LOS ANGELES – It was awful, really awful.
Even new Knicks president Phil Jackson couldn’t bite his tongue any longer when he emerged from his Staples Center suite early in the fourth quarter after seeing the Knicks give up a franchise-record 51 points in the third quarter to the Lakers.
The most points a Jackson-coached team allowed in a quarter was 46, on Jan. 6, 2007, when he was leading the Lakers. Jackson took great pains to avoid being seen by the media at the morning shootaround, but what he witnessed against the Lakers deserved commentary, apparently.
“It was awful, huh,’’ Jackson told a reporter from the New York Times.
“Fifty-one points,” Jackson added. “When it’s 35 points [in a quarter], you start to get worried. When it’s a 51-point quarter, that’s really awful.’’
Yes, Jackson has a lot to work to do, especially finding more leaders. Quasi-leader Tyson Chandler made an odd remark after the 127-96 slaughter. There’s still a dim chance for the playoffs, but Chandler said in the morose locker room it’s too late for a team meeting.
Chandler is going through a tough time. His mother has been seriously ill in Los Angeles. He missed the morning shootaround, missed Jackson’s appearance.
Chandler, who is signed through next season, recently wondered about his future with the Knicks, and that was before Jackson came aboard presumably to revamp things.
“We’re in a talent hunt,” Jackson admitted on his way out of the arena. “We have to bring in talent.’’
The Lakers do, too, but they looked vastly superior despite their injury-plagued state. (Pau Gasol received the rare “DNP — Vertigo.”) Shockingly, the Lakers bench outscored the Knicks bench, 82-21. Xavier Henry (22 points), Kent Bazemore (18) and Nick Young (20) all looked like Sixth Man of the Year candidates.
“At the end of the day, it’s just individual pride,” said J.R. Smith, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. “You have to have pride in guarding your man, guarding the ball, and we just didn’t have that the last three quarters.’’
Mike D’Antoni said of the Lakers’ 3-point feast: “We hit shots all over the place.”
The Lakers had beaten an opponent by more than 15 points just twice this season before the Knicks got to La-La Land. They looked like a club still dizzy from Sunday’s season-busting loss to the Cavaliers, who rallied from 17 down, without Kyrie Irving. Even Jackson agreed there looked to be a carryover effect.
The aura of the eight-game winning streak has been punctured. They get Sacramento Wednesday night. Anthony tried to put on a brave face, tried to show some spark of leadership, in saying the Knicks had to take out their frustration on the Kings. He didn’t sound convincing.
“We don’t have a choice at this point,’’ Anthony said of bouncing back in California’s capital city. “We’ve got to learn from this and tomorrow’s a new day in Sacramento. There’s no need to hang our heads about this one. We know what happened and try to bounce back.’’
It might be difficult, with Amar’e Stoudemire playing the second night of a back-to-back – if he plays. Stoudemire was a minus-30 vs. D’Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix and New York.
Iman Shumpert also didn’t look right as he battles a virus that forced him out of Sunday’s game. Still battling its effects, Shumpert was scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting in 19:26 and tripped over himself a couple of times.
Jackson had planned not to attend the Lakers game because he didn’t want to create a scene, but he was safely hidden in an upper-tier suite. He isn’t expected to travel to Sacramento or any of the other stops on the rest of the five-game trip. Good for him. He’s seen enough.