All that was missing was Isiah Thomas on the sidelines and Stephon Marbury on the bench with a towel draped over his head. Otherwise, this was sweetest kind of revenge for Larry Brown, the one-time Knicks coach who returned to Madison Square Garden Saturday night and left his former team in a state of disarray.
The Charlotte Bobcats' 114-105 victory not only damaged the Knicks' playoff push, but it had Mike D'Antoni criticizing his team's effort, particularly on the defensive end after Brown's club shot 55% and made 11 of 22 three-pointers.
"Obviously, they made shots but I didn't think our defense was very good,"
D'Antoni fumed. "I didn't think our energy was good. It is a skill to play hard and we have to either acquire the skill or learn how to do it. We did not come out like a playoff game ... like this really meant the season, more or less. It doesn't, but we should have had that attitude. We didn't do it."
D'Antoni's critique of his team was his harshest this season. He has avoided publicly criticizing his players, perhaps out of fear they are too fragile to handle it. But after the Knicks showed little fight and smarts last night, D'Antoni couldn't hold back any longer.
"To me if you play hard, you don't settle (for bad shots),"
he said. "If you don't make the extra effort, you will settle for shots. If you don't make the extra effort, you won't rotate (defensively), won't defend as well as you should. It's more of a whole malaise over the team that we just didn't do what we should do."
D'Antoni and Knicks president Donnie Walsh know that changing the roster is only part of rebuilding the Knicks. They also know that changing the culture - the Knicks haven't had a winning season since 2000-2001 - is also crucial.
They are 25-36 heading into a five-game road trip that begins Sunday night in New Jersey. Of the Knicks' final 21 games, only eight are at the Garden. In order to reach the playoffs, the Knicks will have to win at least 13 more games, but judging by the way they looked last night, they will be lucky to win five.
The Bobcats outrebounded the Knicks 40-33, had more assists (24 to 17) and had as many 3-pointers despite taking 10 fewer shots from behind the arc. Chris Duhon was benched the last 10 minutes, David Lee failed to record a double-double for the first time in 25 games and Nate Robinson had 20 points but shot only 5-for-15, was whistled for his ninth technical this season and foolishly committed a clear path foul in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Danilo Gallinari played just 16 minutes and attempted four shots one game after scoring a career-high 17 points. Quentin Richardson saw the floor more than Gallinari.
It's probably no coincidence that D'Antoni was visibly upset on a night when he saw two of his favorite players from his Phoenix Suns days, Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, score 22 and 19, respectively. Brown, along with Michael Jordan and Rod Higgins, have rebuilt the Bobcats (28-35) into a solid NBA team.
Charlotte is 21-21 since acquiring Diaw and Bell on Dec. 10. They give the Bobcats leadership on the floor and complement a roster that includes two underrated players, small forward Gerald Wallace and point guard Raymond Felton. Wallace finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds while Felton added 19 points and 10 assists.
The win extended Charlotte's streak to a franchise-best six straight. The last time the Knicks won six straight games was three years ago under Brown, whose one and only season in New York could be best described as dysfunctional ... but not nearly as dysfunctional as the next two years with Thomas at the helm.
The Bobcats set the tone by scoring the game's first eight points on three dunks and a layup. After the game was tied at 61 early in the second half, the Knicks scored just 11 points in the last 10 minutes of the third quarter and fell behind by nine. Vladimir Radmanovic opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, the Bobcats extended their lead to 17 with eight minutes to play and the Knicks never got closer than six.
