Knicks squandering plenty of chances on home court in January: ‘Gotta be better’

The Knicks viewed January as an opportunity to beef up their overall record with a stretch of 12 out of 14 games slated to be played at home, but the Garden has been anything but a party so far for Tom Thibodeau’s team this month.

The Knicks suddenly own a slightly better record this season on the road (14-8) than they’ve managed on their home court (13-8) through Friday night’s defensively challenged loss to the Timberwolves.

Of course, Karl-Anthony Towns has sat out the past two games with a thumb injury, but the Knicks suddenly have dropped four of their past six at MSG to open this pivotal schedule segment, with the only wins coming against the Raptors and the Bucks.

The Knicks are 4-6 in January overall after posting a 14-2 mark in the month one year ago, coinciding with the arrival of OG Anunoby on Dec. 30 in a trade from Toronto.

They have lost twice in January to the West-leading Thunder, plus single defeats to the Bulls, Pistons, Magic and Timberwolves with nemesis Trae Young and the Hawks coming to the Garden on Monday for an MLK Day matinee.

Young infamously mimicked rolling dice on the Knicks’ midcourt logo following a victory during Atlanta’s previous visit in December.

“It’s just the way the schedule goes and at the end, you play 41 at home, 41 away,” Thibodeau said Friday. “We’ve had a long stretch now where we haven’t had any breaks, but we’ve got a bunch of breaks coming up. But just lock in every day and that’s what we try to do.

“This time of year practice is important, but you have periods in your schedule where it’s dense and you’re traveling. You have to maximize all the time that you do have. Whether it’s a ballroom walk-through or a film session, team meeting, whatever it may be. You go into the season with that understanding. There’s going to be ebbs and flows to the season, the schedule, and how we manage it is important.”

Of course, the Knicks finished the 2022-23 campaign with one more road win (24-17) than they registered at home (23-18) then upended the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs for their first postseason advancement since 2012-13.

They also won more games on the road the previous year, meaning this could be the third time in Thibodeau’s first five seasons as Knicks coach in which that has been the case.

They have chalked it up in the past to the notion that opposing teams always draw extra motivation for games at the World’s Most Famous Arena, with several star players referring to it as the “Mecca” of basketball.