Fans in the NBA’s two biggest markets can’t be very happy right now. For that matter, neither can David Stern.
The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA. They predate instant replay, maximum salaries, team planes, the draft lottery, the 3-pointer, free agency, conferences and leather sneakers. For more than 50 years, they have anchored the league on opposite coasts, guaranteeing interest in the two biggest cities in the country.
Both teams basically have unlimited budgets. Both teams consider home games a celebrity gathering. Both teams began this season with a championship as their goal.
And right now, both teams stink.
The Knicks play in the top market and have lost nine of their last 10 games. The Los Angeles Lakers play in the No. 2 market and are 1-7 on the road. If the playoffs started today, both teams would be watching.
Since 1976, the Lakers and Knicks have missed the playoffs in the same season just once, in 2005. That scenario would not help postseason TV ratings.
Let’s start with the Knicks, who suffered a 97-84 loss at Houston. New York is 7-13, the same record as New Jersey, one game worse than Cleveland (7-11) and 1 1/2 games behind Milwaukee, which currently holds the final playoff spot in the East.
It was more of the same for the Knicks – no Carmelo Anthony, awful point guard play, no offensive flow. But there was a new twist as Amar’e Stoudemire accused some teammates of being unprepared for games.
From Marc Berman of the New York Post: “Stoudemire sounded graver than ever, and ripped some players for not preparing for games and not learning from mistakes, seemingly trying to protect D’Antoni for this wreckage. Stoudemire also agreed this 1-9 stretch is probably the low point of his Knicks stint. “We got to start reading the board before games,’’ Stoudemire, who had 23 points, said. “We have to prepare ourselves better as individuals. Coaches give the game plan. We have to be ready to execute the game plan. If we’re not ready to execute the game plan, we’re not helping our teammates.’ “We have to learn to comprehend and learn from our mistakes and right now we’re not doing that,’’ Stoudemire added. “The only thing that could put a smile on my face is my kids and they’re not in New York. It’s not a great feeling right now.’’
There also seemed to be some desperation on the part of Mike D’Antoni, who went to little-used reserves Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak with the game still in the balance in the second half. Afterward, the coach explained that his team was playing its fourth game in five nights – which of course makes the Knicks no different from any other team in this season.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News offered another possible explanation: “The lineup Mike D’Antoni deployed to begin the fourth quarter seemed to suggest “I surrender” while also serving as a subtle reminder to James Dolan of how the Carmelo Anthony trade, Dolan’s signature move, decimated the Knicks’ roster. Things continue to get worse for D’Antoni and the Knicks and, honestly, who can really say when — if — it will get better. The Knicks, playing their fourth road game in five nights, collapsed in the second half and were embarrassed by the Houston Rockets, 97-84, Saturday night. “I refuse — I refuse — I refuse to have a losing season,” a frustrated Tyson Chandler said afterward. “We have to do what it takes. I don’t care what it is. I really don’t. I refuse. I refuse to go through a losing season like that. Like I said, we’ve got to man up.”
D’Antoni offered no timeline for the return of Anthony or point guard Baron Davis, who was believed to be ready by this weekend but will not be swooping in to save the day anytime soon.
From Howard Beck of the New York Times: “Baron Davis probably will not make his Knicks debut for another week or two, according to people familiar with his rehabilitation. Davis, who is recovering from a herniated disk, is considered physically sound, but he is still working his way back into basketball shape after nine months of relative inactivity. Davis just began practicing last Monday, and he has been scrimmaging full court.”
The Knicks are off until Tuesday, when they host the awful Detroit Pistons. They already have home losses to Toronto, Charlotte, Phoenix and Milwaukee and cannot afford another misstep at MSG with Chicago and Boston looming later in the week.
The Lakers (11-9) are one game out of the final playoff spot in the West. Their road woes are probably best illustrated this way: The other teams with just one road win are Washington (1-8), Detroit (1-9), Charlotte (1-10) and the LA Clippers, who have played just five road games.
The issues continued with a virtually inexcusable 100-89 loss at Milwaukee, which was without both Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson, who was suspended one game by the NBA earlier in the day for lighting up a ref in Friday’s loss to Chicago.
It marked the 13th straight game in which the Lakers were held below 100 points. The last time that happened, the franchise was in Minneapolis, George Mikan was the center and opponents played stall ball to keep it away from him.
Big men Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, who should have dominated in the absence of Bogut, combined for 27 points, four more than Bucks forward Drew Gooden. Milwaukee did not even use a conventional center and still pushed around LA.
From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “Gasol said the Lakers went “through the motions” and lamented not fighting back against the surprisingly physical Bucks. “They got into us [physically] more than we got into them,” he said. “It would have been good probably to understand that we just weren’t going to take that contact but we didn’t do it. Hopefully we learned a lesson.” It has already been a season of lessons in barely five weeks. The inability to score and to win on the road are two glaring weaknesses. “I just hope that we don’t need a home crowd to get us juiced, to play the right way,” Brown said. “We’re not bringing it mentally nor physically when we’re playing on the road.”
The offensive woes have gotten to a point where the Lakers are looking for a quick fix. The unrelenting schedule has not allowed them enough practice time to completely jell under new coach Mike Brown’s system, which runs conventional offensive sets and is easier to scout. So they are exploring a roster addition.
From Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: “The Lakers have contacted free agent guard Gilbert Arenas in the hope they can sign him in order to provide the sort of offensive spark that, with the exception of Kobe Bryant, has been glaringly absent from their backcourt this season. A source close to the situation confirmed the Lakers’ interest in Arenas, who averaged 17 points last season with the Orlando Magic. The source also said Arenas, a former Grant High of Van Nuys standout, was interested in signing with the Lakers.”
In short, both the Knicks and Lakers are relying on the addition of an aging point guard with a history of knee injuries to somehow quickly rediscover his previous form and lead them out of the abyss of mediocrity.
Good luck.
Elsewhere …
Andre Iguodala had a bargain basement triple-double – 10, 10 and 10 – as the 76ers blew past the Pistons, 95-74, for their eighth 20-point win of the season. Miami and Chicago have combined for eight 20-point wins this season.
The Wizards got their first road win of the season with a 102-99 victory over the Bobcats, who got a real triple-double (20-10-11) from rookie Kemba Walker. Let’s see Randy Wittman beat someone other than Charlotte, which now has the worst record in the NBA.
The Grizzlies completed a 1-3 road trip with an 86-84 loss to the Suns. In all four games, Memphis dug itself a double-digit hole in the first half.
The Jazz held off the Kings, 96-93, despite Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson combining for just 18 points on 5-of-23 shooting. Jimmer Fredette returned to Utah for the first time as a pro and scored 14 points.