After a three-day weekend, the New York Knicks will see if they can muster any pride for a four game road trip, starting in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
With the 2016-17 NBA regular season wrapping up in the coming weeks, we can observe that even for the worst performing teams in the league, there must be something that teammates can learn from each other in this final stretch.
Performing well during what looks like Hell Week in a road trip for the Knicks could be rewarding and affect how successfully, or how terribly, Phil Jackson handles this upcoming offseason.
We get it. Carmelo Anthony and Co. have played some pretty terrible basketball this year. Often losing against teams with a worse record, the Knicks manage to find a way to make themselves look like the worse team.
So how should we expect them to perform against second, fourth, fifth, and ninth-seeded teams in the Western Conference this week?
In a last ditch effort to avoid missing the 30-win mark, it’s crunch time for the New York Knicks to salvage any remaining ounces of pride and perhaps dig up some excitement. After all, there’s nothing left to lose and it can’t look any worse after losing twice to the Nets in the same week.
No Distractions This Time Around
The Knicks (27-42) will start the week in Los Angeles on Monday night against the Clippers (41-29). The Clippers are coming off of a win at home against Cleveland Saturday night, albeit after the Cavaliers sat LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love for the game.
The last time the Knicks and Clippers faced off was when the Charles Oakley incident transpired on Feb. 8th.
This ended in a Clippers victory (119-115), where Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan would combine for 60 points, while Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis combined for 55 points.
Don’t Hold Your Breathe
This game can be close—that is, if the Knicks can manage to play, at the very least, mediocre defense for four full quarters. The Clippers just came off a small losing streak and gained some needed wind back in their sails at home.
Let’s remember that this is a four-game stretch for New York. Pulling a victory out here would be revitalizing and inspire some of the more discouraged younger talent on this roster.
After Los Angeles, the Knicks will move on to the Utah Jazz (43-26), which sit at fourth in the Western Conference after a two-game slip. The Jazz play in Indiana Monday before facing the Knicks Wednesday back at home.
New York is losing this regular season series 0-1. It hasn’t seen Gordon Hayward and the Jazz since Nov. 6th; when the Knicks lost 114-109 at the Garden.
This appears to be a favorable match up at a glance. Utah has been shooting poorly this month, scoring an average 98.9 points per game – their lowest since the first month of the season.
Although the Knicks are on the same track, they’re averaging 101.7 per game while shooting the best from the free throw line as they have all season.
This game will be close. Expect to see a varied lineup depending how much Porzingis plays, if at all.
Second Half, Winning Season Series Against Spurs, TrailBlazers
Finally, some optimism for a little bit of everybody. Let’s take a deep breath. The Knicks lead the season series against both the Spurs and Trailblazers. That night a highly efficient Derrick Rose (FG% 53.3) and Kristaps Porzingis (FG% 56.5) led the way to victory (107-103).
The duo combined for 50 points. Any game the Knicks are on the court without KP in the lineup is surely a tall order to fulfill, but once again, due to recent performances, Anthony and Rose inspire reason to hold skeptics to their word.
The Knicks will be the the third opponent in five days for the Trail Blazers, which face the Bulls and Bucks early in the week.
At last, Saturday night the Knicks face Gregg Popovich and the Spurs. It’s worth mentioning that Popovich will be beating Phil Jackson’s record this season, currently tied at 20 for most consecutive winning seasons.
It wouldn’t be a safe bet to make any bold predictions against the Spurs, although somehow the Knicks won in the last meeting, a bold 94-90 final. Another example of the frustration of being able to hand a team one of their 13 losses to date all season, but losing to a team with 11 wins on the entire season twice in one week.
This was an impressive win that proved the Knicks are capable. The Knicks are in the driver’s seat and need to prove to fans there’s no intentional season tanking.
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