Tom Thibodeau on Knicks' Lackluster Performance vs. Magic: 'That's On Me'

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau put the blame on himself after his team lost to the Orlando Magic 104-98 at home on Wednesday.

"We're capable of playing a lot better than we did, we give them credit, they played well, they played hard, we didn't," Thibodeau said in part. "I have to do a better job getting them ready, that's on me, so we'll take a good, hard look at it."

Thibodeau specifically lamented the team's turnovers and rebounding effort. The Knicks committed 18 turnovers and lost the rebounding battle 51-45, with Orlando's Mo Bamba and Cole Anthony both getting double-doubles. Bamba had six of Orlando's 14 offensive boards.

The Magic ended up closing the game on a 9-2 run that included a Franz Wagner three-point play, a clutch Anthony two-pointer and a Wendell Carter Jr. alley-oop dunk that put Orlando up 102-96.

Defense has been the Knicks' biggest concern this year. New York finished third in defensive rating in 2020-21, per Basketball-Reference, but that fell to 18th before the Orlando loss.

The defensive effort was better on the whole Wednesday, although New York's sloppy offensive performance put the team in a bind.

The Knicks have now gone 3-6 in their last nine games to fall to 8-7. The Magic have improved to 4-11. Two of their wins have come against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.

New York will look to bounce back on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET against the Houston Rockets at home. Orlando will stay in town to play the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Friday at 7:30 p.m.