The New York Knicks are expected by most experts to be an unmitigated dumpster fire. Not simply the kind that can be put out with a couple large buckets of water, but the type that causes alarms to go off in three different fire companies.
This is nothing new for Knicks fans like myself, who have watched a solid procession of awful over the better part of the last 15 seasons. Want to go from loving basketball to hating it? Have a passionate interest in a team that hired Isiah Thomas, refuses to fire him, and then is owned by Jim Dolan. Ready to throw your television and radio out the window?
We haven’t even hit the acquisitions on the court of players like Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Quentin Richardson, Luc Longley, Jerome James, Eddy Curry, Shandon Anderson, Howard Easley, Michael Doleac, Clearance Weatherspoon, Othella Harrington, Vin Baker, Tracy McGrady (Verison 19.8), Amare Stoudemire, Tim Thomas, Malik Rose, Nazr Mohammed, Penny Hardaway, Antonio David, Jared Jeffries, Larry Hughes, Antonio McDyess and something called Moochie Norris. Then there are the traded draft picks, the draft picks who sucked, and the draft picks who worked out and then left.
All of these factors and then some don’t have New York fans believing in this current group, led by Carmelo Anthony, Arron Afflalo and Robin Lopez. Yet, the season has started out well.
By some miracle from above, New York went on the road and won its first game against the Milwaukee Bucks, 122-97. Not only was it on the road, but it was the home-opener for a playoff team from a year ago. The Knicks had seven players score in double-digits including rookie Kristaps Porzingis, who notched 16 points. The last New York rookie to score that many points in his NBA debut? PAT-RICK EWING.
Suddenly, we Knicks fans were hoping for a 2-0 start. New York was ready to host the Atlanta Hawks the following night, a team that had been drubbed by the Detroit Pistons only a day earlier. Instead, the Knicks opened their slate at Madison Square Garden with a clunker. It is the type of letdown people have come to expect from the blue and orange. The affair was over by halftime, ending in an 11-point loss.
Two nights later and the Knicks were in the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Wizards. New York was looking for Carmelo Anthony to snap out of his early-season funk, and the All-NBA star delivered with 37 points. New York was able to hold on late, beating the favored Wizards, 115-110.
This week, the Knicks will play three of their four games at MSG, with the San Antonio Spurs (Monday), Milwaukee Bucks (Friday) and Los Angeles Lakers (Sunday) paying a visit. The only road date is a brutal one, with New York taking on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Let’s hope the Knicks don’t decide to become a full-blown disaster this week.