Even with some recent wins, Knicks not ready to weather Miami Heat
Carmelo Anthony has to know that the Knicks are not ready for a matchup against the two-time defending champs, even if they came off a Texas trip in which they won impressively in San Antonio and Dallas.
Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesEven J.R. Smith's shoelace antics can't give the Knicks much help against the Heat.
What a time for the Knicks to have to play the Miami Heat.
'Is that who we play next?' Carmelo Anthony asked after the Knicks were almost overtaken by the feeble Detroit Pistons Tuesday night at the Garden. 'Honest, I did not know.'
But Anthony has to know that the Knicks are not ready for a matchup against the two-time defending champs, even if they came off a Texas trip in which they won impressively in San Antonio and Dallas.
They were missing Tyson Chandler, out with an upper respiratory infection, and his status for Thursday is up in the air. But that didn't excuse their 16-point fourth-quarter effort against the Pistons, highlighted by eight turnovers. It serves as another reminder that Mike Woodson's team, now 12-22, hasn't turned the corner.
Anthony didn't sound very optimistic about his first encounter of the season with the Heat, and who can blame him.
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Even without Chandler, the Knicks' last line of defense, it's troubling that they forgot to move the ball and play smart when they almost folded against a Pistons team that now has lost seven of its last eight games.
Just in case Anthony doesn't know, the 27-8 Heat is in second place in the East, a mere 14.5 games ahead of the 11th-place Knicks.
'We got to face 'em, some way, somehow,' he said after his 34-point night. 'One day or another. When we play? Thursday? We can't run from them. I think we're getting better each day. Them guys are playing well. We've got to lace our sneakers up like they do come Thursday.'
Even if they lose, the Knicks did get some good news on Tuesday on the playoff front. The Bulls were supposed to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown this season, but they've sent up the white flag. Tom Thibodeau and his Chicago Bulls coaching staff were completely blind-sided when their front office sent Luol Deng to Cleveland late Monday for what turned out to be massive financial relief and future draft picks. With their glue player gone and Derrick Rose lost for the season, the Bulls have surrendered.
Injuries to superstars happen, and finances often cause an NBA team to take a detour. The Bulls' decision to retrench means that the Knicks might have to worry about one less team as they try to make up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Ditto for the Nets.
RELATED: KNICKS THAW OUT, PREPARE FOR HEAT WITH WIN OVER PISTONSIt's looking like a long drop for the Bulls, 15-18 and in sixth place. But you know how coaches are: They're scared to death of burying the Bulls, based on what Thibodeau always gets out of his teams when his ranks are depleted. It's one of the reasons that the Knicks are probably going to look at their former assistant coach for next season, in case Woodson can't get this season fully turned around.
'They've still got pros on that team that have tasted the playoffs and have a lot of pride,' Woodson said. 'Deng now helps Cleveland, without a doubt. . . . It was a good trade for Cleveland.'
Woodson now has every right to be worried about the Cavaliers, since they're right behind the Knicks. Deng isn't LeBron James. But he's better than everyone who has tried to man the small forward position since James left for Miami, and he'll be a positive addition in a troubled locker room.
The Bulls did get worse, getting nothing in return that helps the present. The Deng deal allows them to get below the luxury-tax threshold and save about $15 million by waiving Andrew Bynum, the one player they received from Cleveland. They had absolutely no interest in keeping him. It's all about rebuilding, with their next big move getting rid of Carlos Boozer this summer via the amnesty clause.
The Knicks aren't going down the Bulls' road. They're convinced they've got a sure-fire playoff team and still under the belief that Anthony is here for the long haul. They could be wrong on both counts.
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But right now, there's much to fix with this team. Everyone needs to chill on J.R. Smith's latest antics. The poo-bahs at the NBA warned him to stop untying opponents' shoelaces, an innocent little prank that he pulled in Dallas against Shawn Marion. But there he was Tuesday, trying the same stunt against Detroit's Greg Monroe.
'He shouldn't be doing stuff like that,' Woodson said. 'His focus should be just on playing basketball. You think you've seen it all and something creeps in.'
It's called J.R. being J.R.
'I'm really not supposed to talk about it,' he said.
Then he walked out of the Garden, with both of his sneakers untied.
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