The Knicks have already survived a slippery slope. They lost five in a row not too long ago, their record turning upside down, 5-3 to 5-8, and they looked a little exhausted and far surpassed almost every time they took the floor. And we’ve seen where that has taken them in recent years.
Then the Knicks went to Boston and surprised the Celtics.
I came home and held Magic on MLK day.
He flew west to begin a four-game west stroke and the Warriors stepped on the cover lifter. And suddenly, 5-8 was back to 8-8, the Knicks looked as they had watched the first eight games of the season, looked hungry and angry and eager to surprise almost everyone in the NBA, starting with the tired skeptics who they call it New York House.
That was just six days ago.
Now, the Knicks return home after being defeated by Jazz, 108-94 (in a game they led 15 by the end of the second quarter), after losing three straight to the Kings (a game that seemed viable in most of the time), Blazers (a game in which they did not appear in the first half and were still alive in the end) and Jazz (that initial lead built mainly by a supernatural explosion of 10 to 10, 25 points in the first half of Austin Rivers)
They return home three games below 0.500 again, with the eyes of a fan base that has already passed the first time, sincerely hoping that they are not about to see more of the same. In fact, it is the inevitable pace of a season when so little was expected, so little was expected. The grind affects everyone, especially teams that play with a talent gap every night.
So now, for the second time in a week and a half, we’ll learn a little more about the Knicks, who will put the Cavaliers and Clippers at home, who will travel to Chicago for a two-game road swing with the Bulls, so come back to Garden for a complicated run with the Blazers and Heat until Sunday of the Super Bowl.
We learned something new about the Knicks, it seems, with each game, with each home, with each trip, with each winning streak, with each lost skid. It is the youth learning curve. And it will be on full display now. That is Tom Thibodeau’s mission. This is the team’s challenge.
“The games keep coming and the challenges keep coming,” said Thibodeau on Tuesday night, looking not too pleased with the way the Knicks have left the grid in the last three games in the West.
“You have to be ready. Regardless of what your schedule is, you have to find a way to win. You want to try to develop the right habits. In the NBA, everyone has difficult stretches and that’s how you deal with it. We’ve recovered before. We need to recover again. “
Jazz won for the ninth time in a row, having been on fire after blowing a big lead for the Knicks at the Garden on January 6. In many ways, they represent a kind of project for the Knicks, a team that has constantly grown into a Western Conference powerhouse, using a basketball plan as old as pick-and-roll: smart writing, smart negotiation, smart hiring, intelligent training.
“They are well set up,” said Thibodeau, the admiration in his voice clear.
Since the Knicks are a large market team with the power of Madison Square Garden behind them, there will always be hope that an impact acquisition can finally catapult them where they want to go. This despite years of evidence to the contrary.
So it’s probably not a bad idea for Leon Rose and the rest of the team to adopt a Plan B. And the Jazz plan is so successful that the Knicks used some Utah architects in Walt Perrin, now Rose’s assistant, and Johnnie Bryant, now one of Thibodeau’s lieutenants.
Utah coach Quin Snyder has a stubborn constitution similar to Thibodeau’s, he earned a lot during his first season as a college coach in Missouri and has built a quiet force in Salt Lake City, ranging from 206 to 98 since the beginning of 2016-17 season.
“These guys take the winning business very seriously,” said Snyder last week.
You could see Thibodeau coming up with something very similar when the time was right and the team was right. For now, they try to stay above water. For now, the steps are much more modest. Jazz are at a point where they have a season to savor. The Knicks have a season to save.