Back on Halloween night in Chicago, Iman Shumpert and Tyson Chandler got into a shouting match on the bench because of a defensive breakdown against the Bulls, according to a source.
It would start a trend of bench blowups on the Knicks — a club that seems to be fighting one another instead of pulling together. Carmelo Anthony has made several morbid references during the current nine-game losing streak about the team having to “stay together.’’ It’s the Knicks’ longest losing streak since 2006.
Sunday at the Garden against New Orleans, Shumpert could be seen yelling at Anthony during a third-quarter timeout over a defensive breakdown in which Ryan Anderson was left open at the 3-point line. “We had a miscommunication,’’ Shumpert said. “Just a little frustrated about it.’’
It appears Shumpert was angry Anthony didn’t warn him about a screen.
Before the recent four-game road trip, Metta World Peace and Tim Hardaway Jr. had a bench incident. World Peace screamed at Hardaway and appeared to shove him. An ESPN New York report Monday said World Peace and Kenyon Martin got into a heated exchange during the walk-through before the Knicks-Pelicans game.
Going into the season, one of the concerns was the amount of combustible personalities on the squad, with World Peace, J.R. Smith, Martin and Shumpert, whose mood has been affected by reports he’s on the trading block.
“The easiest thing for us is to go our separate ways and separate this team,’’ Anthony said at the end of the road trip. “It’s the hardest thing to do right now is to remain positive.’’’
Sunday night, Anthony said: “I don’t know what we have to do to get together as a group. … We have a couple of days off. We just need to get our mental right and get everybody feeling good about ourselves. We’re trying to find our identity. Last year we found it. This year we’re still searching. [But] I think we can be a helluva team.’’
Of course, a win in Brooklyn Thursday would solve some issues and calm some nerves.