February 20, 2013
Certainly not the way you want to start the first game from the all-star break.
How many times have we seen the Knicks trail 15 points in the first quarter... Forget the loses; Knicks are gonna lose games no matter what. But this trend of being down 15 to 20 points in the first half, has got to stop. They've been doing this a lot in their past couple games, before the break. Even worst, they've open up games like this one the road.
Bad teams start games like this. Not second seed teams.
I'm starting to wonder if teams have figured out a way to take the Knicks out of games, early. Mike Woodson and the coaching staff need to look over this game and other tapes, to why this is happening in the first half. This cannot continue.
I understand Knicks have trailed early in these games before and have come back. But they aren't going to face teams like the Sacramento Kings every night. Teams like the Indiana Pacers won't blow a 25-point lead in the second half.
No question the Knick defense has vanished since the opening of the season. Or -- let's be honest -- since Amare Stoudemire's return. When he came back, the Knicks have been a different team. And right now, Rasheed Wallace is getting healthy and was a good reason to Knicks great start this season. If Wallace returns, Stoudemire might lose minutes.
Knicks better shape up. If they continue to have games like this, they'll probably see the Brooklyn Nets on top of them in the eastern conference.
