David Fizdale — and a roughly 117½-hour break between preseason games — won’t allow the Knicks to turn the page yet.
Two days after suffering a 115-99 preseason home loss to the Wizards, Fizdale put his players through a lengthy film session, which included about 75 defensive clips.
“We just had to own it,” Fizdale said following Sunday’s practice. “We had no focus. We let our foot off the gas with about three minutes to go in the first quarter. Our focus on the details and our urgency just went out the window. We watched. We owned it.
“There was not much good to watch. We coached it and they owned up to it.”
After beating Washington, 104-99, earlier in the week, the Knicks allowed the Wizards to hit 19 3-pointers, shoot over 46 percent behind the arc and reel off a 31-6 run.
“That first game it was kind of like, ‘Oh, we’ve got this.’ And we don’t have it,” Fizdale said. “We’re very far away from being the team we can be, and we don’t have that luxury to be the type of team to exhale. I think they understand that now.”
The chemistry among the numerous new pieces wasn’t the biggest issue.
“It’s just about energy and effort,” Dennis Smith Jr. said. “You know the next guy is gonna come out swinging for you, that gives you reason to come out swinging. That’s what it’s all about.
“We came out, got after it [today]. We didn’t like our performance last game. We came out and it was all about energy and effort today.”
Damyean Dotson (right shoulder) was a full participant in Sunday’s practice, and could return this week after initially being ruled out of the entire preseason, following offseason surgery.
“Dot’s making progress,” Fizdale said. “We didn’t expect him back as soon, but he’s starting to show signs that he may get back sooner than I thought.”
Kevin Knox (strained right calf) was a limited participant in Sunday’s practice, along with Kadeem Allen (strained right foot). Reggie Bullock (cervical disc), Kenny Wooten (ankle) and Amir Hinton (groin) did not practice.