WRONG PRIORITIES: The Knicks have become too concerned with off-the-court matters, such as J.R. Smith (above) engaging Kris Humphries on Twitter, instead of taking care of business on it, writes The Post’s George Willis. (Anthony J. Causi)
Earlier this season, we admired a certain toughness the Knicks displayed. They weren’t the insecure bunch we had seen around here for the last decade, flinching whenever anyone said, “Boo.”
Mentally tough teams such as the Celtics, Spurs, Lakers and Heat normally didn’t need to do much to break the Knicks’ will, which is why Mike D’Antoni is no longer the coach.
But under Mike Woodson, the Knicks have played defense and weren’t afraid to get physical thanks to the presence of players such as Tyson Chandler, Rasheed Wallace, Kurt Thomas and Jason Kidd. At least that’s the way it appeared until lately.
The Knicks have opened 2013 looking more thin-skinned than mentally tough, something that needs to change tonight when they face the Celtics in Boston.
It’s the “rematch,” if you will, of the confrontation between Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett that took place on Jan. 7 when the Celtics beat the Knicks 102-96 at the Garden. Garnett said something to Anthony during the game the Knicks’ All-Star didn’t like and the two had to be separated from getting at each other later outside the Boston team bus.
It was bad enough the Knicks lost a division game on their home floor, but Anthony was suspended for the next game, an 81-76 loss at Indiana. It all led to the Knicks’ first three-game losing streak of the season.
Now we learn J.R. Smith didn’t take too kindly to Kris Humphries tweeting about how quiet the Garden got after the Nets beat the Knicks 88-85 on Martin Luther King Day. Smith then tweeted a reference to Kanye West, the apparent baby daddy of Kim Kardashian, the estranged Mrs. Humphries.
It’s a short sample but it seems the Knicks are more inspired to defend their bravado off the court than on it. That’s not how they’re going to win the Atlantic Division, much less the Eastern Conference or an NBA title. They should learn not to bother winning a battle of tweets if they don’t win the game.
The All-Star break is approaching, and for all the good things the Knicks have accomplished this season, they’ve lost three times to the Bulls, split with the Nets and been bullied by the Celtics. It’s why Woodson said of tonight’s game, “Now we’ve got to go and see what we’re made of.”
He’s not talking about a fist fight, but showing the mental toughness to go into a hostile building against a desperate team that has lost four straight and come out with a victory.
“That’s NBA basketball,” Woodson said. “That’s how it should be. We’ve got to be ready to play a 48-minute ball game.”
Hear Woodson talk about the Celtics and you get the feeling it’s a wish list of what he wants from his own team.
“Those guys are winners,” he said. “They’ve built what they have in Boston and they’ve got pride and they play pretty well at home. It’s not going to be an easy game for us by any means.”
It seems the Knicks are getting the reputation of a team that can be rattled, and Garnett will probably test that again. I don’t think he chirps any less in Anthony’s ear tonight than he did at the Garden. Maybe he doesn’t mention anything about cereal. Maybe he does.
Boston is 20-21 and the Knicks had better be ready for taunts from the crowd and trash talk from the Celtics. A mentally tough team stands up for itself on the court and doesn’t wait by a bus or retaliate on Twitter. Woodson has faith in his players.
“They’ve been in situations like this through the course of their careers where maybe there was a little confrontation in the previous meeting and the media has really hyped it and built it up,” Woodson said. “It happens. But at the end of the day we’re trying to stay at the top of our division and it’s about winning.”
Let’s see what the Knicks are made of.