THE Knicks hung with Phoenix, almost beat the Lakers and came home feeling good about themselves, which was a good thing until it turned out they were feeling too good about themselves.
“Without a doubt,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We addressed that. The bottom line is we [had] lost two straight games.”
After last night’s abysmal 105-81 Garden blowout by Milwaukee, it’s now three straight, no free passes to be given for it being the first game back from a five-game trip, not when you can count Knicks wins against Eastern Conference clubs, their competition for the last three playoff spots, on two fingers – one over New Jersey and one over Miami.
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West Coast to East Coast is never easy. But never should it be as easy as the Knicks made it for the Bucks in turning the ball over 23 times and shooting only 39 percent, largely because after a tough start they seemed resigned to shooting 39 percent.
“There is a tendency for any team to let down,” said D’Antoni.
“We did that, without a doubt.”
And therefore labeled themselves the 11-15 club that they are, no matter how close they came at the Staples Center.
This was the Knicks’ ninth game they failed to score 100 points and the ninth one they lost, no statistical aberration but an indication that they don’t know how to play good defense except when they are playing good offense.
Truth is, these Knicks don’t know a thing yet about hanging in there on a bad night.
Basically, they have looked better until they don’t, which might be a way to improve on a pathetic 23 wins, but is no indication that they are yet as competitive as they like to tell us they are.
There is nothing buoying about having a shot in the last minute on the road against the Lakers if you lose all three games so far to Milwaukee.
“We talked about that,” said D’Antoni. “It’s a two-game swing anytime you play in the conference, that’s the bad part, no doubt. It’s inexcusable to not be ready.
“And I think each guy and myself should blame ourselves. It starts with each person. You start with one two, three guys, and you go from there.”
Al Harrington, trapped on yesterday’s bad roads and worse traffic coming in from Westchester, got to the Garden late, much later than other Knicks who live in the same county. Then one, two and three Knicks took it from there, seeming to feed off each other’s misery.
“Tim Thomas was sick [leaving after playing only 6:40], Al Harrington gets here after the game starts,” said D’Antoni. “There were a lot of distractions and we tried to guard against that from the very beginning and we didn’t do it.
“That’s something everyone has to acquire, being focused no matter what happens.”
We are talking here about a team that suffered a letdown after a 2-3 trip. Until the wins starting coming against the clubs the Knicks have to beat, they are significantly improved only in their own minds.