The New York Knicks have lost a season high-tying six in a row and eight of the last 10 and entering Tuesday had dropped into a tie with the Milwaukee Bucks for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot.
And, the bloom is off the feel-good story of Jeremy Lin's emergence as the starting point guard.
The slump coincides with a tougher schedule — and the return from injury of All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony and the addition of guards Baron Davis and J.R. Smith.
Anthony, who is having to adjust to less time with the ball in his hands, has averaged 19 points in his return vs. 22.3 before he suffered a groin injury.
Monday's 104-99 loss at the Chicago Bulls was particularly rough on Anthony, who was off by himself after the third quarter instead of joining the team huddle. That followed his benching in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 106-94 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Anthony, after Monday's loss, said he often doesn't join the huddle after being taken out. But he admitted he's unhappy and used the word "sucks" four times in his postgame remarks.
A sampling: "It sucks right now. It's hard to stay upbeat the way we're losing. Right now times are tough. I'm not going to get through it myself. It's late in the season. Our backs are against the wall."
Others are struggling, too, including guard Landry Fields, who had a recent three-game stretch of scoring two, three, then four points; forward Amar'e Stoudemire, averaging his fewest points (17.7) for a full season since his rookie 2002-03 with the Phoenix Suns and rookie guard Iman Shumpert, who failed to score in two of the last three games.
The New York media is out in full throat speculating how long Coach Mike D'Antoni will survive. He continues to support Lin, who spurred the Knicks to a seven-game winning streak last month but has struggled along with the others to adjust to Anthony's return and the additions of guards Baron Davis and J.R. Smith.
"Whenever the psyche's not right, the point guard feels it the most and probably an inexperienced point guard's going to feel it a lot more," D'Antoni said of Lin before's Monday's loss. "But I like his game and think he'll be a lot better."
Portland Trail Blazers guard Raymond Felton played for D'Antoni in New York and said he's the perfect coach for Lin — even with turnovers being a problem for the young point guard.
"He gives you that look like, 'What you want me to do?'" Felton told USA TODAY's J. Michael Falgoust of making a mistake and looking toward D'Antoni. "It's a good feeling: 'I can't help you, go play ball.'
"He's a great coach. He don't get a lot of credit because they say he's not a defensive coach but he won in Phoenix. He had us winning last year (when Felton was still there before being traded to the Denver Nuggets). The Knicks made the playoffs for the first time in a long time. … It's about guys buying into the system. I don't care who it is. If you don't buy into the system it ain't going to work."
Here is a statistical breakdown of Lin's first eight starts vs. the next 10 with Anthony, Davis and Smith in the mix:
W-L record: 7-1 vs. 2-8
Opponent W-L %: .419 vs. .563
Knicks' avg. pts. scored: 97.1 vs. 101.5
Knicks' avg. pts. allowed: 90.1 vs. 103.6
Games allowing 100 or more pts.: 0 vs. 7
Opponent avg. shot attempts: 79.9 vs. 86.4
Opponent FG %: 43.2% vs. 44.4%
Lin's avg. FG attempts: 17.8 vs. 13.9
Lin's FG %: 33.6% vs. 28.0%
Lin's avg. pts.: 25.0 vs. 16.2
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bask...icks-production-down-last-10-games/53515178/1
And, the bloom is off the feel-good story of Jeremy Lin's emergence as the starting point guard.
The slump coincides with a tougher schedule — and the return from injury of All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony and the addition of guards Baron Davis and J.R. Smith.
Anthony, who is having to adjust to less time with the ball in his hands, has averaged 19 points in his return vs. 22.3 before he suffered a groin injury.
Monday's 104-99 loss at the Chicago Bulls was particularly rough on Anthony, who was off by himself after the third quarter instead of joining the team huddle. That followed his benching in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 106-94 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Anthony, after Monday's loss, said he often doesn't join the huddle after being taken out. But he admitted he's unhappy and used the word "sucks" four times in his postgame remarks.
A sampling: "It sucks right now. It's hard to stay upbeat the way we're losing. Right now times are tough. I'm not going to get through it myself. It's late in the season. Our backs are against the wall."
Others are struggling, too, including guard Landry Fields, who had a recent three-game stretch of scoring two, three, then four points; forward Amar'e Stoudemire, averaging his fewest points (17.7) for a full season since his rookie 2002-03 with the Phoenix Suns and rookie guard Iman Shumpert, who failed to score in two of the last three games.
The New York media is out in full throat speculating how long Coach Mike D'Antoni will survive. He continues to support Lin, who spurred the Knicks to a seven-game winning streak last month but has struggled along with the others to adjust to Anthony's return and the additions of guards Baron Davis and J.R. Smith.
"Whenever the psyche's not right, the point guard feels it the most and probably an inexperienced point guard's going to feel it a lot more," D'Antoni said of Lin before's Monday's loss. "But I like his game and think he'll be a lot better."
Portland Trail Blazers guard Raymond Felton played for D'Antoni in New York and said he's the perfect coach for Lin — even with turnovers being a problem for the young point guard.
"He gives you that look like, 'What you want me to do?'" Felton told USA TODAY's J. Michael Falgoust of making a mistake and looking toward D'Antoni. "It's a good feeling: 'I can't help you, go play ball.'
"He's a great coach. He don't get a lot of credit because they say he's not a defensive coach but he won in Phoenix. He had us winning last year (when Felton was still there before being traded to the Denver Nuggets). The Knicks made the playoffs for the first time in a long time. … It's about guys buying into the system. I don't care who it is. If you don't buy into the system it ain't going to work."
Here is a statistical breakdown of Lin's first eight starts vs. the next 10 with Anthony, Davis and Smith in the mix:
W-L record: 7-1 vs. 2-8
Opponent W-L %: .419 vs. .563
Knicks' avg. pts. scored: 97.1 vs. 101.5
Knicks' avg. pts. allowed: 90.1 vs. 103.6
Games allowing 100 or more pts.: 0 vs. 7
Opponent avg. shot attempts: 79.9 vs. 86.4
Opponent FG %: 43.2% vs. 44.4%
Lin's avg. FG attempts: 17.8 vs. 13.9
Lin's FG %: 33.6% vs. 28.0%
Lin's avg. pts.: 25.0 vs. 16.2
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bask...icks-production-down-last-10-games/53515178/1
