NEW YORK — The insult came quickly, a double-digit deficit taking just minutes to pile up with Kristaps Porzingis doing much of the damage shortly after the Madison Square Garden crowd had greeted the former Knicks star with resounding and loud boos during introductions. The injury came shortly after as Mitchell Robinson suffered a sprained right thumb which could portend trouble for the Knicks beyond the disappointment of this night.
Just as Robinson was done for the night, so too were the Knicks, never able to overcome the early struggles as the Washington Wizards led wire-to-wire in a 116-105 defeat. With the loss, the Knicks continue their strange homecourt struggles, falling to 11-13 at the Garden after a pair of losses this week to teams trailing them in the standings. At least they head back on the road to face Atlanta and Toronto now.
“There’s a lot of good teams in the East but I’d say in general too, the whole league,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It seems like there's a lot of parity, there’s a lot of good teams. Anyone is capable of beating anyone on any given night. The scoring we’ve seen, it’s unique. Every night you have to be ready to go.”
