You’ve hung in there with this team all season. Through the incessant Carmelo Anthony rumors, the Raymond Felton gun arrest, the Mike Woodson gaffes and the Phil Jackson courtship.You’ve been there through it all. But you can be excused if you feel like giving up after what happened on Tuesday night. It sure looked like the Knicks did. In a game they had to win, the Knicks gave up a franchise-worst 51 points in the third quarter and allowed 101 in just three quarters in a 31-point loss.
LOS ANGELES — As the free throw left Xavier Henry’s hands, he could tell it was off to the right. He darted behind Iman Shumpert and Amar’e Stoudemire, grabbed the offensive rebound and dunked on Carmelo Anthony with 1:10 remaining in the third.When the ball went through the net and the whistle blew — Henry was fouled on the play — all five of the New York Knicks on the floor turned and walked in separate directions with looks of shock and disbelief on their faces.
LOS ANGELES — Whenever the New York Knicks lose, coach Mike Woodson is usually ridiculed for many of his suspect coaching decisions. More often than not, he deserves it. Not Tuesday night, though.The Knicks’ defense, by any objective measure, was atrocious against the Los Angeles Lakers in their 127-96 loss. “I thought the plan was perfect starting the game,” Woodson said. “And then [the Lakers] went to the bench and they came out blazing.
Disgraceful — the one word most Knicks fans must have been thinking while watching Tuesday’s loss to the Lakers. Facing essentially a must-win situation, the Knicks turned in an awful defensive performance in a 127-96 loss to a Los Angeles team without Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash or Pau Gasol. Many have argued in recent days that this Lakers team might be the worst in franchise history. But the Knicks made Mike D’Antoni’s club look like a title contender.
Phil Jackson, the Knicks president, left Tuesday’s game with 8:54 left, after the Knicks had allowed a Lakers’ franchise-record 51 points in the third quarter.
With Knicks President Phil Jackson watching from a luxury suite high above the court, his new team’s teetering playoff hopes got a big shove from his old team’s incredible offensive show.
Dirk Nowitzki scored seven of his 32 points in overtime, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-119 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
Dion Waiters scored 24 points and Luol Deng added 19 as the Cleveland Cavaliers prevented Toronto from getting closer to a playoff spot with a 102-100 win over the Raptors on Tuesday night.
Tobias Harris had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic beat the Portland Trail Blazers 95-85 on Tuesday night to stop a nine-game losing streak.
A company owned by Mikhail D. Prokhorov, the owner of the Nets, said, “This is a long process which may or may not come to fruition, and nothing is imminent.”
As Phil Jackson watched from a luxury suite, the Knicks showed why they will need major changes when this season is over, and for all intents and purposes it is now.
Now you know why Phil Jackson wanted no part of coaching. It’s a lot easier to watch these Knicks from a luxury suite at Staples Center while collecting $60 million as opposed to having to experience them from the bench and have the losses count on your resume.
In the afternoon, Phil Jackson still hadn’t made up his mind whether to go see his Knicks go up against the Lakers on Tuesday night. In the end, he decided to go. The team’s new president cannot have liked what he saw.
Few people know Amar’e Stoudemire like Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni. No one is more impressed with the way he has resurrected his career after an assortment of knee injuries.
