Networks tune out woeful Knicks
The national audience won’t get much exposure to the Knicks. And that’s probably a good thing for James Dolan’s club as it embarks on another rebuild.
Perhaps learning from their past mistakes, networks ESPN, ABC and TNT took a hard pass on one of the league’s marquee franchises — scheduling New York for just eight games next season, including zero after New Year’s Eve with the implication it’ll be out of the race early. That is down from the 22 games scheduled for last season on those networks, when the Knicks could boast a newlyacquired Derrick Rose and playoff aspirations. This year’s Knicks are preaching process.
One of their eight national TV games is against the Rockets, Nov. 1 on ESPN, with the contest carrying much intrigue surrounding Carmelo Anthony’s future.
Although the All-Star remains on New York’s roster, he has targeted Houston as a trade destination and negotiations between the clubs are ongoing. It could be Anthony’s first and only game back at the Garden next season.
Including that matchup, the Knicks start their schedule with four of their first seven games against potential contenders — the Thunder (opener on Oct. 19), Celtics (Oct. 24), Cavs (Oct. 29) and Rockets (Nov. 1).
The Cavs game should represent New York’s first look at Rose in the opposing uniform, assuming the point guard is healthy following his season-ending knee surgery with the Knicks. But the toughest stretch for the Knicks starts Dec. 27th with 16 of 20 games on the road, including at San Antonio, Golden State, Washington and Boston.
Jeff Hornacek’s team also finishes its season with consecutive games against Cleveland, which may or may not still have Kyrie Irving on its roster.
A Dec. 12 game against the Lakers will be Lonzo Ball’s introduction to the Garden. The Warriors don’t get to Manhattan until Feb. 26.
Despite their paucity of national TV appearances, the Knicks were given a Christmas game against the Sixers. They have 14 sets of back-to-backs, which is a little less than the average now as the league extended the schedule to cut back on such condensed games.
The Nets, who owned the worst record in the NBA last season, got much less respect from the national TV schedulemakers with zero games on either ESPN, ABC or TNT (that’s down from the one on ESPN last season).
Apparently there’s not much excitement for new point guard D’Angelo Russell, who will face his old Lakers team at Staples Center on Nov. 3. The Lakers, who traded Russell for the Nets’ all-time leading scorer Brook Lopez, then come to Brooklyn on Feb. 2.