Brown offered a blunt assessment after his team's 31-point defeat to Detroit.
The New York Knicks came into Monday night's matchup against the Detroit Pistons riding a three-game losing streak and looking to right the ship against the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Instead, they left Little Caesars Arena with their worst loss of the season as the Pistons rolled to a dominant 121-90 victory that dropped the Knicks to 23-13 on the year.
After the game, head coach Mike Brown didn't sugarcoat what happened on the floor and instead offered a brutally honest take on his team's performance.
Mike Brown Calls Out Physicality Issues
"It's pretty simple: they just physically kicked our a**," Brown said following the loss.
The numbers backed up Brown's assessment in every way possible. Detroit dominated New York on the glass, pulling down nine more offensive rebounds than the Knicks and 14 more boards overall.
The Pistons were also relentless in transition as they scored 33 points off turnovers and added 21 fastbreak points, which outscored the Knicks by a combined 32 points in those areas.
To make matters worse, Detroit shot over 50 percent from beyond the arc while the Knicks struggled to find any offensive rhythm throughout the night.
Cade Cunningham led the way for the Pistons with 29 points and 13 assists, continuing his All-Star caliber season where he's averaging 26.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 9.6 assists per game.
The victory improved Detroit's record to 27-9, keeping them firmly in first place in the Eastern Conference.
Knicks Continue to Struggle Without Key Pieces
The loss marked New York's fourth straight defeat dating back to their New Year's Eve loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 25 points, but he shot just 10-of-21 from the field as the offense sputtered all night long.
Brunson is averaging 29.2 points and 6.3 assists this season, but even his stellar play hasn't been enough to stop the bleeding during this rough stretch.
Karl-Anthony Towns has also been solid for New York, putting up 22.3 points and 11.7 rebounds per game this year, but the team continues to miss the energy and hustle that Josh Hart brings on both ends of the floor.
The Knicks have gone 2-4 since Hart went down with an ankle injury, and his absence has played a huge role in the team's lack of physicality that Brown pointed to after the loss.
What's Next for New York?
Before the season started, the Knicks were considered one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference alongside the Cleveland Cavaliers, and while they're still sitting in a solid position as the third seed, this recent stretch has exposed some concerns.
Brown addressed the team's situation earlier in the week when he urged everyone not to panic despite the skid.
"You have to have a perspective on it, because you're gonna have ups and downs and it won't always be like this," Brown said. "You hope that when you do go down, it's not three, four, or five games. That's where we are now, but it's not time to panic."
The Knicks will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they host the Los Angeles Clippers at Madison Square Garden, which presents another tough test for a team that desperately needs to find its footing again.
New York has all the talent to turn things around, but as Brown made clear after Monday's defeat, the effort and physicality need to match the championship aspirations this team entered the season with.