Knicks confident they can fix late-game woes
Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks looks on from the bench against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Knicks are looking for their eureka moment.
It's all so close, Carmelo Anthony said. And just a few simple fixes -- better fourth-quarter communication, taking the open shot and playing as a unit -- could be the key to erasing their recent fourth-quarter woes.
"When you see it the day after, see how we lost the game, see how close we were at winning that game, it stings a little bit, but it gives you that confidence to know that a couple mistakes fixed here and there, we can win," he said at the MSG practice facility Saturday. "This is a process that, I don't want to say we should have expected, but it is what it is right now."
It's no wonder that the Knicks are hitting rewind on their last two defeats, a two-point loss to the Hornets in which they were outscored 26-14 in the fourth quarter and Friday night's 90-84 loss to the Cavaliers, in which they were outscored 24-12 in the final quarter.
It's clear the Knicks' growing pains have been exposed, but though these losses are indicative of a greater problem, it's not an unsolvable one, coach Derek Fisher said.
"For us, it's a matter of really finding a group of guys that can finish games and that are accustomed to playing with each other out there on the floor," Fisher said. "One of the players . . . said all five guys are decision-makers and playmakers in our offense. So it's not just one guy's responsibility to make sure that we're doing the right things when we come down the court."
But the guy who usually gets that job is Anthony, who faded down the stretch Friday night, scoring only four of his 26 points in the second half.
Fisher acknowledged that part of the problem is that when the team is pressing, it has the tendency to go to Anthony -- leading to low-probability shots or forcing him to beat the buzzer. Anthony expressed some frustration with that on Friday, saying that guys were "maybe looking at me a little bit too much instead of making the right play."
On Saturday, he added: "I think guys have just got to be more confident. Not even confident but more comfortable in those situations . . . We've got to come together and figure out what we have to do as a unit out there so we can become more cohesive out there on the court, you know, making the right plays, figuring out what plays work night-in and night-out against different teams."
Jose Calderon thinks it's something that will work itself out with more playing time. The Knicks have had all of 10 games to come together, he said, and "I think we're closer than people think."
He added, "The problem is that it was so close for us to win those games that it looks like it was more our not winning than them winning."
Anthony and Fisher don't believe that the recent late-game meltdowns are causing a crisis of confidence, and Fisher and Calderon, in particular, preached that there is something to be gained in defeat.
"We have to embrace and know that even sometimes in defeat, you're actually better than what you think you are," Fisher said.
That may be the case, but Calderon noted that in the end, none of it matters unless being better equates to playing better and playing better equates to winning.
"Yes, we try to be positive, but positive doesn't count unless we win," he said. "But if we keep playing this way, they're going to count, those wins will count."
All they have to do is figure out how.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
