LOWLY KNICKS HIT NEW LOW
No effort put into this holiday Turkey
Obviously, the Knicks’ two-game winning streak was more a product of the gutless, depleted Nets and an Orlando team missing two starters than anything that Mike Woodson’s team really did.
That’s the one way you can explain how the Knicks, as lifeless on Sunday as Jason Kidd’s team was last week over in Brooklyn, failed to put up a fight in a 41-point drubbing at the hands of the Boston Celtics at the Garden.
Jim Dolan got up and lef t his baseline seat with 39 seconds left, but he’d have to be deaf not to have heard his team booed of f his transformed Garden court. If anything, the crowd was too kind, all day, while witnessing the 114-73 rout, the third-worst home loss in franchise history.
Woodson, a stand-up guy all the way, can’t afford many more of these no-shows by his team. That’s what you have to figure, even if no one knows for sure what the great Garden boss has in mind. Knowing how he operates, though, it just might be time to guarantee another win. Hey, it worked once before after “the basketball team,” as he calls it when they stink out the joint, had one of these games.
“I didn’t see this coming,’’ Woodson said.
He took the blame for not having his club ready, which was more than a little obvious when the Celtics ran off and hid from the opening tip. The visitors met their season scoring average
(94 ppg) by early in the fourth quarter, and finished with their most lopsided win, by far, with their previous best a 17-point conquest of Cleveland at home.
But the majority of Woodson’s players tried to run some real jive by the media when they said the Knicks’ biggest problem was that they just missed a few too many shots. Know this, if you missed this fiasco and spent your TV time more wisely by watching the NFL:
The Knicks did … not … even … try.
Leave it to Carmelo Anthony, himself among Woods on’s walking dead for the noon tip, to at least have the guts not to parrot the weak company line we heard from Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert, both of whom would have been more productive if they stayed home, as Kenyon Martin did because of ankle issues.
Anthony stopped after the game to hug Rajon Rondo, whom Anthony supposedly is recruiting when the injured Celtics playmaker becomes a free agent. But they didn’t talk. Who’s to say Anthony is recruiting Rondo to come to the Garden, anyway? L.A. makes more sense.
Rondo’s take? A fter the game, he walked out, flanked by a Celtics security man, without commenting about anything.
Why would Rondo want to come here, although even he could see how he would be a significant upgrade over what Woodson has to run out these days at point guard.
But t h is debacle went beyond the roster flaws, enormous as they are.
“An embarrassment,’’ Anthony termed the loss. “To lose like that on our home court, I think everybody should be pissed off.’’
Starting with Dolan, who was at his slouching best in his baseline chair during what Anthony correctly called “an old-fashioned ass-whipping.’’
Brad Stevens can coach for the next 10 years up in Boston and might not have an easier road win.
There was no excuse for it, not after the way the Knicks put together a couple of solid wins over the Nets and Magic. But this proved the other guys had something to do with it. The Nets, as we couldn’t help but note, were missing Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko. That’s a lot of manpower Jason Kidd didn’t have over at Barclays Center, even if his team lacked a pulse. Then the Magic came in on Friday without Tobias Harris and Nicola Vucevic, a quality big, and their absences certainly masked the Knicks’ blowout win.
We’ll know if they’re ready to make amends for this fiasco when they hit the court in Cleveland on Tuesday. When they fail to make an attempt to win, the Knicks can’t hide behind Tyson Chandler’s busted leg or the fact that Andrea Bargnani is B new to the program. ecause it’s his nature, Woodson wanted to also take responsibility for his troops not playing hard. Nice try, Coach.
“You can’t teach effort,’’ Anthony said. “I know Coach, so he’s always going to put it on himself. But we’re the guys going out there and not giving any effort and not giving ourselves a chance to win.’’
Last week Anthony called the Knicks a laughingstock. Now they’re an embarrassment. How low can they go? Just give ’em a chance.