Knicks’ missed free throws, rebounds add up in disappointing loss

In the final minutes of Monday afternoon’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday game, the Knicks couldn’t nail down the basics.

After holding an 11-point lead that looked like it would give the Knicks their fifth-straight homecourt win at the Garden, the game slipped through their fingers thanks to missed foul shots and rebounds in a 98-94 loss to the Magic.

Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo both got to the foul line after attacking the paint, effectively drawing fouls to give a little something to the struggling endgame offense.

Both missed their shots at the charity stripe.

“Stagnant,” Randle said when describing the Knicks’ fourth quarter offense, “Way too stagnant.”

Additionally, the Magic had at least three players crashing the boards on each possession.

Orlando outrebounded the Knicks, 46-41, including a 33-28 edge in defensive rebounds.

Goga Bitadze led the Magic with 11 boards.

“End of the third, start of the fourth,” head coach Tom Thibodeau answered when asked where the game started to get away. “I thought their bench came in and hurt us. Dribble penetration, the rebounding was a problem in the fourth. Missed free throws.

“It was a choppy game because of the foul trouble early. I want to look at the film. And take a look at it. We were up five going into the fourth. They’re a good defensive team. We got to trust the pass. I thought we missed some open shots that we got to make. The rebounding was a problem. They got timely rebounds. [Wendell] Carter came in, he hurt us. [Cole] Anthony hurt us. [Chuma] Okeke hurt us with the 3. We should’ve been in position to win the game. And then offensively, we got to do better.”

The Knicks are currently ranked fifth in the league in rebounds, averaging 45.8 per game, ahead of the Magic at 13th (43.9).

The Knicks also sit 19th in free throw percentage (77.6).

“We talk about it a lot, just making sure our guards are taken care of,” Miles McBride told The Post of the team’s defense and struggle with rebounds. “You know those long rebounds, teams that shoot 3s, or they were dribble driving and really attacking the rim and that was getting us out of place because we had to help. We just needed to lock in on that defensively. I thought we made a lot of good plays. We had some good communication out there, but we didn’t do enough to get the win.”