Tuesday's 111-94 loss at the Houston Rockets has the Knicks on a three-game skid with only a handful of regular-season chances to right the ship.

New York clinched a top-six playoff seed this week, but clings to third spot in the Eastern Conference standings with the Cleveland Cavaliers close behind.

Wednesday's 8 p.m. game at the Memphis Grizzlies is "a must-win," Josh Hart said after the Knicks (48-28) followed Sunday's 111-100 loss to the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder with a lopsided defeat against Houston (46-29).

"I just think we're not going in the right direction," Hart said. "We're not trending upwards. So, we've got to figure it out. It was three tough ones. We've got another one tomorrow. That's a must-win for us, and build from there."

The Knicks trailed 14-1 in Tuesday's opening three minutes and entered the second quarter down 37-21.

"That effort, the attention to detail, the discipline was pretty embarrassing," Hart said. "So, we've got to figure it out, make sure we're all locked in mentally to get where we want to go and, like I said, build on that."

Unlike Sunday's game against OKC, which improved to a league-leading 60-16 with a 114-110 overtime win over the Eastern Conference-best Detroit Pistons, Tuesday in Houston saw the Knicks lack a fight, according to Mike Brown, who said that he was "frustrated with that part."

"I think the togetherness is there," Brown said. "Now, like any other team -- throughout the course of the season, sometimes you feel like it's not there, sometimes you don't. But if I'm talking overall, yes, I do. But tonight, it wasn't -- especially in the pick and roll. And there are isolated times where it feels like you're not on a string defensively and/or offensively, and tonight was definitely one of 'em -- especially on the defensive end of the floor."

After Wednesday's game in Memphis against the Grizzlies (25-50), the Knicks return to MSG for Friday's 7:30 p.m. tipoff with the Chicago Bulls.

"The last few games, we haven't had it," Brown said. "And teams go through stretches like that. We've got (six) more games to try to find it."