Struggling Knicks defend Anthony, Lin
New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin sits on the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls. (March 12, 2012) Credit: AP
CHICAGO -- The Knicks haven't played much defense on the court lately. Off it, they might lead the league in stops.
After their loss to the 76ers on Sunday, Tyson Chandler said people should stop blaming Carmelo Anthony for the five-game losing streak the Knicks took into Monday night's game against the NBA-leading Bulls. Mike D'Antoni and Baron Davis also defended Jeremy Lin, who has been very erratic lately.
Whether you believe their sincerity is another story, but the Knicks seem to understand the concept of defense. They just haven't been able to prove it in games. The Knicks have allowed 110.6 points per game in this five-game skid and have trailed by at least 15 in each.
"The biggest thing probably is you just have to play with a certain intensity, and I don't think we've shown that all the time," D'Antoni said. "Our urgency has to be up and we have to understand what's at stake. What's at stake is being in the playoffs and being a good team, and nothing else should matter."
It starts with Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. They're the captains and have failed in leading the team. The Knicks who have had the biggest impacts on and off the court this season have been Chandler and Lin.
Anthony and Stoudemire are the Knicks' highest-paid players and are supposed to be their best players. But the Knicks played much better defense and shared the ball more when their two stars were out.
Stoudemire has escaped most of the finger-pointing, but heading into Monday night, they were 4-9 since he returned after the death of his brother. Anthony has been blamed the most, as the Knicks were 2-7 since his return from a groin injury.
"You're going to live and fall by your stars," Chandler said. "It's a lot more than that. It's a full team. We're going to win and we're going to lose together."
If Anthony and Stoudemire are going to be blamed for anything, it's their lack of defense. That was so apparent against the 76ers and just one of many times this season that was the case.
Stoudemire was ineffective on both ends of the court and finished with nine points and five rebounds. Anthony started fast offensively, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, but had only 10 the rest of the way.
Neither played in the fourth quarter as D'Antoni found a lineup that played with energy and passion. But if the Knicks don't get that and at least some effort on defense from Anthony and Stoudemire, their freefall will continue.
"I came here for a reason," Stoudemire said. "I came here to win. And that's something that's still close to my heart. We got to find a way to re-establish ourselves, implement our will on opposing teams, play smart basketball and have fun. Right now we're not having fun. We're just going through the motions right now."
The Knicks keep talking about having fun and not having fun. The only part of basketball that's fun is winning. When they were winning, Lin was carrying them. But his star has dimmed lately.
He's still putting up decent numbers, but that's because of big fourth quarters as the Knicks try to come back from big deficits. In the teeth of the game, Lin's turnovers, shot selection and defense are contributing to digging big holes.
"This is a team game, so you can't put it on Jeremy's shoulders," Davis said. "We win as a team, we lose as a team. I think that we all as a unit, we have to just do a little bit extra to sacrifice maybe our offensive games for the defensive end."
