TORONTO – Pretty soon the Knicks will need binoculars to see the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference standings. They’ve now traded places with the Indiana Pacers and at this rate the Knicks will soon be looking up at the Chicago Bulls and, heaven forbid, the Brooklyn Nets.
The Knicks’ free-fall continued Friday night, with Mike Woodson annoyed at Carmelo Anthony for passing up two scoring chances with the game on the line.
“No game is easy for us the way we’re playing right now,” Woodson said after the Knicks fell to the Toronto Raptors for the second time in nine days, 100-98, their season-high fourth loss in a row and fifth in six games. “We’ve got to figure out how to get a win to get off the slide and start feeling good about ourselves.”
Two nights after an embarrassing 34-point loss at Indiana, the Knicks’ problem Friday night wasn’t effort but execution, especially in the final minute. The Knicks missed three of their last four shots and Tyson Chandler bricked a critical free throw with 21.4 seconds left. But Woodson was more annoyed that Anthony, the team’s best player, wasn’t selfish enough on two crucial possessions in the last 54 seconds.
With the score tied, the Raptors were caught in a mismatch with undersized point guard Kyle Lowry defending Anthony in the post. But with Toronto in the penalty and the ball in his hands, Anthony passed to Raymond Felton, who misfired on a 3-pointer. Granted, Felton was left alone but he had missed his two previous shots.
“I should have taken advantage of Lowry being up there,” said Anthony, who suffered a calf injury in the third quarter but still played 42 minutes. “I should have drove to the basket and tried to create something else. It’s bad execution on my behalf.”
Lowry grabbed the rebound and gave the Raptors the lead for good by converting a contested runner over Chandler with 28.9 seconds left. Woodson used a timeout to run a play for Anthony, who had the ball near the foul line but instinctively passed to Chandler once Amir Johnson came to double-team.
Chandler had a clear path to the basket but Lowry fouled the center before he could make a move and it turned out to be the right play when Chandler missed the first of two free throws. Rudy Gay, who led Toronto with 32 points, made it 99-96 by hitting two from the line and on the ensuing possession, Anthony missed a contested three over Lowry with 8.9 seconds left.
“He got rid of it too soon,” Woodson said of Anthony’s pass to Felton. “When he caught it he had an opportunity to drive it right away to the rim and he let it go. Same way he let it go to Tyson, the same way. But Tyson ended up getting a foul but missed one of the free throws. I mean, we had our chances, so I can’t complain about that. We’ve just got to be smarter.”
The Knicks, who are now six games behind first-place Miami and a half-game behind the surging Pacers, overcame a 13-point third quarter deficit behind Anthony, who finished with 32 points on 11-for-24 shooting, and J.R. Smith, who scored 19. Amare Stoudemire added 14 but wasn’t on the floor when Smith’s fadeaway jumper tied it at 93 with 2:39 left.
The Knicks regained possession when Chandler blocked Lowry’s driving layup but they botched the fast-break opportunity when Jason Kidd twice passed up an open three. The ball ended up in the hand of Anthony, who launched a long three that barely touched iron.
“There was one play where we were on the break, I swung to J.R., J.R. swung it to Jason, Jason swung it back, he swung it back,” said Anthony, who is headed to Syracuse Saturday to have his jersey retired. “I really don’t know what to say about that. Somebody take the shot.”
The Knicks return home to face the Sixers on Sunday, which will likely be Kenyon Martin’s debut. The Knicks signed the veteran forward to a 10-day contract and there is a chance that Martin could eventually make his way into the starting lineup at small forward.
Stoudemire is unlikely to be promoted because Woodson prefers to play Anthony at power forward.
Stoudemire, a starter his entire career, continues to say and do all the right things in his new role but you can see his frustration.
Like Stoudemire, Smith hasn’t started all season but that could change if Woodson makes a lineup change.
“Whatever gets us out of this slump,” Smith said. “I definitely don’t like losing. If that’s what it takes that’s fine with me.”
