Knicks Enjoy Outcome as They Keep Waiting for Resolution
BOSTON - Maybe Phil Jackson should take his time. The longer the suspense lasts over whether Jackson will join the Knicks, the more the team he may one day oversee continues to win in the here and now.
On Wednesday night, the Knicks made it five straight victories, the last four coming since reports last week suggested that Jackson might take over the team.
The latest victory was an efficient 116-92 dispatching of the Boston Celtics, who are headed to the draft lottery for the first time since 2007.
Jackson has not made anything official, nor have the Knicks, his potential future employer. But the specter of Jackson looms over everything the Knicks do these days. He is both omnipresent and subliminal. He is the overarching topic at the team's shootarounds. Carmelo Anthony offered that he had heard that Jackson was joining the franchise but also said, 'I've never once talked to Phil Jackson since I've been in the N.B.A.' Anthony added that his plans to opt out of his contract this summer and enter free agency would not change regardless of Jackson's decision.
Jackson was also being seriously wooed by his last team, the equally beleaguered Los Angeles Lakers. Magic Johnson, who sold his ownership shares in the Lakers in 2010, went on Twitter to implore the team's owners not to let Jackson go to the Knicks.
'We need Phil Jackson to be the face of our great organization, the Los Angeles Lakers,' Johnson wrote. In another post, he wrote, 'In signing Phil Jackson Owner Jim Dolan & Steve Mills are saying to the Knicks fans, they're ready to win now!'
Kobe Bryant, who won five N.B.A. titles playing under Jackson, said he could not understand the Lakers' again failing to hire Jackson, after they turned him down in favor of Mike D'Antoni early in the 2012-13 season.
'It would be hard for me to understand that happening twice,' Bryant told reporters in Los Angeles.
The Knicks, with the victory Wednesday night, improved to 26-40. With 16 games left in the regular season, the team, 14 games under .500, is only three games behind Atlanta for the No. 8 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The five-game streak - each game against a team likely to be in the draft lottery - matches the Knicks' longest winning streak of the season; they also won five in a row in early January. They won Wednesday with Anthony scoring 34 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. 22. They also won without Tyson Chandler, who missed his second straight game because of personal reasons, and Amar'e Stoudemire, who was given a recovery day.
Stoudemire, who played nearly 30 minutes against Philadelphia on Monday, last sat out on Feb. 28 against Golden State. Coach Mike Woodson said he hoped that Chandler would be back for Saturday's game against Milwaukee.
The Celtics were without Rajon Rondo, who played a season-high 41 minutes in a loss to Indiana on Tuesday and has been rested on the second night of back-to-back games since returning on Jan. 17 from knee surgery. Jeff Green led Boston on Wednesday with 27 points. He had 17 in the third quarter.
The Knicks looked like the playoff team they were last year against the Celtics (22-43), moving the ball and knocking down 3-pointers. They made 9 of their first 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Anthony had his way against Boston's big men, who were unable to defend him in isolation sequences.
The Knicks had a 16-point lead before the game was six minutes old and led by 10 or more points until a Green-led rally cut the Celtics' deficit to 84-75 late in the third quarter. That was as close as they would get.
Cole Aldrich, playing in place of Chandler, matched his season high of 6 points midway through the second quarter. He ended up with new season highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony had 19 points by halftime, and Hardaway Jr. had 17, making all six of his field-goal attempts, including three 3-pointers.
The Knicks increased their lead to 24 points late in the second quarter and took a 68-48 lead into halftime, shooting 60.5 percent in the first half and picking up 15 assists on their 26 baskets. After the Celtics closed the gap in the third quarter, the Knicks opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run, ending any hopes of a Boston comeback.
The Knicks, who never trailed, squared their season series against the Celtics at 2-2. The next time these teams meet - which is virtually certain to be next season - Jackson could be watching in his ergonomic chair with more than his usual detached interest.
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