Members of the New York Knicks are beginning to trust, or perhaps express more trust, in, well the New York Knicks.
Both the players and head coach Derek Fisher waxed optimism following the Knicks’ 107-101 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, the team’s second in as many games, both of which have come against last season’s Eastern Conference alpha dog.
It was a performance worthy of a feel-good Knicks story. They flirted with shooting 50 percent overall from the floor. Kristaps Porzingis looked good, missing all three of his long-ball attempts, but posting another double-double and acting as a general pest on the defensive end. Carmelo Anthony, despite shooting 8-of-22 from the floor, finished three assists shy of a triple-double. Arron Afflalo’s hot shooting continued. Robin Lopez did a nice job of moving the ball, setting screens, and then rolling off those screens.
All good things.
But we’ve been here before, talking about all the Knicks’ good things, about how they seemed to have turned a corner, only to watch them lose another few games in a row and have to pick themselves back up by their boot straps, regroup and forge modest momentum all over again.
Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Why should this time be any different?
Because, according to Fisher, it feels different.
From Newsday‘s Al Iannazzone:
The Knicks improved to 17-19, matching their win total from all of last season. It was also their third win in four games, and they swept the home-and-home with the Hawks.
“It’s a good win for our group more so than a particular number,” Derek Fisher said. “The players themselves are starting to feel like something is building.”
Already matching last year’s win total is, of course, a sign that the Knicks are headed in the right direction. But they’re still under .500, and while few people expected them to make a playoff push, yours truly inexplicably being one of them, the hot-and-cold, wildly inconsistent manner in which they’ve played in weeks past, as they remain devoid of an on-court identity, forces us to remain skeptical.
The Knicks may, in fact, be building something.
It’s just unclear what that something is.
