Around the game: The Knicks aren’t the worst … Not a great rodeo for Spurs
The New York Knicks have ascended to lofty heights — for them — by moving up to the fifth-worst record in the NBA at 17-38. They did it on the strength of a four-game win streak that was snapped Sunday, when they gave up 140 points in a loss to Atlanta. How impressive were four straight wins? That tied the team’s longest streak in the past six seasons.
> Rough road: Every season about this time, the San Antonio Spurs embark on what’s known as their Rodeo Road Trip — an extended foray out of town while the rodeo moves into their home arena. It didn’t go too well this time around. Until Dejounte Murray broke out with a career-high 25 points in a 114-106 win over Oklahoma City on Wednesday, the Spurs had lost the first five games of the trip and fallen further out of playoff contention in the Western Conference. DeMar DeRozan missed the last two games of the journey with back spasms and the Spurs sit five out of the final playoff spot.
> Sun rises: There was every expectation that Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns would land in this weekend’s NBA all-star game as a representative from the West, and mild surprise when he was left off the team when all the levels of votes were tallied. No more. The Suns guard is 10th in the league in scoring, averaging 26.4 points per game and shooting a career-high 49.6 per cent from the field. He’ll be in Sunday’s game as a late replacement for Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, who is out with a groin injury.
> Road to AmeriCup: Canada will have a team heavy on European professionals for FIBA AmeriCup qualification games against the Dominican Republic on Feb. 21 in Oshawa and Feb. 24 in Santo Domingo. Duane Notice of the Raptors 905 is the lone G Leaguer on the 12-man roster, announced on Thursday. There will be six games in all, spread out over a year, in qualifying for the 2021 tournament. The Canadian team will be coached by Gordie Herbert, associate head coach on Nick Nurse’s staff with the senior team. The qualification games have no bearing on the process of getting to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
> Beasts of the East: The Raptors have been red hot, winning a franchise-record 15 straight games before losing to the
Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. It was a truly impressive stretch, and one they needed desperately to hang on to second place in the Eastern Conference. Despite the streak that gave them a franchise-best 40-15 record at the all-star break, they were just one game ahead of the third-place Boston Celtics in the loss column. Going into a Thursday night game against the Clippers, the Celtics had won 10 of 11 — including five against teams currently over .500 — and seven players have averaged double figures in those 11 games.