The Knicks have only one more chance to disgrace the Garden, like they did in last night’s despicable 113-86 loss to the Pistons before a disgusted crowd.
The Knicks have quit. They fell behind 10-0 after two minutes, 30-9 late in the first quarter and 63-39 by halftime. Clearly, the players can’t wait for Wednesday’s finale at the Garden against the Nets.
“Our guys got overwhelmed,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We lost a lot of our mojo and determination, which is inexcusable. We can’t make excuses how we sagged and didn’t compete.”
Owner James Dolan looked despondent as he rushed out of the locker room area afterward, clutching a basketball. Maybe the eccentric owner demanded the game ball so he could torch it.
At 30-49, the Knicks need to win their last three games to avoid a 50-loss season. D’Antoni, making $6 million this season to eradicate the losing culture, has given strong hints recently he wants only three players back next season.
On Sunday in Toronto, D’Antoni said nobody is safe for next season. Last night he gave a strong indication of the three players he would like to build around. The obvious two are second-year stud Wilson Chandler and prized rookie Danilo Gallinari. But D’Antoni also gave a giant hint restricted free agent David Lee is in the plans, despite restricted free agency. Unless Lee gets a whopping offer, the Knicks will retain him.
When asked about the upcoming draft, D’Antoni referenced building around those three, meaning they won’t have to draft by positional need.
“We want to take the best player,” D’Antoni said. “On our team it’s pretty easy to take the best player. The good thing about Wilson Chandler, Gallo and David Lee, they play a lot of positions. We have a lot of flexibility.”
When D’Antoni came out to meet the press Tuesday night in Chicago after their fourth-quarter choke, he was summoned back to the locker room because he had not addressed the players.
“I forgot I had a team in there,” D’Antoni said.
Actually, D’Antoni would like to forget he had a team in there. And he probably wishes he had left them in Chicago.
“You can’t make excuses for how we sagged and didn’t compete,” D’Antoni said. “Hopefully we’ll make big steps this summer.”
The Knicks play meaningless road games in Orlando on national TV tomorrow and Miami on Sunday. By then, D’Antoni’s mustache may be completely white.
Nate Robinson, a free agent whom the Knicks will explore sign-and-trades, is deteriorating and costing himself a big contract. He shot 2 of 13 and finished with four points. Although Lee’s numbers are extraordinary, his interior defense is poor and his inability to be a go-to player in the final minutes is troubling. However, the Knicks still feel he’s a building block.
No coach has taken less heat than D’Antoni for this expected 50-loss season. That’s how pathetically low basketball expectations are in what was once the mecca of basketball.
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Courtney Sims, on his second 10-day contract, made his Knicks debut and was active — six points, four boards in 11 minutes. Also debuting was Joe Crawford, who was booed after shooting two airballs.
Pistons 113 Knicks 86