Progress is rarely linear, and no doubt there have been many peaks and valleys for the Knicks, as they have achieved quantifiable growth from last season to now. After the Knicks dropped an intense and entertaining matchup at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night to the Oklahoma City Thunder by 128-122 in overtime, their third consecutive loss, they were 22-25 but only two games behind the Indiana Pacers for the eighth seed—the final playoff spot—in the Eastern Conference.
“My take is that we’re a playoff team,” said guard Arron Afflalo, undeterred by the defeat.
The Knicks played the game without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, who sat out with a sore left knee—the same knee that was surgically repaired 11 months ago.
He is hopeful to be in the lineup tonight (Thursday) versus the Toronto Raptors on the road, as well as tomorrow and Sunday at MSG against the Phoenix Suns and rampaging Golden State Warriors respectively.
Anthony’s absence reaffirmed that despite a 13-game improvement from this time last year, when they were 9-37, the Knicks are still devoid of a legitimate No. 1 and No. 2 player. While the Thunder’s Superman and Batman, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, combined for 74 points on Tuesday, 44 coming from Durant, the Knicks had no reliable counter with Anthony sidelined.
Although rookie Kristaps Porzingis, who has been innocently thrust into a ridiculous hype machine, is having a strong rookie campaign, he hasn’t become a consistent sidekick to Anthony. Porzingis went 5-12 for 15 points against the Thunder and only attempted one shot in overtime.
“We couldn’t find him in the flow offensively,” said Fisher afterwards. “Typically, down the stretch, the ball doesn’t move as much and the game slows down. That’s why it’s good to have guys that can just go make a play themselves.”
Unfortunately, the one guy they have, Anthony, was on the bench dressed in an immaculate suit.
