NEW YORK – Is it too late for a New Year’s resolution? Not for the New York Knicks, who defeated the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night with an ostensibly recharged defense. Instead of starting a healthy Mitchell Robinson, head coach Mike Brown gave Miles “Deuce” McBride the nod. The result was a 123-111 win, ending the team’s four-game losing streak.
While MVP candidate Jalen Brunson led the scoring efforts with 26 points, McBride was the spark that lit the fuse. The fifth-year guard made four first-half 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. The coaching staff deemed him the “Defensive Player of the Game,” the team's lighthearted honor awarded after wins. Asked about McBride’s impact, the coach pointed to the Clippers’ defensive choices.
“He has to be guarded,” Brown said of the 45.3% 3-point shooter this season. “During the course of the game, they had Kawhi on him. Who would've thunk it if OG and Mikal and some of these other guys are on the floor, Kawhi is matched up with Deuce?”
While Brown first noted that he started McBride because his shooting “gets everybody space,” the coach's highest praise was for the 25-year-old's defense.
“Defensively, like you said,” Brown told ClutchPoints postgame, “he's an extremely good on-ball defender. Especially when it comes to the pick-and-roll game. He's strong, he's powerful, he's quick, he's athletic, and he's a little longer than what you think.” The coach reiterated that McBride's “fantastic” technique when guarding pick-and-rolls nullifies its advantages.
Brown was noncommittal when asked if the lineup change was permanent, noting that the matchup against the Clippers played a factor. He also said that it wasn't entirely dependent on their opponent.
Brown's lineup change shifts onus to Knicks players amid slump
Before the lineup change was made public, Brown subtly signaled that something was coming. Asked pregame about how the team actually addresses its consistent struggles with physicality, the coach pointed to two factors outside of their preparation in practice.
“This is where I got to continue to find ways to help them…we're trying different things to help them with that. But at the end of the day, too, when teams are up in you, sometimes you just got to snap-drive and go right through them and touch that paint,” Brown said while demonstrating a drive and layup with his hands.
“If there are two or three guys that collapse, you got to play off of two [feet], and you got to spray it. So there's not anything magical, you know?” the coach added. Inserting McBride into the starting lineup was seemingly Brown finding a way to help his players.
For the Knicks themselves, their head coach says their “aggression definitely has to be up.” That didn't happen in December, when the team's 46.5 drives per game were 16th in the NBA. That was a step back from November, when they averaged the eighth-most drives with 52.5 per game.
To start 2026, they're back to averaging 52.5 drives after recording 51 against the Clippers. It's a small sample size, but indicative of the Knicks' awareness of their coach's philosophy. Clarity on whether they'll continue to execute it, and whether McBride will continue to start will come on their upcoming road trip.
