Phil Jackson may soon be back in La-La Land as Lakers coach, but Knicks owner James Dolan can’t regret sticking with Mike Woodson one bit and giving the Zen Master the snub.
Beside the league-best 4-0 record, the Knicks’ statistical rankings demonstrate a club fundamentally rooted and defensively sound.
The Knicks are best in the NBA in defensive scoring average (87.5 points a game, entering last night’s games) and opponents’ field-goal percentage (40.7 percent). They are tied for third with most steals and tied for second in forcing the most turnovers. On the offensive side, the Knicks have committed the fewest turnovers in the league.
Woodson is also proud the Knicks have allowed fewer than 40 points in the second half of all four victories.
“I think all the conditioning and running we did in camp is paying off,’’ Woodson said, “because we’re not losing much coming down the third and fourth quarter. That’s important.’’
Woodson was accused of running the Knicks too hard in camp, which led to a number of injuries. Even yesterday, he held practice despite the club having three days off before the next game in Orlando. Woodson just wanted the team mostly to watch film of Friday’s tough win over Dallas while still fresh in their heads and gave them today off.
Woodson will see their resilience and stamina beginning Tuesday, as the elderly Knicks play seven games in 11 days, with six of the seven on the road. They have two three-game road trips sandwiched around a home game against the Pacers. “We’ll be tested to see where we are,’’ Woodson said.
* Woodson’s regular-season record as Knicks coach is 22-6 and 14-1 at the Garden, counting his interim stint last season. Under Woodson, the Knicks are allowing 90.0 points on 43-percent shooting — numbers former coach Mike D’Antoni never approached. … In the past 25 years, just three NBA clubs have gone 4-0 in winning each game by double digits — the 2009-10 Blazers and Jazz and D’Antoni’s Suns in 2004-05. The Knicks set a club record by winning their first four games by double figures and lead the league in average point-differential — plus-17.