For the first eight minutes of last night’s game between two teams who can’t wait for the season to end, it looked like the Nets had taken the early vacation.
They were down 24-8 with 4:42 left in the first quarter, maintaining the kind of ragged form that led to their 6-55 record entering last night’s cross-river affair at the Garden. But the Knicks are the Knicks. As if we needed reminding.
It took just one quarter for the Nets to regroup and take a 56-50 lead at the break. By the end of the third quarter, you would have sworn the Knicks were the team in danger of setting an NBA record for worst record in a season.
The Nets exploited the Knicks’ lack of size and heart to enjoy a satisfying 113-93 victory before a Garden crowd that spent much of the second half booing the home team.
“We just didn’t have any kind of oomph or push,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Finding a low point to this long, often unbearable Knicks season is like finding a needle in a stack of needles. But if you were looking for a sign that the Knicks have given up and packed it in, last night was it.
They were 0-for-18 from the three-point line, a record for NBA futility. Their defense was non-existent in the second half and they were dominated by the worst team in the NBA.
“It’s about as bad as it can get,” D’Antoni said.
We understand it’s really not about results when it comes to the Knicks (21-41). It’s about using the remaining games to find out if there are players worthy enough to return next year when one or two top free agents are added to the squad.
Judging by last night’s performance the appropriate answer would be: No. The Knicks have lost seven of nine since the major shake-up at the trade deadline and last night’s meltdown was a low point. Yes, they lack size, and yes, they lack experience playing with each other. But the Knicks were broken way too easily last night. Once the Nets rallied, the Knicks gave up and earned the repeated booing by a frustrated crowd.
“It’s tough for everybody,” D’Antoni said. “We’re searching. We don’t have the answers. But we’ll keep looking.”
It’s hard to imagine any free agent being excited about joining these Knicks. The task of helping rebuild the franchise might seem too challenging. Whoever takes the Knicks money can’t expect much help from anyone on the current roster.
Tracy McGrady, playing on back-to-back nights, had no explosiveness and no energy. He had just two points, shooting 1 of 6 from the field. The most passion point guard Sergio Rodriguez showed last night was when the Spaniard jawed with Brook Lopez in the fourth quarter. I guess the big guy was picking on the little guy.
Wilson Chandler (20 points) had one of those games in which he disappeared when the Knicks needed him most. Danilo Gallinari (15 points) seemed gun-shy, and David Lee, plagued by early foul trouble, had just six rebounds to go with 23 points and couldn’t deal with Lopez’s size.
And 0-for-18 from the three-point line?
“It was our aggressiveness on the defensive end,” Nets interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe concluded.
D’Antoni said before the game that the Knicks needed to take baby steps toward improving and not totally focus on their win-loss record.
“Each play and each quarter should be little wins here and there and to try to understand what it is to compete every night and bring energy,” he said. “The wins will follow whether it’s this year or next year.”
He should hope for next year because this year seems to be a wrap.