Mike Woodson has said that the New York Knicks were "a step slow defensively" against the Charlotte Bobcats.
The team were beaten for the first time in six outings on their trip to Charlotte, losing 108-98.
The head coach told reporters: "I'm not using that as an excuse but we were a step slow defensively in terms of our rotations. We scored enough points. 98 points is more than enough points. This team averages 93 points and we gave up 108 points so our defense was non-existent. You just can't do that, especially on the road.
"We haven't been hitting the bigs. We're letting our bigs play guys one-on-one and [Al Jefferson] got going and by the time we started to double team, he had already felt good about his game and that didn't even help either.
"I'm not gonna even comment on [benched guard] JR [Smith], on that. I just didn't play him tonight. I didn't play him."
The Knicks face the Indiana Pacers tomorrow.
Sian Cowper
