Knicks turning glaring third-quarter weakness into Mike Brown strength

Whatever Mike Brown is saying at halftime, the impact has been profound.

The Knicks have completely dominated third quarters amid their current four-game winning streak.

In those four games, the Knicks had a net rating of 57.5 points in third quarters, by far the best in the NBA.

The next closest was the Cavaliers, with a net rating of 40.7 points.

It’s where the Knicks have completely taken control of games and pulled away.

“I think we’re growing as a team. It was definitely a problem for us last year, third quarters, especially the playoffs, [they] were not our friend,” Jalen Brunson said after the Knicks’ 134-98 win over the Nets on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. “So we’re trying to address it as best we can. It starts with the little things.”

Third quarters were a glaring problem during the postseason last year, with a minus-6.1 net rating in the frame.

They were a recurring weakness, consistently causing the Knicks to fall behind and require big fourth-quarter comebacks.

But now, third quarters represent an early sign of improvement under their new coach, Brown.

During the first four games of the year, the Knicks lost every single third quarter.

It was particularly bad in a 121-111 loss in Milwaukee, when they entered halftime up by 12 points but were subsequently outscored by 15 in the third quarter.

But since then, the Knicks have won five straight third quarters (the first came in a loss to the Bulls in Chicago).

They’ve gone like this:

• at the Bulls: 38-28 (135-125 loss)
• vs. the Bulls: 37-29 (128-116 win)
• vs. the Wizards: 41-24 (119-102 win)
• vs. the Timberwolves: 40-28 (137-114 win)
• vs. the Nets: 35-17 (134-98 win)

Even with the first four games, the Knicks have a net rating of 14.3 points in third quarters for the season — entering Monday, that was sixth best in the NBA.

It is their best quarter — with net ratings of 8.2 in the first quarter, 13.5 in the second quarter and 0.8 in the fourth quarter.

The huge third quarters have given them a comfortable cushion for those less impressive fourth quarters.

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“If you want to be great in life you’ve got to find a way to be consistent,” Brown said. “Be consistent. That’s the biggest thing. That’s what we’re preaching and talking about. All we did was just address our third quarters. ‘Hey, whatever we’ve got to do to come out, be locked in, let’s do it.’ ”

The Nets actually outscored the Knicks by three points in the second quarter on Sunday, but the Knicks responded by outscoring them by 18 points in the third quarter.

The Nets only scored 17 points in the third quarter after erupting for 40 in the second, much of it from Michael Porter Jr.

That lax defense completely flipped right after halftime.

“We addressed it,” Brown said. “Our team, led by OG [Anunoby], because that was his matchup, we did a good job coming out and trying to be more conscious and aware of where he was on the floor. And he ended up with three points in the second half. … I didn’t feel that we played great defense in the first half, especially with them scoring 40 points in the second quarter. And our guys did a great job of tightening it up.”

“Feel like it was one of the games where we came out and played good defense,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “We had a lull in the second quarter, but we did a good job in the third quarter making adjustments and doing what needed to be done to win.”

Brown believes the biggest catalyst in the third-quarter turnaround is his improvement with rotations.

“I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t know when to put Josh [Hart] in, when to take him out,” Brown said. “I didn’t know when to put Mitch [Robinson] in, when to take him out. I was still figuring out our rotations and how we’re going to play and all that other stuff. So we just need time.”

Actually, it didn’t take much time at all.

The growth is already evident.