Mike Brown questioned the officiating after Jalen Brunson attempted zero free throws in nearly 35 minutes during the New York Knicks’ 115-107 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

“Jalen plays 34 minutes or almost 35 minutes. He has zero free throw attempts. That’s pretty alarming,” the Knicks head coach said after the game.

Brown acknowledged that Cleveland deserved credit for winning what he called the “possession game,” but he also expressed frustration with the free-throw disparity.

“They had 14 more free throw attempts in us, four more offensive rebounds than us and two less turnovers,” Brown said. “And when that happens versus a good team, it’s gonna be hard to win the game.”

The Cavaliers attempted 25 free throws compared with New York’s 11. James Harden alone went to the line 11 times, matching the Knicks’ entire team total.

“I know at one time the free throw advantage was 18 to three,” Brown said. “And that’s not why we lost the game, but you just hope to get a little bit better whistle when you’re playing a good team like that, because it’s already hard enough to go win a game.”

Harden finished with a season-high 32 points, while Donovan Mitchell added 23. Brown also credited Cleveland’s bench, specifically Tyrese Proctor and Meleek Thomas, who scored 15 and 14 points, respectively.

“You give their bench Proctor and Thomas, they came off the bench and they had a great game. James Harden had a great game as well,” Brown said. “And so you got to give him credit and not just for that, but also for his floor game that he played.”

Brown also took responsibility for a tactical decision late in the game. New York blitzed Mitchell in the fourth quarter, but the Cavaliers repeatedly found openings against the pressure.

“Give Donovan credit he did a nice job making the right play out of it hitting the pocket,” Brown said. “And I kept us in the blitz a little too long and I should have taken us out of the blitz.”

“So that part is on me and I got to be better helping our group in that area.”

The coach also explained why Mikal Bridges played only 17 minutes, including no fourth-quarter action. Landry Shamet and Miles McBride have earned larger roles through their recent performances, particularly defensively.

“We got two guys that are playing really well in Landry and Deuce and so it’s hard, it’s gonna be hard to find minutes at times,” Brown said. “Those two guys are playing at a pretty high level and not just on offense in the floor, but defensively too.”

Brown said he was not ready to change Bridges’ starting role after only 10 games.

“For me to make a “panic” decision and change it right now we’re ten games in or whatever we are, I’m not feeling it,” he said.

New York also struggled to maintain its offensive rhythm. Brown admitted the team was not consistently executing with the purpose he wanted.

“Not yet. Not yet in at times, yes, but we’re not always in a good flow right now,” he said.

He added that Cleveland’s early three-point shooting helped Harden find confidence.

“Harden had, I thought he had airspace on his early threes, which gave him confidence and got him going,” Brown said. “And we got to get to his body and make him put the ball on the floor, which we didn’t do a good job of early on.”

The loss ended New York’s four-game winning streak and dropped the Knicks to 6-5. Brunson scored 27 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.