Knicks Season Done, Nets Looking To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive
It is at then half way mark for the NBA season, and one New York team is the laughing stock of the league, while the other looks to stay alive in the playoffs. There was obviously questions coming in to the season about the triangle offense and how it will work for the Knicks. But no one thought it would be this bad. With the Knicks in London to play the Milwaukee Bucks, no one thought at the beginning of the season that the Knicks would be traveling with an active roster with three rookies, and without J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Samuel Dalembert. Earlier in the season the Knicks had a 10 game losing streak, and now they are currently on a 15 game losing streak. Carmelo Anthony and A’mare Stoudemire have been injured for most of the year, Jose Calderon and Tim Hardaway Jr. are not playing well, and everything that could’ve gone wrong for the Knicks went wrong. Phil Jackson is not done clearing house yet, every player except Carmelo Anthony is on the trading block, and the Knicks will look forward to this off season as each game passes by, and hopefully there can be a quick turnaround for the Knicks.
On the other side of the Hudson, the Brooklyn Nets, one of New York sports only bright spots this year, if a 16-22 record and barely being the 8th seed can be called a “bright” spot. Right now they are on a 6 game losing streak, and their schedule doesn’t get any easier. They play 12 playoff teams in their next 15 games, and if they want to stay alive in the playoff hunt, they will need to beat some of the leagues best teams. The big three of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez is still going strong, but none of them are having All Star seasons as some expected. Kevin Garnett is up there in age, but he’s still a serviceable NBA player, and really helping the team. Jarret Jack has been a good addition for the offseason, coming off the bench and averaging 10.8 points a game, and Mason Plumlee is coming off a good sophomore campaign and playing well. If the Nets can get through this hard part of their schedule, and stay healthy for the rest of the year, they will have a good chance of making the Eastern Conference playoffs.
