The only record that counts: 19-25
PHIL Jackson hasn’t spoken to the local scribes since Sept. 22, but Thursday night he got caught in a pickle, caught in the hallway near the Knicks locker room by a small group of beat writers as he talked to a Knicks staffer.
As the writers trapped him, Jackson said, “No reason to stop.’’
Jackson then declined to comment on his recent meeting with Carmelo Anthony. When he was asked about the team’s underperformance, Jackson, before slipping through a doorway, said: “We got a win last night, right? That’s great.’’
An hour later, Jackson found his eighth-row midcourt seat at the Garden and watched his team lose another heart-wrenching contest, 113-110, to the Wizards. Anthony showed what all the fuss can be about — for one quarter.
On the night Anthony’s streak of seven straight All-Star starting berths ended, he cruised into the Knicks’ record books and finished with 34 points.
Two days after his meeting with Jackson, who did nothing to ease the perception he wouldn’t mind trading him, Anthony erupted for 25 points in the second quarter — the most any Knick has ever scored in a period.
At one point, Anthony scored 16 straight points to bring the Knicks back from 13 points down and into a 67-66 halftime lead. Early in his spree, Anthony looked over to the stands at midcourt near where Jackson sits and jabbered at hecklers after bagging two straight 3-pointers.
“He was a Knicks fan, I don’t think he was a Melo fan,’’ said Anthony, not referring to the Zen Master.
Only Anthony can put on that type of show in a losing cause. The Knicks fell behind 91-79 late in the third quarter after Jason Smith, a former Jackson freeagent signing and one of 45 players who have suited up for the Knicks during his reign of error, converted two straight buckets inside. Boos followed.
The Knicks came back from a 14-point deficit with 7:54 left, as Anthony made some big shots and free throws. But when it counted most, Anthony, who complained of fatigue and his old shoulder injury acting up in the second half, didn’t deliver and Washington’s John Wall did.
With 17.8 seconds left, down by one, Anthony unleashed a tough, contested 17-foot jumper over Trey Burke that banged the iron. Wall gobbled up the rebound and sprinted the other way for a layup and a 113-110 lead, finishing off a 29-point night with the winning play.
“That’s what you love — especially a national TV game that makes it more exciting,’’ Wall said. “You just want to make the big plays and right plays.’’
There was still hope, down t hree, one f i nal possession. Anthony penetrated and kicked out to an open Courtney Lee in the deep left corner. Their best 3-point shooter percentage-wise didn’t launch — his alibi was Wizards assistant coach Sidney Lowe illegally stood on the court shouting at him, pretending to be a player “helping.’’ Lowe, who once played for master of chicanery Bill Musselman, tricked Lee into driving. Lee, he of Instagram fame, forced a pass to a covered Brandon Jennings.
If you’re a Knicks fan the past 15 years, you’ve heard every “Dumb and Dumber” excuse in the book.
A 60-something Knicks’ fan reminisced before the game, courtside, remembering watching Jackson as a gangly Knicks defensive forward.
“When he played, he was clumsy and we frequently yelled at 18: ‘Don’t trip over the free-throw line,’ ” the fan said. “Today, Phil’s tripping over a whole franchise. There’s an old Italian [phrase], translated to mean the fish begins to smell from the head. Phil must go.’’
The night started on a positive note when Kristaps Porzingis’ precautionary MRI exam came up clear and he returned to action after missing four straight games with lingering Achilles soreness. He scored 15 points, including one monster running put-back slam in the fourth quarter that had the Garden howling and Jeff Hornacek’s daughter, Abby, a sports broadcaster who was in attendance, tweeting: “Porzingis I hope you know I just gave you a standing ovation for coming out of nowhere on that one ... I didn’t know humans could fly”
Unicorns can, however. Porzingis played reduced minutes and Joakim Noah was out, but that still didn’t move Hornacek to play rookie center Willy Hernangomez, who wrecked the Celtics’ frontline for 17 and 11 in Boston Wednesday. Matchups? Or what Jennings said on MLK Day after the Atlanta debacle: “Every day is something new. You got to be ready [because] you never know when you’re going to play. There’s kind of no consistency.’’
Jennings appeared miffed on that last possession, lecturing Lee. Clearly there is unrest in the locker room, which Hornacek said Thursday was “the frustration of losing.’’
The 19-25 Knicks have that down cold — even on a night Anthony set a record.