There was a sign in the Knicks locker room last night that said: “Play Hard … Play Smart … Play Together … Have Fun.”
For the most part, they played hard last night against the Celtics at the Garden. They even played together during spurts. But when it counted most they didn’t play smart, allowing the Celtics to escape with a 102-96 victory and take all the fun out of the Garden.
Carmelo Anthony was already in the midst of one of his worst games of the season when he lost his cool while bumping bodies and exchanging words with Kevin Garnett with 9:03 left in the game. Both were slapped with technical fouls by an officiating crew that nearly lost control of what was a rugged battle.
After the defeat, Anthony wanted to extract a pound of flesh from Garnett. According to various sources, Anthony approached the Celtics locker room where he was shouting and had to be restrained by security. If his 6-for-26 shooting night (20 points) weren’t bad enough, Anthony might incur disciplinary action from the league, which is sure to investigate.
It was the low point of what had been a shining season for Anthony. Knicks coach Mike Woodson is right when he said, “Melo is capable of having bad night. Melo’s been pretty damn good for our ballclub.”
But this must be the last night he allows himself to get baited to the point where he loses control of his emotions and hurts his team.
The loss can’t be entirely blamed on Anthony. The Knicks seemed headed for a blowout when they took a 10-point lead in the first quarter. But when the Celtics picked up their intensity and physical play, the Knicks couldn’t match it, especially in the second half as the home team was outscored 49-40.
Four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield once said the best way to win a fight is to make an opponent angry. That’s what Garnett did to Anthony, who didn’t speak with reporters after the game. Garnett has a reputation for getting under a player’s skin — something Amar’e Stoudemire learned years ago.
“Words can be pretty sharp,” Stoudemire said. “When you say certain things, it gets under your skin. It happens to the best of us.”
It can’t happen again to Anthony. It’s one thing to be physical and not back down. It’s another to get to the point where you’re playing a one-on-one game for revenge, which is the way it seemed down the stretch. After making a 3-pointer one minute after the dual technicals, Anthony missed his next six shots.
Woodson didn’t seem overly concerned about Anthony’s performance or his conduct.
“I’m going to defend Melo and our players and this team,” he said. “In the heat of a battle you’ve got to hang in there and keep playing. We can’t let the officials affect how we play. It was heated both ways.”
When someone asked Woodson about Anthony approaching the Celtics locker room, he turned into Sgt. Schultz.
“I don’t know anything about that,” the coach said. “I’m not even going to comment on that.”
Anthony must hope the league will forgive him as easily as Woodson did. But the coach needs to recognize a pattern that could be troubling. The Knicks lost their cool against the Bulls earlier this season and now lost their composure against the Celtics. It won’t take much to build a reputation for being thin-skinned. If opponents believe the Knicks can be rattled, they’ll be quick to tweak them in hopes of getting them off their game.
“This is always going to be a chippy game with a lot of talk back and forth,” Stoudemire said of facing the Celtics. “We expect the next one to be just as chippy. We just have to make sure we keep our composure.”
Seems the Knicks are still learning how to do that.