He spoke out against the free-throw discrepancy during the Knicks’ 115-107 loss to the Cavs Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks took just 11 compared to the Cavs’ 25. They had only one free throw midway through the third quarter.
And Jalen Brunson did not take a single free throw.
“Jalen plays 34 minutes or almost 35 minutes and he has zero free-throw attempts,” Brown said. “That’s pretty alarming. I’m not sure how or why it’s that way. I know at one time, the free throw advantage was 18-3. That’s not why we lost the game, but you just hope to get a little bit better whistle when you’re playing a good team like that, because it’s already hard enough to go win a game. That was part of the reason why we lost the possession game. … James Harden had a great game as well. James shot as many free throws as our whole team.”
It was the first time Brunson didn’t take a single free throw since Feb. 11 last year.
“I just gotta control what I can control,” Brunson said, “and keep it at that.”
Miles McBride was also peeved about one noncall during a key moment. With the Knicks trailing by five with 33.7 seconds left, he had a shot blocked by Peyton Watson.
“I thought it was a goaltend,” McBride said. “The guys behind the bench said that as well.”
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds — his 11th straight double-double to start the year.
It matched Willis Reed’s franchise record for the longest double-double streak to start a season, set in 1970-71.
Draft bust Rob Dillingham is expected to join the Knicks’ G League team, depending on the waiver process, according to The Stein Line.
Dillingham was the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft by the Timberwolves but was waived in the offseason.
