PHILADELPHIA — Absence is said to make the heart grow fonder. That certainly applies to Raymond Felton, who made his return to the Knicks lineup last night against the 76ers after missing 12 games with a broken right pinkie.
In his absence, the Knicks looked like a vulnerable team, a team that has more flaws than were noticed when he was in the lineup. In his absence, the Knicks looked slower and older. Their pick-and-roll game wasn’t as crisp, and they couldn’t make as many 3-point shots.
You figured when he returned to the lineup the Knicks would look better. Well, not so fast.
A humbling 97-80 defeat to the Sixers last night before a sellout crowd of 20,540 at Wells Fargo Center offers proof the Knicks still are a work in progress even with Felton in the lineup. They started slow against the Sixers, shot just 34.6 percent from the field and were a ghastly 4-of-27 from behind the 3-point line.
“Across the board, we were awful,” was how coach Mike Woodson summed up a game in which the Knicks trailed 12-2 early, 53-41 at halftime and 84-58 entering the fourth quarter. “We didn’t come to compete,” Woodson added, “and that’s disappointing.”
Cheer up coach. At least with Felton back, Woodson can now begin to formulate a plan for what the Knicks will look like when the playoffs arrive. Amar’e Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler all were in uniform. With the addition of Felton and contributions from Jason Kidd and J.R. Smith, the Knicks finally have the primary pieces of a roster that will lead this team into the postseason.
Sure, the debut wasn’t very inspiring, but Felton told Shumpert after the game: “We’ll be all right. Trust me.”
Woodson didn’t waste any time mixing and matching his personnel. There’s no guarantee it will all come together without more trial and error. But you hope the coach has a clear plan by the end of February, a plan that can be fine-tuned in March and April.
Last night, he started Felton, Shumpert, Chandler, Anthony and Kidd. Six minutes later, Smith was in for Kidd. When Stoudemire came in for Shumpert eight minutes into the game, Woodson had him paired with Anthony, Chandler, Felton and Smith. Later in the second quarter, Kidd and Felton formed the back court while Anthony, Stoudemire and Chandler composed the front line.
The only problem was none of the combinations were very productive. The Knicks made just 28-of-81 from the field. Anthony, Kidd, Felton and Smith were a combined 1-of-17 from 3-point range. Two of Felton’s misfires were air balls.
“I was rusty,” said Felton, who scored eight points. “It’s the first game in four weeks, and my timing was not there yet.”
Working Felton into shape isn’t the only thing on Woodson’s to-do list. He still is monitoring minutes for Shumpert, who is in his first weeks of action since reconstructive knee surgery. The coach also is trying to get everyone on board with an offensive rotation that has Stoudemire coming off the bench mixed with a few moments when Stoudemire, Anthony and Chandler are on the floor together. Lost in last night’s defeat was a solid performance by Stoudemire (20 points), who is starting to show some spring in his legs.
It’s going to take time before the Knicks find a grove. Felton and Stoudemire were in the same lineup last night for the first time since just before the 2011 All-Star break. The next month, Felton was sent to Denver in the trade for Anthony. It has come full circle with them both again in Knicks uniform. It’s also the first time Felton has worked with Shumpert.
What the Knicks must do now is find the kind of cohesive chemistry that will steer the ship to a long playoff run. Last night was really the first night of the rest of their season. No, it wasn’t a success, but it was a start.