MELO’S TRI-ING TIME
Anthony shoots just nine times as new system falters
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Carmelo Anthony didn’t make the Knicks’ last trip to The Palace a memorable one. In fact, the only thing memorable was Anthony’s growing disengagement as the Knicks move full bore on the triangle.
Anthony entered Saturday’s affair just 16 points away from achieving 10,000 points as a Knick, but he couldn’t even manage that on a quiet night and a dispiriting, 112-92, loss the Pistons.
Anthony took just nine shots in 36 minutes, making four, mustering just 13 points and enough chagrin in the postgame locker room to suggest he is not thrilled with how the latest experiment is going. He has scored fewer than 20 points in five straight outings and decided to sit out another game to rest.
The Detroit debacle marked just the third time he took fewer than 10 shots when playing at least 35 minutes. Though he blamed his quiet night in Milwaukee partly on Jason Kidd’s defensive schemes, this time Anthony made no bones about his latest scoring lull is related to the equal-opportunity offense that is back in vogue in recent weeks. In another words, Anthony is giving off indicators the triangle only will hold him back.
Though Kristaps Porzingis threw out a number that they ran the triangle about 90 percent of the time in Detroit, Anthony wouldn’t give a figure, just a frustrating answer.
“We decided to make a change to play within that system,’’ Anthony said after the Knicks fell a seasonworst 14 games under .500 to 26-40. “I don’t do well with percentages. It’s hard for me to be talking about it, in mid-March still talking about our system and what we’re running instead of just playing basketball.’’
Making a point to say the Pistons did nothing specific to quell him, Anthony appeared to take a shot at their new system.
“I don’t really think the defense doubled — it was a matter of playing within the offense and system and taking what they were giving me,’’ Anthony said, “and playing the right way in this system.”
Anthony broke into a smile as he said it, giving off indications he was saying it mockingly.
“For me at this point, it’s about doing the right thing and playing within the system and trying to get other guys going,” he said.
Knicks president Phil Jackson held a secretive all-guard triangle clinic Thursday and, according to Derrick Rose, plans to do it more. But Jackson never got around to the defense, which gave up 66 points in the first half to the Pistons in a 112-92 loss that gave them 40 losses. Long Island’s Tobias Harris singed the Knicks for his season-high 28 points, torching Porzingis early.
“Still all defense, every night,’’ Rose said, refusing to use the triangle as an excuse.
In contrast to Anthony, Porzingis launched 16 shots and scored 18 points. Hornacek has indicated the club is attempting to go to the 7foot-3 Latvian more as a focal point, but Porzingis said not in the system.
“It’s hard to make someone the focal point in when running the triangle,’’ Porzingis said. “Anyone can get a shot in the triangle. It’s free basketball. It’s kind of random.’’
Whatever offense the Knicks have employed, they failed to get to mid-March in a legitimate playoff race and the Pistons dominated from the outset at the soon-toclose Palace. Anthony will save his milestone night for Brooklyn on Sunday at Barclays Center — unless he rests again on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Pistons, moving into seventh place and into a new downtown arena next season, could have selected Anthony at No. 2 in 2004 but made one of the biggest faux pas in draft history when they chose Darko Milicic.
Anthony scored close to 11,000 points for Denver as he could become the third player to score 10,000 points with two franchises, joining Kareem Abul-Jabbar and Elvin Hayes. But at this rate if he remains a Knick, Anthony moving up the scoring charts is on hold.
“We’re trying to stay together — it’s tough,’’ Rose said.