The fluffy vibes from the new year are over. The Knicks stink again and Carmelo Anthony said it has got to stop now. Now or never.
Everybody else in the NBA has made the Garden their home this season. Why not Brooklyn, which invades the Garden for the first time this season in Monday’s Martin Luther King Day matinee? It is a battle of the NBA’s two most disappointing teams.
The Knicks, on a three-game losing streak, are playing the second game of an eight-game homestand — tied for longest in franchise history.
“This is our time to make something happen,’’ Anthony said. “If it’s any time this season, this is it, right now. We have a week and half here of home games where we could really make a push and gain some ground. This is very important two weeks for us. That’s the mind-set we have going into this home stretch.’’
Though the Nets have won six of seven games, their record of 16-22 is an eyesore, considering the Sports Illustrated cover darlings were built to win a title this year and only this year. The Knicks figured to be the Nets’ strongest pursuer. After starting 2014 on a 6-1 tear, the Knicks’ record has plummeted to 15-25 with Monday’s game marking the season’s midpoint.
Anthony candidly admitted how stunningly bad the Knicks’ and Nets’ seasons have gone.
“If you’d have said both teams would have these records at this point of the season, I’d have put [up] any amount of money and bet against it,’’ Anthony said. “It’s two different situations but record-wise we’re not where we wanted to be at. We’re way behind that.”
Even with their best player, center Brook Lopez, out for the season, rookie coach Jason Kidd has the Nets on a 6-1 roll even as point guard Deron Williams has missed the last five of games with his chronic ankle issue.
Williams is expected back Monday as Kidd makes his first Garden appearance since last May’s playoffs when he bottomed out as a point guard and retired.
The Knicks trail the Nets by two games in the Eastern Conference standings. The Nets occupy the eighth and final playoff spot while the Knicks are in 10th. In the Atlantic, the Nets stand four games behind first-place
Toronto with the Knicks six back. In preseason, it was a 100 percent consensus one of the New York teams would cop an Atlantic banner.
Woodson knows the time is now to improve on their awful 7-13 record at the Garden as the heat will be on him again, especially with players starting to publicly question his in-game strategies. James Dolan considers the Nets the Knicks’ biggest rival, too, and a bad loss on their home floor will not sit well with the Knicks owner.
“It’s very important — we got seven games left here in this stretch, starting [today],’’ Woodson said. “We really got to buckle in and concentrate on what’s at hand. Because this could really make our season if we take care of business like I know we’re capable of doing. It’s been a rough start the way we’ve played at home. We got to it put all that behind us.’’
The Knicks blew out the Nets in the initial meeting, winning by 30 points at Barclays Center on Dec. 5. The Knicks routed Orlando by 38 the next night. The belief was the Knicks had finally turned it around, but that performance became one of several false alarms.
“For us, it’s consistency,’’ Anthony said. “One game we win by a lot. One game we lose by a lot. We’re very inconsistent right now. ‘’
While Kidd has had his growing pains as coach, Woodson is in the spotlight again. After the past two defeats, his players have questioned the club’s X’s and O’s. After the blowout by the Pacers on Thursday, Anthony and
Tyson Chandler both pointed to the team not making proper adjustments to Indiana coach Frank Vogel’s moves after the Knicks captured the game’s first quarter.
Chandler had more to say after Friday’s loss.
“We have to be a little more strategic about what we’re doing offensively and defensively, understand who has it going and what’s working, make it easier on guys out there,’’ Chandler said.
The Knicks center added he was talking about the coaching staff and players.
Even though they’ve let down New York, the Knicks-Nets figure to make MLK Day at least a compelling afternoon.
“Anytime we play them, it’s always going to be a big game, a high-energy game,’’ Anthony said. “I don’t want to say rivalry. It is what it is. Us being in Manhattan, them being in Brooklyn, the battle of New York, there will always be focus on that game. We got to be prepared for that.’’