Knicks Get Torched by a Familiar Face in Clippers Loss

The New York Knicks really could have used a win to kick off the second week of March. They still have an overwhelmingly-positive record from just about any relatively-recent pool of games someone could pull through, but they dropped an embarrassing defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers far from home over the weekend and had to continue embarking upon their west coast road trip the very next night against the Clippers.

Just as how Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves had their way with the Knicks in front of their home crowd, Kawhi Leonard owned his own turn in hosting New York. But he wasn't without help, and the Knicks were plenty familiar with his supplementary Clipper of choice.

They've enjoyed plenty of duels against Bennedict Mathurin in the past, with the majority of the sample size between player and team arriving during his days as an Indiana Pacer. And while his 28-point outing in the 126-118 win wasn't abnormal considering the statistical ascendance he's enjoyed since getting traded cross-country, he's been savoring his Knicks matchups for a long time.

The career-16.2 point per game scorer has never had an issue getting his shots off as a bench helper, and that's in no way impeded him from coming face-to-face with a proven contender and posting over 20 points per outing over 11 career showdowns. And the way he deconstructed the Knicks wasn't unfamiliar, either- his athleticism was just too much for anyone outside of the team's designated wing defenders to handle, and his scoring hunger took over whenever any point-of-attack deterrents made any mistakes over the course of the evening.

Mar 9, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Bennedict Mathurin (9) moves to the basket against New York Knicks forward Mohamed Diawara (51) during the second half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

How Should the Knicks React?

On the surface, the Mathurin explosion is just enough instance in which the Knicks collapse to the Pacers gene. The young guard may not have been active when Indiana got the better of New York in the 2024 playoffs, but he certainly made his mark on the Pacers' Eastern Conference Finals demolition, totaling 43 points between Games 4 and 5 of that six-game series.

But the approach with which he stung the Knicks made for something to remember. New York knew it would be in for a tough one without Mitchell Robinson, too brittle to consistently surface in back-to-backs, and that lack of a meaningful anchor took the punch out of their willingness to give the baseline to corner-sitting scorers.

Karl-Anthony Towns isn't nearly as fleet of foot or instinctive on that end of the floor as Robinson, and when all his perimeter defenders chose to stay at home on their respective assignments, it was Mathurin alone with just one man to beat more often than game-planners would likely prefer. And with third-string big man Ariel Hukporti not nearly the drop defender that the Knicks needed, less-athletic top-of-the-key defenders stood little chance against Mathurin's foul-drawing capabilities. Landry Shamet's stopping has been highlighted all year long, but this sort of assignment may just be where he's physically priced out.

This was a tough two-day stretch for the Knicks team that can't seem to steal that big win to prove the doubters wrong. And as easy as it would be to put this one aside in looking ahead to the voyage home, consider this another reminder of how flimsy execution gets for this team when they're not firing on all cylinders or fully healthy.

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