Things have gotten flat-out ugly for the New York Knicks, now losers of six straight and three games under .500. Fans who coach Mike D'Antoni recently said should turn to Prozac have found their panic completely warranted, as there's actually an outside shot the Knicks could miss the postseason entirely.
Magic Vs. Knicks: Carmelo Anthony Tries To Save New York
That's not likely to happen; the Knicks are 5.5 games up on the Charlotte. Even if the Knicks lose out, it's questionable whether the Bobcats could get the requisite wins to catch them. And the Knicks, for all their warts, aren't going to lose out. They may certainly lose a seventh straight game on Monday, though, as the Knicks are hosting the Orlando Magic (7:30 p.m. ET, local TV and League Pass).
The teams met last week, and Orlando registered a 12-point win. Dwight Howard went bonkers in that game (as he often does against the thin-in-the-middle Knicks), totaling 33 points and 11 assists. In a data point floating under the radar, ‘Melo actually had a great game against the Magic, with 24 points on 6-12 shooting and nine assists. It was Amar’e Stoudemire, New York’s (literal) Chosen One, who had failed to hold up his end of the bargain. In the two losses since, ‘Melo has scored well ... but abandoned the ball movement that helped New York stay within arm’s reach against Orlando.
In the meantime, the defense is lousy as ever. The Bucks -- the worst shooting decent team in recent memory -- hung 102 on the Knicks in a down-tempo game on Friday, and Charlotte threw down 114 on Saturday. New York's defense has been bad all year. It's straight up bad now. That's italtics bad.
So when ’Melo calls Monday’s game “almost a must-win” ... well, he might want to bark up a different tree, because odds are on the Magic, heavily. For more on the Knicks’ woes, check out Posting And Toasting. For more on the Magic, Orlando Pinstriped Post is the right spot.
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