Promising game for Fisher’s puzzling crew
IT SEEMS for much of the season the Knicks have been teetering along a fine line of being a team that looks promising one moment and puzzling the next.
They had displayed more of the latter recently in losing four straight games entering Friday night’s Garden visit from the struggling Suns. A 2222 record after seven wins in 10 games had turned into 2226, a losing streak that has added more importance to this closing stretch before the NBA AllStar Game Valentine’s Day in Toronto. It’s premature to start talking about postseason possi
bili ties unless you’re the Warriors. And while it’s largely impossible to clinch a postseason berth before the annual AllStar pickup game, the Knicks are making their primary goal of making the playoffs increasingly difficult to achieve with their performance of late.
A 11688 setback at the Garden to the Clippers on Jan. 22 was onesided, but not alarming. But that was followed by losses to Charlotte and Oklahoma City and at Toronto on Thursday night. That’s why a 10284 pounding of the Suns on Friday night was just what the Knicks needed to start a stretch in which six of their final seven games before the break will be played at home. The Knicks had played without three starters on Thursday night. Carmelo Anthony was out with knee soreness. Jose Calderon was sidelined with a tender groin and Kristaps Porzingis was out with respiratory illness. All but Calderon were in action on Friday with Anthony scoring 19 points and Porzingis seven, bringing a sense of wholeness to the Knicks. Langston Galloway started for Calderson and contributed 11 points. Arron Afflalo had 17.
“As we head toward the break we have a lot of home games and we want to do our best to protect the Garden,” Afflalo said. “We came out with a lot of energy in the first quarter to compete at a high level.”
Anthony’s knee held up during his 30 minutes of action.
“It was good to get right back into the flow of the game and not try to do too much, but let the game come to me,” he said.
Among those taking notice was his former teammate, Tyson Chandler, now playing for the Suns.
“He’s doing an excellent job of getting his teammates involved,” Chandler. “It seems like he has an excellent grasp of the offense and the team has an excellent grasp of the offense. He’s a lot more fluid and he’s having a great year.”
Anthony’s knee may or may not be an issue for the remainder of the season and it’s uncertain when Calderon will be ready to play again. Porzingis, meanwhile, isn’t 100 percent.
“I was still feeling it,” he said. “It was hard to breathe.”
The Knicks had been fortunate enough this season to keep a starting lineup intact until this rough patch. Let’s not forget the Knicks are a young team with Porzingis trying to elude the rookie wall while a supporting cast is being asked to do as much as the starters.
“Every team faces this at some point throughout the season by force or by choice,” coach Derek Fisher said. “We had a good run going before getting hit by a couple of injuries. But we still had chances to win these games. We have to focus on doing the things we still can do while we’re out there.”
Physical health and mental health will determine how the Knicks finish this stretch. They entertain the defending champion Warriors on Sunday, which should test the Knicks’ resolve. Certainly, it will help to be at home.
“They’re obviously the favorites,” Porzingis said. “I know if we play hard, we focus and we execute well, we’ll be able to compete with them.”
There are different types of adversity a team faces during a season like battling injuries then battling the defending champs. At least on Friday night, the Knicks looked more promising than puzzling.