Phil Jackson sees negativity about triangle hurting Knicks as they drop 15th in row

Phil Jackson says "negativity around" the triangle offense "stilted" the Knicks' willingness to embrace the system that helped him win 11 NBA titles as a head coach.

"I felt like we really didn't adjust as quickly as we'd hoped to," Jackson said. "I think a lot of the focus was contributed to the amount of negativity around the so-called triangle offense which is much bigger than it seems.

"People like to put a lot more emphasis on it than is necessary. It's just an offensive system, and as a result I thought it really stilted our guys' acceptability to being the learners I wanted them to be."

The "loser mentality" Jackson was worried about the Knicks developing "certainly is embedded right now," he said.

The Knicks trailed by 45 in Saturday's 110-82 loss to Charlotte that extended three franchise records: It was their 15th consecutive defeat, 12th straight at home and eighth in a row by double digits.

The Knicks (5-35), who have lost 25 of their last 26, scored 36 points in the first 32 minutes. They were outscored 75-28 in a 27:57 stretch between the first, second and third quarters.

The Knicks, who again played without Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani, shot 38.8 percent and were outrebounded 51-29. Quincy Acy shot 3-for-4 from three-point range and had 18 points. Rookie Cleanthony Early made his first start of the season and scored six.

The Hornets (15-24) got 28 points from star guard Kemba Walker, whose three-pointer gave Charlotte an 81-36 lead with 4:40 left in the third quarter.

"It was a tough afternoon for sure," coach Derek Fisher said.

Fisher continued defending the triangle, though. He said other teams run aspects of it and shrugged off a statement by J.R. Smith, who said after he was traded to Cleveland on Monday that there's "too much thinking" involved.

"I think too much, I mean relative to what I guess is the first thing that comes to mind," Fisher said. "Anything good or great is supposed to make you think a little bit. If it was easy to do and then you didn't have to think about it, anybody could do it. That's not who we are and that's not who we're trying to become."

Fisher said the Eastern Conference-leading Hawks are in triangle sets "70 percent of the time." He also said the Spurs and Hornets run principles of it.

"Everybody is doing it," Fisher said. "It's just that we're the only ones that have the intellectual property to exclusively do it. Everybody else is taking from us. As we grow in this and as we continue to evolve and add the right type of guys to our program, we'll be able to do this and win at doing it."

Stoudemire is getting closer to returning, but Jackson said the Knicks will limit how they use him because of swelling in his right knee. Stoudemire missed his ninth consecutive game. Bargnani (strained calf), who isn't as close to coming back, sat for the fifth straight game.

For insurance, the Knicks signed forwards Lou Amundson and Lance Thomas, a Brooklyn native, to 10-day contracts. Both were acquired in Monday's three-team trade with Cleveland and Oklahoma City and subsequently were waived. They didn't play Saturday.

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.