It was an off shooting night for the New York Knicks go-to scorer, Carmelo Anthony, leaving the squad in a big hole against the Detroit Pistons—but Derek Fisher found what was almost a winning combination down the stretch.
The Knicks nearly overcame a 76-59 deficit, as a rotation tweak by Coach Fish had his team within one shot of the lead in the waning seconds, but New York landed just short of a remarkable comeback, falling 98-95 in Detroit.
After the game, Derek was proud of the way his team came together and nearly stole the late victory, though he still wants to see that extra effort come sooner going forward.
“(They showed) a sense of urgency in trying to find five guys that could bring the right energy to the game,” Derek said. “That was the toughest part most of the night, but you’ve got a combination of guys out there that keep fighting, and I guess you can say that we had a chance, but not soon enough.”
Fisher’s squad came out flat for the first three quarters against the Pistons, as they couldn’t find the bottom of the net. Anthony was uncharacteristically cold from the floor, hitting just 5-of-21 shots for 13 points, his worst offensive output of the season, though as his struggles continued, he went on to dole out eight dimes. Derek wasn’t too concerned Melo’s performance, saying it was just an off night.
“Carmelo is a shot maker, and he missed some shots that, you know were good shots and that happens,” Derek said. “Early on I thought he was doing the right thing and not to look to attack too early and make sure everyone was involved, and I think that made it a little harder for him to find his rhythm as the game went on.”
With Melo struggling, center Jason Smith carried the offensive load in the first frame. The 7-footer tallied 11 points in the first quarter alone. After having entered the game with a season-high of 12 points, he finished with 17 off 7-of-11 shooting. His efforts had the Knicks down just five going into the second.
The injury bug bit the already shorthanded Knicks once again in the second quarter. Down five points, Pablo Prigioni dribbled inside and took a jump shot with a defender in his face. Prigioni’s shot went a bit wide, and he landed awkwardly on his right foot, and left the game with a reported ankle injury.
The Knicks were already without Jose Calderon at the point and J.R. Smith in the backcourt. As a result of Calderon’s injury, Fish inserted sophomore player Shane Larkin into the starting five. On the night, Derek rotated through 12 players, but with Prigioni and Smith out of commission, as well as Anthony struggling, Tim Hardaway Jr. stepped up and commanded a lead role.
“Tim was just being aggressive,” Fish said. “Tim is a good shooter. When he gets a good look at the basket and his feet are set, he can knock down shots. But he mainly just played hard and gave everything that he had. Regardless of whether he is making or missing shots, as long as anyone on our team is playing as hard as they can and giving maximum effort, then we can live with some shots going in, or sometimes not.”
Hardaway Jr. tallied a team-high 20 points off 8-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-7 from deep. The second-year guard’s breakout performance came in a losing effort, but it was a happy occasion for the rising star where he made bucket after bucket against his father, Tim Hardaway Sr., who is an assistant coach for the Pistons.
“It feels great to see your son out there doing something that you love to do, and was very passionate about doing it,” Hardaway Sr. told MLive.com. “Now he has the passion and the love so it’s just fun watching him play. I try to catch as many ball games as I can.”
The younger Hardaway didn’t truly shine until the final 12 minutes, however. The Knicks entered the final frame down 75-59, but Hardaway provided an immediate jolt, opening the fourth quarter with a deep three off a feed from Larkin.
He went on to tally 14 points in the frame, including a huge triple from the left wing to cut the deficit to three with just over seven seconds to go. After that big Hardaway trey, Detroit missed a pair of free throw attempts on the other end, setting up a bit of a controversial finish.
Only a second remained in regulation, and the Knicks were threatening to tie. Down 97-95, Iman Shumpert missed his second free throw, which bounced right to Detroit’s Greg Monroe. Cleanthony Early jumped behind Monroe to make a play on the ball, but a clustered deflection caused the ball to fly out of bounds. The ball appeared to come off of Monroe’s hand, but the officials ruled it was Piston’s ball after reviewing the play on video.
New York played a fantastic fourth quarter, scoring a season-high 36 points, but ultimately it couldn’t overcome a rebounding deficit of 55-32.
“(The Pistons) led the league last year in offensive rebounds, and that’s one of the things they do well,” Fish said. “That was a tough part for us, but if a team shoots 36 percent, you’re getting some stops. We just couldn’t secure it with the rebound, and hopefully we can improve in that area.”
The loss hurts the Knicks in the standings, but Fish said the team showed positive things at the end of a tough game that they played while missing several of their key players.
“We lost another body tonight with Pablo going down, and Pablo is an energy guy who helps us (in being) scrappy and fighting and being tough out there,” he said. “We didn’t have J.R. (Smith) tonight, so in a back-to-back situation you need every guy on your team to give you something, and we were running out of guys. But I liked the fight that our guys showed, we didn’t give up on this game, but you have to be better sooner so we don’t put ourselves in the position we did tonight.”
NEXT UP
The Knicks (2-3) will take Thursday to rest up and prepare for their Friday night tilt against their crosstown rival, the Brooklyn Nets (2-2).
New York will head over to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, hoping to halt their two-game skid. Coach Fish gave a brief look at what he expects from the Nets.
“It looks like they’re getting healthy,” Fish said of the Nets. “They’re playing well. I think coach (Lionel) Hollins is a good coach and is doing a good job with creating a new identity with their team…It’s a good team. We’ll have to be ready to play.”
Last season, the Knicks went 3-1 against the Nets and won both meetings at the Barclays Center.
Friday’s tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the MSG and YES Networks.
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