Knicks wrong at home
THERE ARE five NBA teams with a lower winning percentage than the Knicks. That number will continue to dwindle — and their teetering season somehow will disintegrate further — if they are unable to even defeat the likes of the Sixers on their home floor.
James Dolan was not in attendance, but one game after Mike Woodson’s schemes and strategies were questioned by Tyson Chandler, the ugliness continued to mount as the sinking Knicks were outrebounded, outhustled and outshot in falling to Philadelphia, 110-106, Wednesday night at the Garden.
Woodson’s splintering team dropped its third straight to start a supposedly crucial eight-game home stand, and fifth in a row overall to completely offset a seasonbest five-game winning streak. The Knicks (15-27) now would have to go 39-1 over their final 40 games just to match last season’s record of 54-28. “We ain’t doing that,” said Carmelo Anthony, who overcame a one-point first quarter to lead the Knicks with 28 points. “I wouldn’t say (we’re) kicking ourselves, but we’ve definitely wasted some games that we should’ve won here. . . . I really don’t know what it is, why we can’t play well on our own home court.
“This should be the time where we gain some momentum, gain some confidence as a team, playing here on our own home court. But that don’t seem that that’s the case right now.”
One day after Woodson and Chandler attempted to repair the latest widening crack in their season, the coach came armed with digs and statistics to debunk the All-Star center’s contention that the Knicks were “outschemed” and that they “switched” defensively too much in Monday’s blowout loss to Jason Kidd’s Nets.
“I don’t think anybody complained (about switching) in the five-game stretch,” Woodson said of the Knicks’ recent winning streak, which came almost entirely with Chandler sidelined with bronchitis. “Switching didn’t hurt us the other night. When you go back and pull the tape up and go over it, that’s kind of misleading.”
The Daily News reported Tuesday that Woodson had recently confronted Chandler about critical comments the veteran center had made previously, such as saying the Knicks “didn’t make adjustments” in a recent defeat to Indiana. On Tuesday, Chandler backtracked from his remarks about Monday’s game, saying comments were not aimed “at Coach.”
A f ter defending his system, Woodson switched back to his bigger starting lineup, reinserting Andrea Bargnani (20 points) and sitting second point guard Pablo Prigioni. But the Knicks were dominated on the boards, 54-39, including a 17-8 edge for Philly on the offensive glass. “I got to do a better job of keeping guys out of the paint,” Chandler said.
Trailing by four through three quarters, the Knicks erupted for the first 10 points of the fourth, including the first five from J.R. Smith, who had 14 points on 5-for-16 shooting, and a drive-and-one for rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. for a 90-84 lead.
But Woodson removed Hardaway and Bargnani down the stretch — a move Chandler admitted he was “a little” surprised by — and after a 10-0 run that gave the Knicks a 90-84 lead, Philadelphia (14-28) closed out the game on a 26-16 run. “They were pretty much getting any shot they wanted,” Smith said.
Said Anthony: “I think (the losing) brings a lot of tense situations throughout the course of the game. You work so hard to build a lead or get a lead, and then within the snap of a finger, you’re back at it, so it’s like a reoccurring story.”
Philly’s final surge included Anthony getting hit with a technical foul for arguing with the refs, giving the Sixers a point from the line, a corner three from Evan Turner (34 points) while falling into the Knick bench and a wide-open three by Thaddeus Young — on a missed defensive switch by Iman Shumpert (19 points) — for a 105-100 lead with 1:47 left.
“Right now, it’s so tight on our ballclub,” Woodson said. “I thought we played great offensively, but defensively we weren’t there.”
l The Knicks remain the most valuable NBA franchise, according to Forbes. The franchise has been valued at $1.4 billion, a 27% increase from last year. Forbes attributed the difference to higher revenues from the renovated Garden and the Knicks making the second round of the playoffs.