Knicks Heartbroken Over Holiday

By | 2016-10-28T19:32:49-08:00 December 2nd, 2014|News|Comments Off on Knicks Heartbroken Over Holiday

Derek Fisher and the New York Knicks hoped that the Thanksgiving weekend would bring winds of change, but it brought more of the same: close defeats.

Of the Knicks’ 14 losses this season, 10 have come by just single digits, including two over the long holiday weekend. After a Sunday night defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat, Coach Fisher was asked what his team has to do to break through the wall they’ve hit early in the year.

“Just finding a way to win them,” Fish said. “In this league, if you give yourself a chance, that’s all you can ask. Everything that happened out there we can control. It’s up to us. We just have to find a way to win as a team.”

 

OT IN BIG D

New York Knicks v Dallas Mavericks

The week didn’t start well for New York, as it lost its top player, Carmelo Anthony, to back spasms in a five-point loss to the Houston Rockets on Monday night.

However, they went right into another tough road test against the Dallas Mavericks two days later without Melo, but with a great sense of urgency. Without their best player, the Knicks could have easily been written out of the equation, but Fish did not let this happen.

The Knicks threw some strong punches early, guided by former Maverick Jose Calderon. The New York point guard tallied nine points, while Iman Shumpert and another former Mav, Samuel Dalembert, combined for another nine, and the visitors took a 24-19 lead after one.

The Mavs were guided by an enormous night from former Knick Tyson Chandler, who had 17 points and 25 rebounds. They battled back behind the big man to take a 46-42 lead at the break.

However, Fish had his squad ready to go once again coming out for the second half. New York shot just shy of 60 percent in the third quarter, and Pablo Prigioni went 4-of-4 from deep to hand a 73-71 lead right back to the Knicks and set up a thrilling fourth quarter.

Some strong play from Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis had the Mavs back on top through much of the fourth, but the Knicks just kept countering. The lead changed hands three times, and Dallas held a two-point advantage with just seven seconds to go. Without Anthony, New York turned to J.R. Smith for a clutch bucket. The Knicks sharpshooter came through, creating enough space on his own to knock down a gutsy 23-footer from the top of the key to force overtime.

Unfortunately, in that extra period, New York’s ball security disappeared. The Knicks turned it over six times in OT, leading to five points for Dallas and a 109-102 victory.

“Us. We turned the ball over 20-plus times,” Derek said when asked about who was fault for the turnovers. “We had our chances, and that’s all you can ask for. Not just in basketball, but in life. We had a chance, we just couldn’t get it done.”

GIVING BACK

The loss may have stung, but it gave the Knicks plenty to be thankful for the next day as they headed into Thanksgiving.

Derek and his Knicks family went to the Knicks & The Garden of Dreams Dinner. The only part of a uniform the Knicks players and coaches wore were rubber gloves, as they passed out food to children and adults in need.

“This is the least we could do,” he said. “These people here are dealing with much bigger issues than winning basketball games, and we’re just honored to be here.”

FLAT IN OKC

New York Knicks v Oklahoma City Thunder

Following the holiday break, Derek and the Knicks hit the road once again, heading to the place where D-Fish ended his illustrious 18-year playing career: Oklahoma City.

Last season, Derek put up 621 points, 161 assists and 95 steals for OKC as a player. He also played a pivotal role in helping a young and supremely talented Thunder team, where he mentored the team’s young stars like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Before the game, Derek said he has fond memories of the team he retired with a year ago.

“They took me in and shined me up a little bit, and I was a part of something special there for a couple of years,” Fish said of his time in OKC. “I’m thankful to have this opportunity to now be in this position as a coach going back there. a place that I’ll always appreciate and value.”

Unfortunately, the Thunder didn’t reciprocate by taking it easy on Fish his first time back. The game marked the return of Westbrook, who sat out the entire month of November after breaking his hand Oct. 30 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

It was clear the OKC point guard was fired up to be back in the lineup, as he ripped the Knicks, once again without Anthony, for 32 points of 12-of-17 shooting. He jumped all over New York right from the opening tip, pouring on 14 points in the first quarter.

The return of Westbrook, coupled with a long road trip for the Knicks, made for a perfect storm in Oklahoma City. The Thunder led from wire-to-wire. As Derek commented afterward, N.Y. just couldn’t match OKC’s energy.

“I thought the energy was low to begin with,” Fish said. “I think the long week on the road, it just seemed like we were a little bit flat. After we got overrun early, we couldn’t build up enough to get it back.”

Despite the ugly 105-78 loss, Fish still shared a hug with Westbrook and several other former teammates on the night. And just as he remembered his time in Oklahoma City as a positive one, his Thunder buddies also remembered Derek as a quality teammate and a great leader.

“(He’s) really a unique voice,’’ said Thunder forward Nick Collison. “I haven’t ever played with a guy like that who could address the team so much, but do it in a way that everyone gets behind (him).”

SUPER SHOWDOWN

Miami Heat v New York Knicks

After closing their Western Conference road trip, the Knicks returned home to take on the defending champions of the Eastern Conference.

With his back feeling better, Anthony returned to the lineup for New York, and the game also marked the return from injury by Miami’s Dwyane Wade. Duking it out all night in Madison Square Garden, the two superstars put on a show.

Like Westbrook for OKC Friday, Melo’s return reenergized the Knicks Sunday night.

The N.Y. star put up a game-high 31 points and pulled down eight rebounds, including 15 in the first half. However, despite Anthony’s best efforts, the Knicks had to go back to the drawing board after trailing 42-34 at halftime.

After the break, the team cut down its turnovers drastically. After coughing up the ball nine times in the first half, they turned it over just one time in the third. Melo added another 10 points to cut the deficit to just four going into the fourth.

In the final frame, however, the Knicks just couldn’t hold off Wade. The Miami guard tallied 13 points in the final 12 minutes and finished with 27 in his return. Chris Bosh added 2o to the cause as well.

Miami Heat v New York Knicks

Amar’e Stoudemire was the only other Knickerbocker in double figures, contributing 19 off the bench. The Melo-Amar’e duo combined to shoot 46.2 percent, while the rest of the squad hit just 26.5 percent of its shots. As D-Fish revealed after the game, he believes the low shooting rates are all a result of frustration from tough losses.

“I think, with our struggles, guys are pressing, they’re trying hard,” Fish said. “I think it’s more mental than physical right now. I think guys are wanting to win really bad, and they’re frustrated. so some of that stress is in their shot right now. we have to help them still be relaxed and confident in who we are, even as we struggle right now.”

Despite the struggles in the 86-79 defeat, Derek saw some promise in the way his team bounced back from a blowout loss in OKC.

“Tonight was obviously much different than the last game, I mean we didn’t even have a chance in Oklahoma City,” he said. “Tonight we put ourselves in position to possibly win the game, but we didn’t make enough plays down the stretch on the defensive end, as well as the offensive end.”

NEXT UP

The Knicks (4-14) will stay at home early this week for two pivotal Eastern Conference matchups, the first Tuesday night against their crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Nets (6-9).

The battle of the boroughs part two will feature two teams that duked it out in early November. The Nets defeated the Knicks 110-99 in Brooklyn, but Fish hopes to return the favor during the rematch across the bridge.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on MSG and YES.

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