Mike Brown: All Star-less minutes did not cost Knicks Game 2 vs. Hawks

Knicks head coach Mike Brown said he’s comfortable using lineups with both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench and doesn’t think the All Star-less minutes cost his team in a 107-106 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference first round on Monday.

“I don’t think so,” Brown said at the podium after his Knicks coughed up a double-digit fourth quarter lead. “We’ve played that lineup quite a bit since the end of the season, and that lineup’s been pretty good.

“We weren’t good tonight.”

The Knicks built an 11-point first quarter lead that evaporated and became a one-point deficit four minutes into the second quarter when Brown sent Brunson and Towns to the bench in favor of a lineup featuring Mitchell Robinson, OG Anunoby, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Miles McBride.

They then built a 14-point lead in the third quarter before Brown sent his pair of All-Stars back to the bench at the top of the fourth. The Hawks cut the Knicks’ lead to nine by the time Brown turned back to his starters and kept the momentum rolling to outscore the Knicks 20-9 to end the fourth quarter.

“We turned the ball over a few too many times during that period, but we had opportunities where our starters ran and we were up eight to 10, and Atlanta closed it,” Brown continued. “So I wouldn’t say just that specific lineup caused [the Hawks’ comeback win.”

The Knicks were outscored by an average of 5.9 points per 100 possessions in the 290 minutes Brunson and Towns spent on the bench together all season versus plus-4.7 in the 1,314 minutes the All-Stars played alongside each this year. The Knicks were plus-32 in the 167 minutes spent with Towns and Brunson off the floor from March 1 through the end of the regular season, but the March slate featured a notoriously light stretch of games against tanking opponents for a seven-game Knicks winning streak.