PHILADELPHIA – Mike D’Antoni spoke out on his soft defensive reputation before last night’s preseason contest vs. the Sixers, predicting the Knicks will be among the league’s best defensive teams.
But if the Knicks shoot lights out like last night at Wachovia Center, D’Antoni won’t have to worry about defense.
After falling behind 38-22 after one quarter, the Knicks (1-1) exploded past the Sixers and gave D’Antoni his first victory in New York – a 110-104 preseason triumph.
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Point guard Chris Duhon, rebounding from a seven-turnover, 1-of-7 clankfest in the preseason opener in Toronto, was much improved. He buried 7 of 11 shots, notched five assists and committed two turnovers, finishing with 19 points.
David Lee’s baseline jump shot has become outrageously improved this season. Lee nailed virtually every deep, open look, also racking up 19 with 15 boards in sinking 8 of 10 shots.
Zach Randolph drilled two 3-pointers on his way to 18 points and nine boards. And Stephon Marbury looked extra sharp driving to the basket, finishing with 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting.
The Knicks shot 50.8 percent and outscored the Sixers 38-13 in the second quarter, when fourth-string point guard Mardy Collins ran the show with aplomb.
“I just wanted to make up for that game,” Duhon said. “I worked too hard in the summer for this opportunity. In this offense, everyone’s going to get open looks.”
D’Antoni admits he’s desperately trying to win these early preseason games, and played his starting core to the buzzer while the Sixers went to the bench midway through the fourth.
“Other teams know how they want to play,” D’Antoni said. “It’s important to get an identity, get the confidence going. I thought it was important to get a win.”
In an unsolicited diatribe before the game, D’Antoni predicted the Knicks will transform into a defensive stalwart. He claimed his Suns were a lot better defensively than given credit for and he took a poke at his former Phoenix bosses who criticized D’Antoni for not working the team hard enough on defense in practice.
“I get a little down because the first thing out of everybody’s mouth is they don’t play defense,” D’Antoni said. “Well, first of all, we won 54 games last year, 62 the year before. So 62 times we played better defense than the other teams did. That’s for sure.”
D’Antoni’s Knicks allowed 113 points in their preseason debut before giving up 104 last night. D’Antoni said the club didn’t recognize the Sixers’ speed.
“We work on [defense],” D’Antoni said. “I expect us to be a very good defensive team. I like what I saw because I think these guys can really play defense and I think we’ll get there.”
Knicks 110 Sixers 104