Bad Knicks cure for Spurs’ slump
The Knicks were back to ugly.
After four consecutive competitive efforts, David Fizdale’s squad were squashed by the struggling Spurs at the Garden, 111-104, after trailing by as many as 28 points.
Fizdale is coaching on notice after Steve Mills’ impromptu press conference this month. “I can’t. I don’t know how to explain it,” he said. “We were in mud. And they were a desperate team. So we got punched in the face and we dug a hole.”
These are not
Tim Duncan’s Spurs. They entered the night on an eight-game losing streak with the third-worst defensive rating in the NBA. At 6-11 after Saturday, they are threatening to snap Gregg Popovich’s streak of 22 consecutive playoff appearances.
“We are defensively challenged,” the coach said. “That’s a political sort of term for we suck.”
Still, the Knicks, who had two days off to prepare for the home game, were abysmal offensively through three quarters. They launched a too-little-too-late comeback in the final period, and dropped to 4-12 on the season, tied with the Hawks for the worst in the Eastern Conference.
“We were all out of sync, both ends of the floor, out of rhythm for some reason offensively and not working the game and really moving them,” Fizdale said. “Defensively, we were a step slow on everything. We lacked a sense of urgency defensively, which is just something I preached over the last two days, but we just didn’t have it.”
The Knicks trailed by 16 after the first quarter and 25 at the half. A pocket of fans briefly chanted, “Sell the team,” and the rest booed the Knicks at the break.
The effort Saturday couldn’t have been good for Fizdale’s job security. Steve Mills claims he is judging the team in 10-game increments, and, at the urging of owner James Dolan, held that presser conference after the team started 2-8.
The Knicks are now 2-4 in the middle of the second increment. And the schedule doesn’t get easier. The Knicks host the Nets on Sunday in the second game of a backto-back. Then it’s five straight against contenders: Raptors, Sixers, Celtics, Bucks and Nuggets.
Brooklyn won’t have Kyrie Irving on Sunday because of an injury, but it should have the Knicks’ attention after beating them in free agency.
“Really big (game),” Bobby Portis said. “We need a win bad. “
Against the Spurs, Julius Randle reverted to inefficient while missing 11 of his 17 shot attempts. Marcus Morris had a team-high 20 points on 7of-14 shooting, and Frank Ntilikina was strong again as the starting point guard with six steals and nine assists in 35 minutes.
LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 23 and 21 points, respectively. Popovich left with another win at MSG.